pro-poor, pro-nature & pro-women.
Every Child a Scientist Center
| Child, how happy you are sitting in the dust, playing with a broken twig all the morning. I smile at your play with that little bit of a broken twig, I am busy with my accounts, adding up figures by the hour, Perhaps you glance at me and think, "What a stupid game to spoil your morning with !" Child, I have forgotten the art of being absorbed in sticks and mud-pies. I seek out costly playthings, and gather lumps of gold and silver. With whatever you find you create your glad games, I spend both my time and my strength over things I never can obtain. In my frail canoe I struggle to cross the sea of desire, and forget that I too am playing a game.................. |
| - Guru Rabindranath Tagore |
| What is it ? |
| It is an unique new venture by MSSRF to use information technology to enrich and enhance the development of children belonging to the most underprivileged sections of our society. It aims to use the tools of science and technology to bring the world of nature right into the lives of children and enable them to explore its secrets with joy and ease. |
| The Every Child a Scientist Programme was started in 2001, with tribal children as the target group, at the Community Agro-biodiversity Centre (CAbC) at Kalpetta, Wayanad. In Chennai, economically and socially underprivileged children are the main participants in the programme, which was initiated in August 2002. Effort is taken to provide opportunities to children to nurture their inherent creative talents. The new information technologies are used extensively, as audio and visual aids help the learner to understand things better. The Centre is equipped with seventeen personal computers and multimedia learning material to make learning a joyful experience, and works closely with school teachers and non-formal educators in the choice and development of the content of the curriculum. |
| Why this Centre ? |
 The
Centre is based on the belief that within every child
there is a budding scientist. Carl Sagan, astronomer
and science writer, once said, "Everybody starts
out as a scientist. Every child has the scientist's
sense of wonder and awe." It is our ambition to
sustain this sense of wonder in children and use it
to help them understand the natural and technological
world.
Focusing on key science concepts, this programme will lay stress on how children learn. It will nurture learning by helping children ask questions, construct and test explanations against current scientific knowledge, and communicate to others, supplementing what they are taught in the classroom. |
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| Origins |
| From its inception MSSRF has had a history of working for the development and education of children. Since 1991, Project ACCESS has been focusing on the youngest age group, (below 6 years) of the most marginalized sections of society. |
| MSSRF also helped to set up a school for village children of mangrove-dependent communities at Pichavaram, to enable so-called school drop-outs, better described as 'push-outs', to continue their education. Several schools in the Coastal Wetland Conservation project area have started Mangrove Clubs, which stimulate children to get interested in the conservation of bio-resources. According to Prof. M.S.Swam inathan, 'Saving mangrove forests without saving the children for whose well-being these forests are being saved makes no sense.' |
| The experience of Rural Knowledge Centres also shows that information technology can be a powerful tool to bridge the knowledge and skill divide. |
| The objective is to spread knowledge on biodiversity conservation, sustainable and equitable use of our bio-resources, basic health and hygiene, and environmental issues. Animated experiments, web page, computerised quiz programmes, games, interaction with experts, animated CDs and field visits are some methods adopted to facilitate learning. |
| For Whom ? |
 Reaching
science to children is more important now than ever
before. At a time when people are greatly concerned
about the growing violence in the human heart, we must
realize that there is little difference among people
from the point of view of genetics. Knowledge about
the extraordinary unity in the genetic make-up of human
beings should be widely disseminated, to appreciate
biological and cultural diversity and promote pluralism.
To foster public understanding of science, the starting
point is obviously children, who play a key role in
shaping the future. Children living in poverty are like
blossoms in the dust. The fund associated with the Indira
Gandhi Peace, Disarmament and Development prize was
donated by Prof. M.S.Swaminthan to enable at least a
few such blossoms to flower and bear fruit. |
| The first Every Child a Scientist Centre was started in 2001 for tribal children at the Community Agrobiodiversity Centre at Kalpetta, Wayanad. In Chennai, the Every Child A Scientist Centre has as its focus children in the age group 7-15, school going or not. What it will do This Centre aims to provide opportunities to children to nurture their inherent talents with the help of new information technologies. The Centre is equipped with more than twenty personal computers and multimedia learning material to make learning a joyful experience. Children will also be able to access the Internet to deepen and broaden their learning. |
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| The programme was initiated in Schools of the X Zone of Chennai Corporation. During the course, children were exposed to several important subjects: plant morphology, soil, water, energy, forest biodiversity, leaf litter biomass, butterfly diversity, adaptations in birds, wild animals and snakes, pollution, common diseases, sky watch, traffic rules etc. So far, about 150 children from Corporation schools and Seva Samajam Illam have participated and 24 student projects prepared. |
| Batches of 25 children at a time, drawn from Chennai Corporation and aided schools, non-formal education centres, special education schools, and other institutions for children will be given exposure. The programme will attempt to |
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| How it will do |
| A variety of fun-filled methods will be used, including short films, games, animated presentations, html pages, self-instruction, quizzes, experiments, story telling, and field trips. Personal projects and information on topics in the curriculum, available CD-ROMs or on the Internet, will also be used. The Centre will work closely with school teachers and non-formal educators, especially in the choice and development of the learning material. Indeed, they will be the key players with MSSRF playing the role of a facilitator. Later, it is planned to take the programme into schools through science clubs. |
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| Workshops for teachers |
| The second interactive workshop was conducted in January 2003. It was inaugurated by Prof Bruce Albert, President, US National Academy of Sciences. The participants included school headmasters and science teachers, to assess the impact of the programme and to get direct feedback from the teachers. Teachers felt that such programmes are much needed for the children, to give them an opportunity to widen their knowledge base. They also expressed a desire to attend a training programme during the annual vacation. |
| Touch and Smell Garden |
The Touch and Smell Garden has been
developed to help visually impaired people to experience
the joys of nature and learn by exploration, through
the senses of touch and smell. The Hon’ble Chief Minister
of Tamil Nadu inaugurated the Touch and Smell Garden
on 7th August 2002. |
| Genome Clubs |
| Genome Clubs have been started in
schools and rural areas to create a cadre of young men
and women with a functional knowledge of genetics and
legislation pertaining to biodiversity and rights of
farmers on seeds. |
| Vacation Training Programme for School Children on Bioresources and Biotechnology (19th–30th April 2004) |
| The Government of India has declared the year 2004 as the Year of Scientific Awareness with the objective of making people scientifically literate, and to inculcate in them the habit of putting scientific awareness to practical use in day-to-day life. Health and nutrition, conservation of biodiversity, empowering people through IT and sustainable agricultural practices have been identified as broad issues and areas of concern. Progress in the field of biotechnology has immense implications for the conservation and enhancement of vast bioresources. Judicious application of biotechnological tools for sustainable management and enhancement of bioresources will therefore hold the key for our future. For this, it is essential that a critical scientific and technical pool of competent researchers be developed in the country. |
| It is in this context that a vacation training programme for school children of standard X was organised from 19th to 30th April 2004, with the support of the NBDB. Twenty-two students from different schools in TN were selected. The course was designed to expose them to various aspects of Bioresource Management through interaction with experts, field visits to the bioresource hot spot regions as well as handson practical training in the field of Biotechnology. Laboratory experiments included DNA isolation from plants, lichens and bacteria, secondary metabolite profiling from medicinal plants and lichens and tissue culture propagation methods. The course included 3 day field visit to Pondicherry, Chidambaram and Pichavaram where the participants were exposed to the concepts of Biovillage, Knowledge Centres, Mangrove Forests and their importance, Sacred Groves, Integrated Pest Management Systems, Organic Farming and Eco-friendly micro enterprises. |