-Ilakiya, Sivasankar, Ajai, NithyaSandhosh
Every week, around 25 students from Sanfort International School will visit STEMLand to explore STEM activities. The school is a part of Sanvi Educational and Charitable Trust, which focuses on improving the well-being of marginalized groups, particularly differently abled children, the elderly and women. They offer educational support, care, and vocational training to empower these individuals and promote social inclusion.
On April 12, students got to explore some fun interesting activities based on Electronics lead by SivaSankar.
To understand how a DC motor works, we did a fun activity using simple and easily available materials like batteries, enamel wires, and magnets. In a group of five, students enjoyed experimenting with the batteries and magnets. With help from their team members, they got the motor to work. They felt proud and accomplished because they made something that runs using just a few basic items.
As a reflection on what they did, the students wrote down the steps of the process and explained how it worked. They were also curious to learn more—asking questions like how it works, where they could find these materials, and what the names of the different parts were.
In the next activity, they made an electromagnet using electric current. They also connected this new learning to the previous DC motor activity.
These two hands-on activities inspired the children to build things and wonder about how everyday objects (like their toys) work. Since the activities were done by the students themselves, we saw that both boys and girls enjoyed them equally.
Reflections:
SivaSankar:
Helping students build a simple DC motor was a really fun and eye-opening
experience. We used everyday things like enamel wire, magnets, and batteries,
and it was amazing to see how they worked together to make the motor spin. This
showed us how electricity and magnets can create movement, which is the basic
idea behind electromagnets. Seeing the students so excited when their motors
actually worked reminded me how fun and powerful hands-on learning can be. It
made science feel real and easy to understand. This activity showed that even
simple materials can teach big ideas and help students enjoy learning.
Ilakya Arasi:
I realised that I need to have a curious mind to enjoy anything, without that I
won’t really care to know why or how something is happening and that will stop
me from growing. I realised that all of us have it with us, it just need to be
induced for a child to grow and learn efficiently.
Ajai:
My name is Ajai.D. I stand for equality for myself and others. When I work with
children I feel connected with them. When I work with them I notice While we
were working on our hands-on project, they weren’t able to do perfectly at the
beginning. However, they kept working on it persistently, making adjustments
and trying different approaches until the project was successful. By doing the
project themselves they gain deeper understanding. Watching children work like
this reminds me that learning is a process, not a one-time event. They taught
me to be more open-minded, curious, and determined in my own work too.
NithyaSandhosh:
My name is Nithyasandhosh. I deeply care about kindness and equality for myself
and for others. Recently, I supported a Saturday activity with Sanfort
international school children. I taught them how to build a DC motor and
explained its working principle. While teaching, I learned when children are
introduced to new concepts in a way that allows them to explore and play, they
stay engaged and focused. They don’t get distracted easily. Playful learning not only helps children understand
complex ideas but also fosters curiosity and deep concentration.
Students Reflection:
They shared that it was fun making these activities and they would like to do
it more and learn on the upcoming weeks.
Other activities:
After the two activities, students explored some games, rubix cubes and cast puzzles.
