National Science Day Celebration

Science is the systematic study of the world
through observation, questioning and experiments for the ultimate purpose of
prediction. Science uses qualitative and quantitative methods to understand and
explain the observable phenomena. Science in our school textbooks is often
presented in a way which is geared towards doing well in examinations. This
then becomes a summary of facts or a set of instruction activities that needs
to be performed or a set of formulae. The emphasis is on remembering rather than
analyzing. “Schools are often geared towards examinations, which is important.
However, we need to grab at least a little portion of the students’ time to
give opportunities to be curious and ask questions and wonder. The key theme of
this science week is this process of introducing skills of science and math so
that the  enjoyment, the curiosity and
the wonder increase”, said Prof. Tirthankar Bhattacharya, Indian Institute of
Science and Chairperson of the Outreach Committee, The Academy Trust

This National Science Day, The Academy Trust and
Indian Academy of Sciences in collaboration with Seed2Sapling Education aims to
give students & teachers an engaging experience of scientific &
mathematical thinking process.  A series
of talks and exploratory sessions for teachers, students and anyone interested
in sciences has been planned. The science week will be held from 26th Feb to
6th March instead of a single day event on 28th Feb. Distinguished scientists
of India will deliver public talks. The sessions for students will have science
and math explorations using simple, easily available materials. Teachers’
sessions will provide educators to explore concepts using the scientific
processes and experience the joy of discovery firsthand. This will be followed
by a dialogue on how to make our science and math classrooms joyful.

The science week celebration will be followed by
other long-term engagements with teachers and students. A 12 week long
certificate program will be conducted 
for a selected group of science and math teachers. “To let children
enjoy the process of science, the key is to have a mistake-friendly and non
threatening environment where everyone is free to explore. Through our
workshops for school teachers and students, we would like everyone to
experience and enjoy this whole journey of science and math processes.” said Pankaj
Jain, co-founder of Seed2Sapling Education and one of the
organizers.

Another highlight of the event is the
‘Quest-Fest’ contest to celebrate simple, unique observations and questions
from both students and teachers. Science often begins with a simple, unique but
puzzling observation or a question. The idea behind this contest is to celebrate the process of science rather
than just the results. “The key aim of the question fest is to encourage
teachers and students to keenly observe the world around them and celebrate
this activity. A framework guiding the interested participants to come up with
unique observations and questions will be shared” said Mrinal
Shah, one of the organizers of the event.

Students, teachers and all other science
enthusiasts can register for this 
exciting  celebration of science
at the Indian Academy
of Sciences website located at ias.ac.in  or the Seed2Sapling
Education website at 
s2seducation.com