SAIIER 2014:Science Fair

Summer Camp		White Peacock
Science Fair

Introduction

The aim of the Entity::ASSET Centre Science Fair is to develop a complete education system in the spirit and ideals (“nothing can be taught”, “from near to far”, “from known to unknown”) of The Mother and Sri Aurobindo. The project intends to work in collaboration with classroom teachers to fulfill the needs of students in Auroville schools and to an extent the students from outreach schools in Auroville and neighboring villages.

Overview and aims of project

The project consisted of a Science Exhibition conducted with the help of students and science teachers in which other school children were invited to participate.

The exhibition included a students’ museum displaying materials and specimens collected by the students during their field trips, as well students’ creative works.

The aims of the Science Fair are:

To make children feel that science is all around us and we can gain knowledge as well as solve many problems also by relating the learning process to the physical and social environment.
To provide a forum for children to pursue their natural curiosity and inventiveness to quench their thirst for creativity.
To apply mathematics to visualize and solve problems pertaining to everyday life.

Exhibits

The exhibits encompassed four main topics that integrated display/learning modules. These were:

Natural resources and their conservation
Students’ museum
Maths in science and nature
How stuff works

Natural Resources and their conservation / Students’ Museum

Organic farming - A team of student learnt the basics of organic farming and developed a garden at the school premises.
Herbal medicines – Our science club team visited the Auroville Botanical Gardens. They learnt the local names of many herbal medicinal plants and also the botanical names of the same. They collected seeds and planted them at the school and their homes wherever possible. They displayed posters in the exhibition.
Sealife – Our students also visited Ariyankuppam beach in the early morning to collect marine fishes and other living creatures from the sea. They had a good interaction with the fishermen to know more about different varieties of the fishes and other sea living creatures their local names. Using available resources from books and the internet students identified the zoological names prepared a nice collection of specimens.

Maths in science and nature

Students prepared a list of activities to explain the concept of probability theory, and they made a model to explain it.
They displayed a model to explain parabolas, and all the participants enjoyed working with it

How stuff works

Magic with magnets – Students made a list of activities using magnets. They learnt the history of magnets and their chemical nature.
Solar room heater – Students made a solar room heater using low-cost materials and explained to the participants the principle behind this model.
Telegraph m/c – Using an original piece of a telegraph the students explained its working concept.
Students made a model to explain the structure of DNA and its components.
Students made models to understand the physics concepts behind wave motion and tidal waves.