81 students of grades 8 to 12 from N H Goel World School accompanied by 6 Math and Science teachers, Mr. M N Singh, Mr. Aakash Bhatt, Ms Sheela Anil, Ms Shraddha Agrawal, Ms Richa Tandon and Mr. Vinod Joon went for an Educational tour to Ahmedabad from 2nd to 9th December 2022.
During their tour they visited Science City Ahmedabad, Centre for Creative Learning at IIT Gandhinagar for 2 days followed by a visit to the Statue of Unity and then Vikram Sarabhai Space Exhibition of ISRO. They also visited the Sabarmati Gandhi Ashram, Kankaria Lake in Ahmedabad, the local market area and some other nearby places.
Starting from the science city where the students attended a brief session by Dr Brijesh Parekh and explored various exhibits and sections of the Science City like the aquatic gallery, the robotic gallery, the planet Earth, Hall of Science and space, Nature Park and more.
The next 2 days were full of excitement and lots of hands on activities at the Centre for Creative Learning (CCL) at IIT Gandhinagar campus where the students met Mr Manish Jain and other members of the CCL who helped the students to understand the Maths and Science concepts through simple models and hands on activities. The CCL team help the students to make their own models like the DC motor, whistle using a straw, 3D shapes with different faces, various designs of caps and heads using single newspaper etc. The understood the applications of Magnus force in cricket and football, the structure of Bucky balls, the number game magic with the playing cards and more. All the activities were based on the STEM concept which means bringing together the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics.
Next, the students visited the Statue of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel aka the Statue of Unity which is the tallest statue in the world with the height of 182 m. They also visited the Sardar Sarovar Dam where they understood how the electricity is produced in a hydroelectric power plant.
In the evening the students watched laser show at the Statue of Unity to learn the story of Vallabhbhai Patel and why he was called the Sardar. They also learnt how Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel helped to Unite India into one Nation after the Independence.
The next day the students visited Vikram Sarabhai Space Exhibition of ISRO at Ahmedabad where they interacted with many junior scientists who help the students to understand the various types of artificial satellites launched by ISRO, the types of launch vehicles used and also various missions that the ISRO has undertaken in the past. The students also enquired about the future missions of ISRO. They got many queries quenched by the scientists and also had a session with the head of Vikram Sarabhai Space exhibition Dr. N J Bhatt who answered the doubts of the students with easy to understand explanations.
Before leaving for Raipur, the students explored the local sightseeing places like Sabarmati Ashram and Kankariya Lake along, the nocturnal zoo, Adventure Park and the local markets.
This trip helped the students to enjoy Math and Science through activities. Overall it was a great learning experience with lots and lots of fun. All the students along with the teachers enjoyed it.