JOIN USStudents come up with showstoppers at exhibition
Are you suffering from an eye irritation due to continuous use of computer? Or do you have a problem with burglars?
The little scientists from the district have answers for them. And not only that, they have several ideas ranging from handy water motor to nuclear power plant and from wind-powered boat to hydro-power missiles.
These future scientists were ready to explain the different principles in their experiments. The one-day district-level high school science model exhibition and competition organised at Pilikula on Wednesday, turned out to be a feast for innovative minds.
“Eye Blinker”, a novel computer application, displayed by Karthik Bhat and Karthik P K of Sri Ramakrishna High School, will remind the user to blink his/her eyes at regular interval. “When you are sitting in front of a computer for a long time without break, chances of blinking the eyes will be reduced. This may in turn cause eye irritation and further complications. This application will alert the user to blink his eyes frequently,” said Ajith, a member of the group. The application displays periodic warning messages on the screen.
Hand pump made by Meghana and Maithri of Rotary English Medium School, Moodbidri, works as an alternative for normal motors, which cannot pump water once the water level goes down.
Under the theme of natural resources and their conservation, Pavan and Arun have made paper made up of peduncle of plantain tree.
The paper, which looks like ‘Chapatti’, is very strong and hard. “The peduncle is first crushed and made into a mixture. Then this mixture is put in a beaker and one to two grams sodium hydroxide is added to remove the waste particles. Then the mixture pressed to form fine paper,” Pavan explained.
Anusha and Shwetha of Madankap Carmel Convent Girls High School have a model explaining the work of ‘Curiosity’, the car-sized rover, which is exploring the Mars, works. They have arranged the model of the rover and shown in the laptop how it sends the images from the Mars.
The mobile transmission detector by Shreyas and Nikhil of Moodbidri Jain High School, burglar alarm by Chris and Akash of Rotary School, multi-facility road and water system using renewable energy by Vipul, Bernard and Prasad of St Aloysius High School were the other interesting models at the exhibition.
As many as 77 models from more than 70 schools were exhibited at the district-level expo. The models are based on the themes like industry, natural resources and its conservation, transport and communication, information technology and education, community health care and mathematics. Most of the models were under the theme of industry and natural resources feature nuclear energy and its effective utilisation in different industries.
Speaking to Deccan Herald, Regional Science Centre Director K V Rao said that the students have come up with useful and innovative ideas, year after year. “There is a silent revolution going on. Students are making models which can be applied in the real world very effectively. The understanding of students about the science and the world has changed tremendously and they are making use of each and every opportunity they are getting,” he said.
“In olden days, the students were not getting such an exposure like this. And whatever opportunities available, they were grabbed by city-based schools. But now you see, even from rural areas like Sullia and Mulki students are coming up with amazing models,” said Shailaja, a teacher from Sri Vyasa Maharshi Vidya Peetha, Mulki.
Earlier, ZP Vice-President Rithesh Shetty inaugurated the science exhibition. He said that the students should use their talent for the welfare and development of the country. “Many scientists and doctors, after getting education from here, taking the benefits from the government, pass the exams and then serve another country for the sake of money” he said.
ZP CEO Dr Vijaya Prakash said that every child has an inborn urge to question the phenomena around him. But as he grows up, he loses that ability and believes what others are saying. “You should retain that ability to question, whenever you come across new ideas and phenomena,” he said.
Mangalore Urban Development Authority Commissioner S Ajith Kumar Hegde, Taluk Panchayat President Harish, DDPI Mosses Jayashekhar were also present.
The exhibition is jointly organised by Zilla Panchayat, Public Instructions Department, Pilikula Regional Science Centre and DIET.