Hands-on experience with science

Science was made simple and fun at the ‘Deeksha Grand iCube – 2013’. Thousands of school students from the City made their way to Koramangala Indoor Stadium to take part in the science fair. Organised by Ace Creative Learning, there were many competitions and events in store for the students.

One of the main events was an on-the-spot competition where over 300 schools from all over Karnataka had taken part. Out of these, only 26 schools were shortlisted for the final day. The participants from these schools had only three hours to design a model on-the-spot based on a topic given to them at the venue. The fair also had several other events in store for the students like quiz competition, science exhibition and a robotics workshop.

The venue was bustling with activities, with participants from each school putting in their best to ensure that they emerge winners. Visitors too had a good time. As part of the science exhibition, Anup K, Sahadev and Sanju, class ten students of MES High School, designed a model tractor that ran on mobile phone battery. They explained that their model consumes less electricity because of the battery they have used.

“We took one day to design the model. Our teachers gave us inputs on how to go about it but the actual construction was done by us,” said the group members.

At another counter, students from Indian Public School were explaining how the human body functions. Pointing to the model, Mrianlini Akilan, a class nine student of the school, said that they had chosen this project to emphasise the importance of health.

“There is a lot of awareness required on healthy eating. We are telling visitors what’s good for their health and what’s not,” she said. She added, “Although, it is a competition it’s secondary whether we win or not. Our primary aim is to create awareness and we are satisfied that we have been able to do that.”

Many students opted to choose biology-related themes. K Sridevi, head of the science department at the Indian Public School, justified, “It’s easy to understand biology whereas the concepts of Physics can get difficult.”

The sheer number of students who turned up indicated the enthusiasm of the students. Explaining that such a fest was a long felt need, G Sridhar, managing director of Ace Creative Learning, said, “This is an effort to make true engineers.

Children need hands-on experience to enjoy science,” he said and added, “We hadn’t expected such a turnout for a science fair. This just goes to show that there has always been a need for an event of this kind. We are hoping to make this an annual event.”