Channelising energy of the youth
The two days spent at the Magic Bus Summit were filled with moments of smiles, laughter, tears, energy, thrill and ecstasy. The emotions were evoked when we witnessed people of different ages and ethnic groups coming together to share their passion for working with disadvantaged children. We learned of the lives of children who have struggled to survive challenging childhoods.
Other interesting parts of the summit were the demonstration sessions and the kiosks of various organisations who shared their innovations in science, technology and other areas to help in the development of children and youth. Our team gave a two-hour demonstration at the summit. The CLIx team was led by Ajay Singh, who presented an overview of the project. After this, the domain teams shared their experiences and their modules with the audience. The science team, presented the toy making module and the physics bio-mechanic game at the Maidan summit.
The toy making module is designed to introduce students to a unique educational experience, which includes several hands on activities, experiments, models and toys. These toys were the outcome of collaborations with Arvind Gupta and his team. The toy making module is meant to promote hands-on learning, develop designing skills, and encourage collaborative learning among peers. The science team demonstrated how to make different toys such as a flute, a sprinkler, a spinner made up of straws, and two toys on magnetic levitation. The team showed how to make motors and generators using magnets. A math activity on making different shapes using matchsticks was also demonstrated. All the toys were displayed at the kiosk and visitors could explore them. One participant said that she was disappointed with the educational session at first but when the toy making module started, her idea of learning science changed. She said that she had really enjoyed the toy making session and regretted that she had not been taught science this way at school.
The physics game on biomechanics was also explored by visitors, and many found games an interesting way to teach concepts. Some visitors said that ‘fun’ was an important ingredient of learning. Walking back home after the summit, it struck us how channelising energy of the young can bring about changes in them that are least expected otherwise.
[Sheetal C and Subeer Kangsabanik, Science Team]
