HYDERABAD: When that particular apple fell on Isaac Newton's head, he would have never imagined small, thin boys and girls, barely 12 years old, dressed in tattered pinks, greens and khakis and with scanty knowledge of English explaining his laws to science lovers in some corner of a place called Musheerabad.

But on Friday, Newton would certainly have been proud of the budding scientists, who poured their heart and soul into various exhibits that explained his three laws or the centre of gravity and several other basic science theories.

Makeshift lab

There was no pomp, no glitz and no fussy parent around. A few teachers, tired after preparations, experiments and tutorials spread over months, sat behind them. A makeshift tent was the lab. And 125 students from classes VI and VII from 25 upper primary schools -- Government ones and not them `internationals' -- from Adikmet, Ghasmandi, Shankeshwar Bazaar, Chudi Bazaar etc., showcased their brilliance in science with the help of Satyam Foundation at the Musheerabad Government School. The daylong event, marked more by the enthusiasm of students than any rocket science they attempted to compress into tiny exhibits, had 40 experiments being demonstrated and also had the Bala Ratna award-winning exhibit on the transgenic plant by G. Venugopal, a class X student from Sithaphalmandi Government High School.

Satyam Foundation Director Balaji Utla, who later presented `Learning science through fun' kits to the winners, said the expo would be a pilot event, with several more with a larger number of schools to follow.

The foundation was working with Government schools in the twin cities to motivate students and teachers and last year, along with AID India, had began distributing science kits called `Eureka learning labs' to these schools.

Government Upper Primary School, Adikmet, bagged the first prize for class VI exhibits while Government Upper Primary School, Nala Bazaar, came up first among class VII participants.

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