The Hindu : Front Page : Science van to drive home message

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Oct 31, 2005

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Front Page

Science van to drive home message

R. Sujatha

FUTURE SCIENTISTS? Students performing a demonstration at Vembakkam in Tiruvannamalai district.

CHENNAI: Students of Government schools in Tiruvannamalai district can now hope to keep pace with their peers in Chennai's private schools.

A science van flagged off last week will travel to 250 schools in the district. Students can watch demonstration of a host of experiments in Physics, Chemistry and Biology.

The project has been launched by nine-year-old non-government organization, AID-India. The Eureka Science Van has a powerful telescope, microscopes, audio-visual kits, flip charts, teaching aids and a laboratory kit to perform 100 simple experiments.

In the first phase the van will visit all rural middle schools in Vembakkam block. Each block has 20 middle and higher secondary schools, says A. Ravishankar, joint secretary, AID-India.

Over the past year, AID-India volunteers have taught 1,000 children to read and write. They have also introduced simple science experiments on light, pressure, heat and sound to some 1,500 children in Vembakkam block.

The volunteers have also helped improve the nutrition status of more than 600 children aged below five in 44 villages in the block.

AID-India's recent annual conference began with an education rally by 200 volunteers and 100 children drawn from classes XI and XII. Eureka Science Lab kits were presented to two Government schools on the occasion.

Students of the Eureka Science Clubs demonstrated their expertise in practical science.

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