New approach: Mr Samar Bagchi at his study

Basic science education in West Bengal is now confined to textbooks and the experimental aspects of it has largely been over looked. To address this problem, the Birla Industrial and Technological Museum (BITM) and Kishore Bharati Development Society are coming up with an exhibition at the BITM during December 11 to 18. This is in deference to the Union government?s plan to observe 2004 as the Year of Scientific Awareness.

The organisers of the exhibition have sent invitations to 12 well-known schools in Calcutta and Purulia. Also, students have been invited from Mass Education, an organisation working among the underprivileged children.

Mr Samar Bagchi, former director of the BITM and an official of the exhibition, said, ?All the experiments to be showed have one common feature. They can be performed at low cost ? or no cost at all ? primarily using materials that are easily available.? Besides, each experiment has a fun ingredient that should appeal to the youngsters.

The Association for Research and Training in Basic Sciences, Nagpur, will contribute experiments at the exhibition. The organisers are also collaborating with centres like the Bose Institute, Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics, S.N. Bose National Centre for Basic Sciences and the Jagadis Bose National Scientific Talent Search to make the exhibition a success. The participants, all of them young, will be encouraged to draw the inferences themselves and then given a thorough explanation. According to Bagchi, the mistakes that have crept into textbooks over the last 40 years will be clarified through the experiments.

The experiments will show how science can be learnt by conducting simple experiments. Although experiments in physics, chemistry and biology have been included, the stress is on physics. ?This is because chemistry and biology experiments are time-consuming and, therefore, not so viable,? said Bagchi.

A chemistry experiment to be shown at the exhibition requires only soda and vinegar. As soon as they come in contact, carbon dioxide is formed and the gas can be displayed by placing a balloon over the reaction mixture. The balloon gets inflated when the reaction starts. Another experiment to explain the characteristic of binocular vision in human will show that depth of vision is impossible when one sees something with only one eye.

According to Bagchi, all the experiments have been designed with one objective in view: to stimulate the young minds to find the underlying science behind many a physical phenomenon. Youngsters have been told not to repeat the experiments that are shown in the text books. They will have to come up with simple alternatives to many of those experiments. Bagchi is hopeful that the exhibition will be like a breath of fresh air for the students whose knowledge base is now ?restricted to their textbooks.?

Puran Ghosh