Shillong, November 02: The Academy Trust, Bengaluru organized a Science Popularization Workshop at St.Anthony’sHigher Secondary School on Wednesday, 1 November 2017. The day’s schedule comprised a lecture on biotechnology, a science quiz and an activity-based learning session called Fun-Sci.tAcT is a charitable trust that works to promote the cause of Science and Technology across India. It was set up in 2014 under the auspices of the Indian Academy of Sciences, Bengaluru (IASc) which was founded by Sir C V Raman, Nobel Laureate, in 1934.
This event was held for the school students at the School as a component of the 83rdAnnual Meeting of the IASc being organized during 3–5 November 2017 at NEHU that willsee enthusiastic participation of the Fellowship of the Academy along with researchers, teachers, students, and other invitees across the nation.
The tAcTwokshopstartedwith a popular science talk on ‘Biotechnology: Scope and Opportunities’ by Dr. S R Joshi fromNEHU. Tracing the origins of biotechnology, Dr. Joshi outlined the diverse applications of the discipline in sectors ranging from agriculture, industry, fuel, and health to textiles and cosmetics.
Sharing the results on the tissue cultured pitcher plants produced in his laboratory and citing examples from various aspects of our lives, Dr. Joshi elaborated the role biotechnology can play towards a sustainable future. Dr. Joshi also introduced the students to the concepts of genetic modification, genetic counseling, and gene therapy. Encouraging the students to pursue a career beyond engineering and medicine, he also guided the aspiring students on how they can pursue a career in biotechnology.
The talk was followed by a quiz on the topic of ‘Health and Diseases’ conducted by Dr. Aditya KumarTezpur University who is an Associate of IASc. The quiz comprised 6 teams of 2 participants each and 3 rounds including a dumb charades round that evoked enthusiastic response from both participants and the audience.
The first prize was bagged by Abhishek Kumar and Mili Goswamy while the second prize was awarded to Eveningstar Ryntathiang and Mikkim J Sangma. Certificates were awarded to all the participants and cash awards were given to the winners.
The last session of the day was conducted by a team of facilitators from the TREE Foundation. This activity based learning session called Fun-Sci was thoroughly enjoyed by the students. The session comprised of hands-on activities, puzzles and demonstrations related to basic scientific concepts such as centrifugal force, pressure and waves etc.
