The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Schools told to promote science

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, May 15, 2005

Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Schools told to promote science

Staff Reporter

It is science that drives the nation to become prosperous: Arunachalam

Interesting one: The Distinguished Services Professor at Carnegie Mellon University, U.S., V.S. Arunachalam (centre), and the vice-president of MES Institutions, Vimala Rangachar (to the left of Dr. Arunachalam), watching the demonstration of an expe riment at the MES-Agastya Science Centre in Bangalore on Saturday. — Photo: K. Gopinathan

BANGALORE: The magic of science was in demonstration at the MES-Agastya Science Centre at MES Kishore Kendra here on Saturday.

Using simple models, students of St. Teresa's school demonstrated occurrences such as solar and lunar eclipse, seasonal changes, concepts such as pressure and volume relationship and the protein chains that link together to form insulin.

A unique feature of the experiments was that they were carried out with easily available materials such as scraps of paper, pieces of nylon ropes and broken pieces of buttons.

The 30-odd experiments were simple and interesting. School students from all over the city can visit the centre for free.

The Agastya Foundation has 13 mobile vans that take science to the doorsteps of children in rural and urban areas of Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, said N.S. Leela, a member of the foundation.

Superstitious beliefs

V.S. Arunachalam, Distinguished Services Professor at Carnegie Mellon University, U.S., and former Scientific Adviser to the Defence Minister, who inaugurated the centre, said schools should take efforts to promote science for it is science that drives the nation to become prosperous through the development of technologies. He said that science pushes people to move beyond superstitious beliefs.

Dr. Arunachalam said centre's such as the MES-Agastya took students away from the codified learning provided in schools and kindled their scientific temper and probing nature.

R. Krishnan, former Director of Gas Turbine Research Establishment, Bangalore, said the response to pervious fairs had been tremendous. At least 2,500 children visited the fairs every day. Agastya Foundation is conducting a two-week workshop on "Life Through Time and Space," for students and teachers at MES Kishore Kendra from May 16.

Students and schools can contact the foundation on 25548921.

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