ACTIVITY
I observe, therefore I see Maya M. Nathan
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hat is the role of observation in the teaching-learning process? From a young scientist who observed the sky and questioned why it is blue to a 5-year old who observes the birds in his surroundings and identifies their call, observation plays an important role in learning. But does the teacher need to develop observation as part of her/his teaching process? In the article, this question is explored through the author’s experience of National Science day celebrations in her school. It was the September of 1921. A young man stood on the deck of a ship lost in thought. He looked at the limitless blue sea in front of him and the vast expanse of the blue sky above. The endless stretch of blue piqued his curiosity. Why is the sky blue, he wondered? The question bothered him so much that right away he began his experiments with his pocket spectrometer. Over a period of seven years, he spent his time researching the answer. The quest for the answer led to an important discovery that won him a Nobel Prize in Physics making him the first ever Indian to win a Nobel Prize in Science. The discovery was the Raman effect and the young man was none other than Sir C.V.Raman.
Photos courtesy: Maya M. Nathan
Children making a paper rocket
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TEACHER PLUS, SEPTEMBER 2020
To this day, we commemorate the day this discovery was made by celebrating National Science Day on February 28. On this day, schools across the country organize science exhibitions on various themes and Open Days. This year we decided to have a science quiz at school. Ours is a little school tucked away in the Nilgiri hills. It caters to about 80 children from the adivasi communities in the vicinity. Since it is a primary school, we decided to have children of classes 4 and 5 as contestants. We thought we must make use of the fact that our students live in close communion with nature. So, we designed an audio round, where we would play audio recordings of bird calls and ask the children to identify the bird. We also planned riddles around animals and insects generally observed in the surroundings. The “Activity round” consisted of demonstrating an activity and asking what happens next. The plan was in place, the children were ready and had taken their places as contestants. The rest of the children formed the audience, including children from the kindergarten. Now, this was a concern. How would such young children sit through 45 minutes of a quiz? Wouldn’t they get bored and The enthusiastic audience
