CHENNAI: Students from corporation schools moved around excitedly, pushing and shoving impatiently to see all the exhibits on display, as students from other city schools explained different concepts to them at a three-day science fair, which began on Wednesday at the Kandasamy Naidu College, Anna Nagar. Student volunteers from various schools, like PSBB, Chinmaya Vidyalaya and KBJ Gurukulam, participated. They explained various science exhibits to children from Corporation-run and government-run schools from places like Perambur, Kilpauk, Madhavaram and Anna Nagar.The fair was organised by IBM International and Agasthya Foundation, in coordination with Parikshan Charitable Trust, as part of IBM’s centennial celebrations. Ravikumar N, Program Manager with IBM, said, “Similar programmes had been conducted in Hyderabad and Bengaluru. The visual appeal of the exhibits is what we want the children to see and learn.”Concepts of day and night, centrifugal force of the Earth, seasons, same face of the moon, full moon, new moon and eclipse were explained in a brief but informative way. Optical illusions and simple experiments with just plastic bottles and buckets of water held the children spellbound. A student of one of the visiting schools said, “These exhibits are really fascinating and I am glad we had the opportunity to come see them.”L Manoj, a standard six student of Gurukulam, said, “We wanted to help the other students learn. So we volunteered.” Explaining the principle of momentum, Kathrivel, a standard seven student of Chinmaya, says, “Learning with the help of these exhibits is easy and fun to explain. Anyone who can speak Tamil well volunteered from my school.” Gayathri, also from Gurukulam, said that the chemistry exhibits were a little hard to explain in Tamil, but with practice, they would manage.Social studies teacher for Chennai Girls Higher Secondary School, Perambur, G Eakanathan, said that the outing was good for the students. “Without textbooks, giving them an opportunity to come out and learn while having fun is what they needed. Learning by seeing will help them retain knowledge better,” he said.More than 260 student volunteers from classes six to nine were trained last Saturday. They were assigned a particular exhibit and taught to explain the principle behind it in both Tamil and English. Nearly 11,500 students are expected to visit the fair. Buses have been arranged to bring them directly form their schools. Snacks and water are also given by the organisers.
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