Science is a spirit of enquiry based on the process of logical reasoning. It is a way of training and developing the mind and whole life functioning according to the ways and methods of observation and experimentation. Science has become one of the most important factors in the development of society. Unfortunately Science education in majority of the schools including government schools and schools in rural areas, there are no laboratory facilities at middle school level. Bare theoretical teaching of science cannot inculcate the qualities needed for one to learn scientific methods and attitudes. The situation is even worse in the schools situated in rural areas. This proposal about to create a science awareness programme for the children in the rural areas.
Introduction
Science is a spirit of enquiry based on the process of logical reasoning. It is a way of training and developing the mind and whole life functioning according to the ways and methods of observation and experimentation. Science normally means the main branches of knowledge and study of physics, chemistry, biology, mathematics, medicines, geology, geography, and astronomy etc with objective consideration of facts, observation, and validation of hypothesis to arrive at a conclusion of law of science.
Science era began from ancient period. There was little scientific knowledge and awareness in Stone Age. Renaissance in 15th century ushered in a new horizon in science through the work of Galileo and Copernicus by establishing the Helio-centric system that earth moved round the sun and vice – versa.
Then came industrial, modern, nuclear and the present era of knowledge age. Scientific awareness, innovation, invention, discoveries have touched every activities of our lives without which present way of life we lead would have been impossible.
Now knowledge powered person is born with capabilities to know the unknown.
Science has become one of the most important factors in the development of society. Unfortunately Science education in our country has not been able to stimulate the young minds towards Science. Further in majority of the schools including government schools and schools in rural areas, there are no laboratory facilities at middle school level. Bare theoretical teaching of science cannot inculcate the qualities needed for one to learn scientific methods and attitudes. The situation is even worse in the schools situated in rural areas and low-fee schools.
Science Awareness:
Science awareness is a basic necessity in all aspects of our life, be it social, economic, political, educational and strategic matters to make our country prosperous and proud, and fulfill our former president, Dr APJ Abdul Kalam’s vision of developed India.
Why Science Awareness?
- Scientific awareness gives us knowledge and knowledge results in societal- economic transformation for welfare of people at large.
- It encourages research scientists and creative mind for benefits of mankind.
- It makes us to question dogmas, superstition broadening our outlook and establishing progressive minds.
- Science awareness establishes scientific temper
- It enables us to become self-reliant.
Project Objectives:
- Create science awareness and scientific attitude in rural children
- We should take science to the people and people to science
- Make as many people scientifically aware as possible
- Make proper utilization of scientific knowledge and skills for benefit of mankind
Major Areas of Concern:
There are many areas of concerns. The major areas of concern are:
- The Planet Earth – Environment, Disaster
- Health Issues- Sanitation, Nutrition
- Cosmic Science- Solar system
- Biological Science- Human body, Medical science
- Computer Science and Information Technology- Internet
Planet Earth:
Nearly everything we do each day is connected in some way to Earth: to its land, oceans, atmosphere, plants, and animals. The food we eat, the water we drink, our homes and offices, the clothes we wear, the energy we use, and the air we breathe are all grown in, taken from, surround, or move through the planet. By 2025, eight billion people will live on Earth. If we are to continue extracting resources to maintain a high quality of life, then we, as individuals and citizens, need to know more about our planet — its processes, its resources, and its environment. And only through Earth science education can students understand and appreciate our complex planet.
Earth science empowers us to think globally and act locally — to make sound decisions about issues important in our lives as individuals and citizens. People who understand how Earth systems work can make informed decisions about where to buy or build a home out of harm’s way. They can debate and resolve issues surrounding clean water, urban planning and development, national security, global climate change, and the use and management of natural resources.
If we intend to live on — and with — this planet, we truly need to understand how it works, and to understand the interactions of the many components that make up the Earth. The Earth sciences provide an integrated and interdisciplinary approach to a true understanding of our planet. Earth science includes and applies knowledge from biology, chemistry, physics, ecology, and mathematics to tackle complex interdisciplinary issues. Earth science education also improves critical thinking skills. It offers a historical perspective and improves our ability to predict future events. To understand Earth processes that affect us now and tomorrow, geoscientists look for evidence of what happened in the past. This connects students to the past, as well as challenging them to think about the future.
