KOZHIKODE: The Kerala State Children’s Science Congress, which entered its second day on Friday, has created a lasting impression on young minds. Over 150 students participated in the three-day Congress. Children were grouped into two and when one group visited the Botanical Garden of the University of Calicut, the others visited the Kadalundi Community Reserve. They visited the mangroves (Kandal Kaadu) of Kadalundi and also saw the place where the Kadalundi train derailment had taken place. Prof. K. Papootty, noted Astrophysist, said that knowledge had to be acquired not only by reading but by getting real experience.
“It is called experiential education. Children nowadays simply mug up whatever there is in the textbooks and do not want to learn things by experiencing it,” he said during a session titled ‘Perspective of Nature’. “Children are always good at researching and learning new things from whatever they are exposed to. In order to make them go hand in hand with nature and showcase their research ability, the Children’s Science Congress is organised every year, where students from different parts of the state get the opportunity to exhibit their findings” said Dr. P. Muhammed Shafi, who is the chairman of the academic committee of the programme.
P.V Santhosh, State Committee member of KSSP, said that this programme was organized every year to improve students’ interest in Biology and also to ponder pure science. “Recently there have been many controversies regarding the existence of microorganisms. So, in order to clear up the issue, we took e taken up this theme,” he said. Prof. Manimohan of Botany department held a presentation on fungal World and Dr .B. S Harikumaran Thampi of the Department of Life Sciences held a class on the topic ‘Food and the microbes’. It was followed by Film screening and a campfire.
The department of Life sciences of the University of Calicut along with KSCSTE (Kerala State Council for Science, Technology & Environment) Thiruvananthapuram and KSSP (Kerala Sasthra Sahithya Parishad) Malappuram district committee with the support of the Departments of Botany and Zoology conducted this three-day programme which commenced on Thursday. The first day saw paper presentations of the students based on the theme ‘Sookshma jeevikalude lokam thedi (Exploring the world of microorganisms). The programme will end by Saturday.
