Visit to The National Science Centre - class 9

SCIENCE IS THE POETRY OF REALITY, said Richard Dawkins. Keeping in view the aspiration of an interface with Science and its activities, our teachers planned a visit to the National Science Centre at Pragati Maidan Delhi for us on Saturday, August 30, 2014. A group of about 120 students, started from School at 9:30 am in buses and reached our destination at 10:15 am. We entered the centre, and began our tour with the gallery, Water: The Elixir of Life. Here, we were told about the critical importance of water in our lives, the current rate of depletion of the water table and the need to educate citizens, in regard to the current crisis. Next we came upon the ENERGY BALL, where nylon balls were lifted to a height of fifty feet, which armed them with potential energy and then dropped, letting them travel all kinds of paths, expending the potential energy into other forms of energy. In the series of galleries, next came the Heritage Gallery, a rich preserve of our precious heritage. It contained exhibits about Indias profound and contribution to Astronomy, Mathematics, Chemistry, Medicine, Metallurgy, Art, Craft and Architecture. Next was the gallery of Human Biology-The Miracle of Human Life. It explained the human body in all its aspects, namely, anatomical, physiological, biochemical, structural, systemic and functioning. It was exciting to make a skeleton move to our commands! We saw animated models of extinct species like dinosaurs in the gallery, Pre-historic life. We then went to the Information Revolution gallery which displayed the evolution of Communication Technology over 6,000 years in India. The Digital Information gallery was also similarly informative. Finally, we went to the Emerging Technologies' gallery which introduced us to a range of sunrise technologies which promise to change human life in the coming decades. We also visited the most fun gallery of the centre, Fun Science. A whole world of wonder and amazement awaited us here with 137 interactive 'hands-on' exhibits. A seat of nails, actually comfortable to sit on and a pin screen were some of the many exhibits there. We wanted to try each one! However what we were most taken up by was THE SCIENCE WORKSHOP. The workshop was conducted by an experienced demonstrator. One cannot imagine, a needle passing through a balloon and the balloon not bursting? Or water being poured in one ear, and coming out of the other? Or sitting on a chair and not being able to get out, without any external force acting on you? Surprisingly, all this is possible! How? The answer lies deep in science! A visit to the National Science Centre Museum of New Delhi is a great way to arouse curiosity in the minds of school students. Possibly even helping build an initiation amongst us into the field. Report by Saruby Sharma, Divtesh Dhir and Saranshika Dhariwal.