- The aims to “demonstrate the unique and exciting ways in which Earth sciences can help future generations meet the challenge of ensuring a safer, healthier and more prosperous world ”.
- Understand and keep intact for future generations the rich record of our planet’s history, knowledge of its structure and function and of its self-sustaining dynamic equilibrium.
- Make sustainable use of Earth’s richness and diversity for the benefit and prosperity of all peoples.
- Governments will be urged to pay greater attention to the Earth sciences.
- A science programme, concentrating on globally impotents issues facing all nations, will promote multidisciplinary research towards a fuller understanding of the Earth System.
Water and Sanitation:
- No fresh water No future. Now 31 countries of the world accounting for 8% of world’s population face a chronic water problem. About 1.5 billion people globally do not have access to improved water supply source whereas 2.5 billion people do not have access to any type of improved sanitation facility. About 2.5 million people die every year due to diarrheal diseases; most of them are children below 5 years of age.
- Minimization and elimination of pollution and contamination of water is necessary to arrest water borne diseases which are more during summer and rainy seasons.
- Fluoride, Arsenic, Salinity, Nitrite in excess of quantities cause dangerous diseases. Norms, regulation, and testing methods are necessary for safe drinking water. Water re-cycling methods, and waste water treatment are some of the steps we must adopt .Good sewage system, garbage disposal are helpful to establish clean micro environment.
Health and Nutrition:
- Health is wealth. Physical, social, and mental wellbeing is our goal to establish health for all. Dual disease burden of communicable and life style diseases; malnutrition and pollution and contamination of food are the challenges today.
- We must overcome big four nutritional deficiency of protein energy, vitamin ‘A’, iron, and iodine among children and women to reduce mortality rates .Health of child depends on health of mother . Our health care targets are girl child, lactating mother, infants, and young child feeding to reduce mortality rates.
- Health security steps are online medical services, telemedicine consultation, mobile health clinic, health education, and health insurance schemes. Integration of traditional strength of Unnani, Sidha with modern medicine can provide affordable health care for the needy.
Environment and Bio-Diversity:
- The world is facing a serious dilemma on the choice between economic growth, sustainable growth and environment conservation. The conservation of all biological diversity is a common concern of humankind and it is vital to anticipate, preserve and tackle the causes of losses or reduction of biological resources. Biological diversity has impact on our everyday life. The food, fibre, shelter, health and other needs of growing world population are dependent on bio diversity. Sustainable use of biodiversity at the national and international level is of critical importance.
- Preservation of GREEN GOLD, prevention of environmental degradation, and ecological balance is necessary. To promote clean and green environment and biological diversity, Traditional Knowledge Digital Library (TKDL) is an innovative approach for benefit of all.
Disaster Preparedness
Natural and manmade disaster cause loss to life and property. There are 4 ways to face disasters.
- Simple, accurate advance warning system
- Pre disaster preparation
- Activities during disaster
- Post disaster management to save life and property.
For Floods quick warning system, information on likely flood points and evacuation of likely flood affected areas are vital.
In case of Cyclone, 48 to 72 hrs advance warning system, quick dissemination of information, and evacuation of likely affected areas and alternate shelter are very important.
Similarly for Earthquake, early signal on seismic activity, time and place, warning stations and spread of information will be helpful…
We can fight Drought by maintaining water table and avoiding excessive withdrawal of ground water. Cloud seeding, an innovative approach, as done in Karnataka, Maharashtra, and Andhra Pradesh, can be adopted in other states. Through soil management, we can maintain fertility of soil by supply of nutrients, crop rotation and soil conservation by terrace farming. Post disaster management saves life and property through rescue operation, relief provision and rehabilitation of affected lives.
