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Simplifying science

Winner of the Best Science Teacher Award, A. Hemavathi makes science interesting for children

MODEL TEACHER A. Hemavathi Photo: T. Singaravelou

Riding a two-wheeler, she goes around the town cultivating a scientific temper. We know her from the days of the Arivoli Iyakkam (literacy programme) and she is a genius at simplifying science. A. Hemavathi, Headmistress, Government Middle School, Veeraveli in Pondicherry and vice president Pondicherry Science Forum (PSF), has been recognised by the Government for her contribution to science. She was presented the Best Science Teacher Award by the Department of Science, Technology and Environment recently.

"It was my father Anandapadmanabhan who inculcated a love for science in me. He would say that I should understand the subject to learn it and taught me the basic principles of science and mathematics at a very young age. Though at that time we had bookish methods of teaching, our teachers were good at explaining things to us. At home, we (four daughters and a son) were allowed to study the way we wanted to," says Hema Miss, as she is known among students as well as members of Samam self help groups of which she is the president.

Having done her B Sc Chemistry, M A and M Ed, she is presently doing her M Phil "My first loyalty is to science. Even in college, I was president of the science club. When I joined Soucilabai Government School, my headmistress Sunithi gave me a lot of freedom and we did science projects and organised science exhibitions.

In 1986, when Halley's Comet came, Dr. Sundaraman, one of the founders of PSF came to our school with a show about the cosmos and also showed us the night sky. It was after that I joined the PSF. In 1987, the International Year of Peace, I was asked to take around slides on the uses and abuses of atomic power. With a projector and several slides I met thousand people in a week," she recalls.

She began collecting material for science experiments after attending a literacy camp in Madhya Pradesh. "Now I have around 150 experiments. In 1989, the Arivoli Iyakkam was started to improve literacy so that even people in rural areas could learn about science. The Government deputed me to join that programme for a year as women's coordinator and till 1992 I was fully involved with it."

A person who believes that science touches every aspect of life and has a scientific explanation to everything, Hemavathi takes children on science picnics. "For me, science is not a monster it is a part of life if you understand it. We wanted to make science as interesting as possible for children. For instance, we take children to a cycle shop, take apart a cycle, put it back and show how the same principles work elsewhere. We also visit glass factories, soda factories and the railway station to understand their functioning," she says. This dedicated teacher's passion for science grows deeper by the day.

DEEPA H RAMAKRISHNAN

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