The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Physics can be fun

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Jul 15, 2005

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Physics can be fun

Staff Reporter

The HinduEducation Plus-AIMS Education workshop has a session on simplifying the subject

WORKSHOP: Learning science with enjoyment, as teacher seems to say at The Hindu Education Plus - AIMS education workshop on Thursday.

CHENNAI: A physics teacher being mobbed for autographs could well have been one of the high points of day two of Propel, the multiple skill development workshop organised by The Hindu Education Plus and AIMS Education for students of Class IX and X.

Ravi Shankar of American International School demonstrated how physics could be taught in a scintillating manner. He demystified theoretically difficult concepts through simple experiments. Many popular misconceptions about fundamental physics were dismantled.

He explained how many were unaware of the underlying principles of the oft-cited Newtonian law of motion that for every action, there existed an equal and opposite reaction. What was not understood by many was that the action and reaction, though simultaneous, played out on different bodies.

"A teacher is not a person who teaches, but inspires his students to rediscover the various wonderful facts of nature," Mr. Ravi Shankar said.

The session ended with a group of enthusiastic children seeking him out for his autograph.

A written physics quiz contest followed.

Veena Pandian, a research assistant, and Priya, student counsellor, gave tips on observation and memory enhancement, organising study materials and scheduling study to control stress.

At the feedback session, Sai Adithya, a class X student, wanted a similar workshop for students of all classes.

Student Info Resource Centre, comprising engineering students, was also associated with the workshop.

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