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Pebble Garden

Children from Isai Ambalam school went to visit Pebble garden. There he explained how to do mulching step by step. He explained how to do a bed and its size. First we have to collect dry leaves and branches. Then dip them in the water started to build a bed. Make a thin layer of with the dry leaves and add soil on top of the leaves. Do it for three time then add charcoal at the third layer. Again do the same process 4 time . Add charcoal in the 6  and 9 layer. After that he explained hoe to treat the charcoal. After doing mulching we have to wait for 2 month and then only we can use it for planting. Finally he explained the process of  vermiculture. It was an interesting trip to learn about mulching and about vermiculture.

   

 

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Soldering the battery connectors

7th graders of Udavi school were soldering the battery connectors with the header pins to use them on the bread board during their activity class. While soldering the connectors they learnt how to solder things and also learnt the names and the use of the components which they used for soldering. When they made some mistake they were able to de-solder it by themselves and corrected their mistake. They worked as team and helped each other to complete their task.

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Basic electronics course

 We do basic electronics course In STEM Land for people who are interested in electronics. This course is offered by Nagendra krishnapura an associate professor in the VLSI group of the department of Electrical Engineering of the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras. We started the course on 22nd of July. It is a 12 weeks course. Around 22 youths in and around Auroville have registered for this course. Monday and Wednesday is the video session from 5.15 P.M to 7.00 P.M. On Thursday it is the session for discussion on the doubts from the video and helping with the assignments.On Saturday it is the practical session by Sanjeev Rangathan where things are learnt by doing hands on activities. Last Saturday we were glowing up the LEDs with Capacitors and measured the brightness of the LED by connecting it with resistors. This Saturday we learnt about transistors and switches and to control the LEDs by connecting the switches in Series, parallel and toggling. We all enjoyed the session as well as we learnt. 

 

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Multiplication using Ganit Mala

I used the Ganit Mala with the 3rd graders of Isai Ambalam to demonstrate multiplication. They were able to understand that multiplication is a sum of additions. They were able to write 2-10 multiplication tables. Some children worked in pairs and some worked alone. They were fairly engaged with the material they were using.

They were also able to do 2 digit addition and subtraction using the Mala.

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Fixing the tube light in Isai Ambalam

In Isai Ambalam prayer hall two tube light were not working. One student asked how to fix it. Then all the student wanted to learn how to fix a tube light. So we started how current flows in a closed loop. Using the tester we showed how to check  the plug point. We wrote  the parts that are present  in a tube light connection. We explained the function of each part . Then they drew the circuit connection in their note book. Next we removed the tube light and started checking the circuit connection. We found that the choke in the tube light didn’t work. We replaced a new choke in the same frame and it worked. Then in our school library the tube light didn’t work.

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Makey Makey

9th graders finished their assessment and made a scratch program by setting different sounds to various keys. They played musics by conducting different materials like paper, compass, leaves and some aluminium pieces. They worked as a team and enjoyed a lot. They played drums sound and came up with their own music which made everyone to come and see what they were doing.

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Water Level Indicator

In Isai Ambalm school 4th and 5th grader were building a simple circuit to check the water level in their school tank. Initially we started to do it in a water bottle. We used LED to check the water level. Suddenly student started to ask every time we need to watch the LED continuously. Then we started discussing what to do and how to improve. While discussing one student told we can use a buzzer which will indicate us once the tank is full. Then we started using buzzer. When the circuit was completed children took took responsibility to fix it from the tank to the motor  box. Children were excited and shared their work. Each one gave their suggestions in a group. Finally all agreed to take the wire from one tree to other till they reached the school tank. The wire that we bought had many knots. One group decided to remove knots from the wire. Some students climbed the tree to tie the wire . Then I climbed the tank and fixed the wire in the tank. Then we turned on the motor and waited for the buzzer to give sound. When the tank got filled the buzzer was giving sound. So the water level indicator works. Teachers and students in our school were excited. It was a good experience to work with children. When the teacher asked many question the student answered correctly and explained the concept properly without mistake.

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Cubes Rods Plates – 3rd grade

I introduced the Dienes blocks to the 3rd graders to get a sense of ones, tenths and hundreds. Each cube is one, a rod is a ten and plate is a hundred. I asked them the following questions

  1. How many cubes can make a rod?
  2. How many rods can make a plate?
  3. How many plates make a cube?

Then we noticed that the pattern repeats itself : cubes – rods – plates – cubes – rods – plates ….. and that everytime it increases by 10 orders of magnitude.

The children had fun trying to keep the blocks in their hands. Some children were not able to hold it but they all tried.

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Kapla

Children were supporting each other while building a design in Kapla and were very concentrated in building it. They were creative and encouraged each other while building it. They had lot of perseverance and patience while doing it and at the same time they enjoyed a lot and were so proud after completing their design.

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Building a simple motor:

In Isai Ambalam school we showed Arvind gupta video for the  4th and 5th graders. They saw the video and noted down the materials that are needed to build a simple motor. First day they built and it didn’t rotate. They were sad and went back to their class. Second day they watched the video again and they came to know their mistake. They corrected their mistake and the it rotated. Siva and me explained the concept why it is rotating. From my experience when I built it for the first time it didn’t rotate and I didn’t know what was the mistake. Then It rotated. I learnt that I should never give up easily on what I work.