— Photo: R. Ashok
DEMO: Students explaining the working of a mosquito repellent.
MANAPPARAI: Spending sleepless nights due to mosquito menace at home? A science exhibit at the St. Andrew’s Higher Secondary School here will resolve the problem.
The low-cost bio-mosquito repellent, prepared by J. Kumaresan of Standard X of the school, can keep away mosquitoes.
Pointing to the extract of the commonly available ‘Thumbai’ (Leuacas aspra), with which he prepares the liquid, he says that unlike the commercially available chemical liquid, the extract does not cause any irritation.
The bio-repellent is one of the 200 exhibits displayed at the Science Exhibition inaugurated at the school on Thursday.
The students’ in-depth knowledge of the complex principles of science and their multifarious applications could be gauged from the quality of the exhibits. For instance, using a single exhibit, R. Napolean of Standard X demonstrated the conversion of chemical energy to electrical, mechanical, sound and light energy. “I used the waste material collected from an old radio set and a two-wheeler,” he says.
The Pascal’s Law is on liquid pressure. But a couple of Plus One students have gone a step beyond Pascal. “We use the scientist’s principle to assess a person’s weight,” says S. Sakthi.
He adds that his friend P. Mahadevan’s weight is 47 kg. A rubber-tube filled with water, a plank of wood and a scale are their equipment .
Attributing the efforts taken by two teachers, S. Saral and P. Jayaleela, to the laudable performance of the students, Headmaster A. Selvaraj says given an opportunity students in rural areas would outsmart their urban counterparts.
This is evident from the biology mind-map prepared by G. Srinivasan of Standard IX, the principles of ‘Gates’ in computer science by S. Manojkumar and P. Purushothaman and depletion of the ozone by A. Ganesh of Standard VIII.
The presence of a group of undergraduate engineering students from the Kurunji College of Engineering and Technology, with a model on the principle of Seebeck’s effect, proved to be a source of inspiration for the pupils.
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