Sixty five children from different areas of Chamoli, Tehri, Almora, Haridwar and Dehradun districts participated in a workshop on “symphony with science” at Kandoli village in Dehradun to learn science sans text books.
The workshop was oranised by Society of Pollution and Environmental Conservation Scientists (SPECS) with the support of Uttarakhand State Council for Science and Technology (UCOST). At the workshop the children learnt the basics of science from their surroundings like nature, waste, toys, soil and other elements and objects. The workshop aimed to inculcate principles of science in children at an early age. The children from classes IV to IX from the government and private schools learnt from the resource persons in the workshop.
Sanjay Kapoor demonstrated the making of action toys through which he explained scientific principles. He demonstrated more than 30 toys which are made by waste material. Manmohan lal a puppeteer, used puppets to communicate the importance of clean and green environment. Senior scientist Hariraj Singh explained how plants get their food from soil, the relationship between food on the table and the importance of healthy and nutritious soil and other aspects.
Biju Negi told some stories of Veer Chandra Singh Garhwali, Madho Singh Bhandari and Gandhi among other famous personalities of India. Workshop convener Dr Brij Mohan Sharma showed the testing of water and adulteration in food items.
He explained how can one can test edible oil , turmeric, red chilly powder and other edible items for adulteration. The children also visited the Forest Research Institute where they were informed about the importance of forests, ecosystem and biodiversity.