Astronomy /Cosmic Science:
Astronomy is a science involving the observation and explanation of events occurring outside Earth and its atmosphere. It includes the study of the origin, evolution, and physical and chemical properties of objects that can be observed in the sky, space, and in the whole universe.
Astronomy is one of the oldest sciences. Astronomers of early civilizations performed methodical observations of the night sky, and astronomical artifacts have been found from much earlier periods. However, the invention of the telescope was required before astronomy was able to develop into a modern science. Historically, astronomy has included disciplines as diverse as astrometry, celestial navigation, observational astronomy, the making of calendars, and even astrology, but professional astronomy is nowadays often considered to be synonymous with astrophysics. Since the 20th century, the field of professional astronomy split into observational and theoretical branches. Observational astronomy is focused on acquiring and analyzing data, mainly using basic principles of physics. Theoretical astronomy is oriented towards the development of computer or analytical models to describe astronomical objects and phenomena. The two fields complement each other, with theoretical astronomy seeking to explain the observational results, and observations being used to confirm theoretical results.
Biological Science:
Biology is the science of life. It is concerned with the characteristics and behaviors of organisms; how individuals come into existence, and how species evolve; and the interactions they have with each other and with their environment. Biology encompasses a broad spectrum of academic fields that are often considered independent disciplines, many of which are listed below as subcategories.
Biology is a branch of Life Science, and is the study of living organisms and how they react to their environment. Biology deals with every aspect of life in a living organism. Biology examines the structure, function, growth, origin, evolution, and distribution of living things. It classifies and describes organisms, their functions, how species come into existence, and the interactions they have with each other and with the natural environment. Four unifying principles form the foundation of modern biology: cell theory, evolution, genetics and homeostasis.
Biology as a separate science was developed in the nineteenth century as scientists discovered that organisms shared fundamental characteristics. Most biological sciences are specialized disciplines. Traditionally, they are grouped by the type of organism being studied: botany, the study of plants; zoology, the study of animals; and microbiology, the study of microorganisms. The fields within biology are further divided based on the scale at which organisms are studied and the methods used to study them: biochemistry examines the fundamental chemistry of life; molecular biology studies the complex interactions of systems of biological molecules; cellular biology examines the basic building block of all life, the cell; physiology examines the physical and chemical functions of the tissues and organ systems of an organism; and ecology examines how various organisms and their environment interrelate.
Empowerment Through IT :
- We can empower ourselves through IT in many ways;
- We get real time data for quick and correct decision making
- Digitizing land records, Telemedicine, Tele education, e-governance can help everyone including rural mass
- Internet
Expected Outcome
Children’s Science Programme will be a major step towards Science popularization among Masses. Our special focus will be on the smaller and rural schools where generally no exposure reaches. These children will be greatly attracted towards science when they will perform experiments and explain science to a number of visitors. The programme will also change the attitudes of the teachers of these schools when they will see their children doing experiments confidently. We do hope that the atmosphere of science education will be very different in these schools after the programme.
Strategy- Programme Structure:
We identified about 12 rural schools of XXXXXX (block/area) of XXXXXX (city, state) where the science awareness programme will be proposed.
The project will be implemented in six months duration with 12 Schools in xxxxx block. Six days workshop will be conduct in each school and two schools will be covered in each month, where the series of science awareness programme on above mentioned five focused area of science will be organised. Five exporters/resources persons form specific fields will be invited to deliver exposure to these rural school children, first five days, each day one resource person deliver a lecture on selected topic simultaneously student can participate on interactive discussion with expert. At the same time a study martial also distributed to student on specific science related topics. The final and last day of programme all student of this workshop take participate in a competition which will be base don last five days exposures and best five students will be awarded. It will be helpful to us to know the impact and result of the programme as well as competitions encourages to student towards science and makes programme successful.
In the current scenario Internet is a great source of information and biggest invention of science, so keeping this aspect in mind all the student of the programme will be facilitated with full exposure of internet browsing during the workshop.
