TN girls get French award for weather gadget

Three Class VIII students of a government higher secondary school here have bagged a French university-sponsored cash prize for their innovative gadgets to monitor weather through a mini weather station installed at their school premises.

The prize was presented to them under a scheme of the University of Paris - 'Make Science' - which aims to promote scientific temperament among youth.

The students - S. Suganthy, E. Indumathi and V. Gayathri - developed a device called 'Aryabhata Mini Weather Station' using locally available materials to measure temperature and humidity.

It can also measure wind speed, air pressure and wind direction. An official source said the University's project was implemented following a MoU it inked with the Directorate of School Education and Puducherry Science Forum. The students submitted a report about the device to the Forum which sent it to Paris in June.

A panel of experts at the University talked to the students through video conferencing and assessed their talent. The students were jointly presented 300 Euros for their project at the 17th State level Children's Science Congress held here on Monday.

Another batch of three students - R. Arulmozhi, S. Jayanthi and A. Nithiya of the IX standard - of the same school bagged 100 Euros for their study on trees and forest management in Manapet village near here, school authorities said.