Annual Science Camp 2011

Today was the last day of  the Annual Summer Camp 2011 organized by Parikshan Charitable Trust. I had initially hesitated in volunteering as a teacher at the camp. I really feel the camp has triggered my long term memory cells . The knowledge  I had  gained from ChildCraft and Britannica was now put to use to enlighten the kids. The subject I was allotted was Biology and since I was just a volunteer-teacher I had easy experiments in my bag. The experiments I had handled over the weeks included Sense of smell, Sweat, Lung Model, Solar System, Fire Proof Balloon, Transpiration,Invisible Ink,Stomata, Skin Moisturization , Acid Rain. The kids enjoyed initially as they involved group activities but in the last few days it seemed too theoretical as the experiments started involving lot of knowledge rather than expermentation.

Apart from the responsibility of teaching it involved baby sitting the younger ones who had a natural tendency to play with the chemicals kept around them. I was a bit nervous when I was given an experiment that involved fire but after a while gained confidence. The kids aged between 5-10 yrs , so the problem of being gunned by doubts was lesser but I handled the questions in most of the cases. On the last day, it was exciting as I saw the students perform experiments before their parents and the organizers. Along with the kids who were experimenting, their siblings much younger 2-3 yrs started joining them, inquisitive to watch their bros n sis at work.

There was a dental check up and a talk on dental care delivered by one of the student's mother -
Dr.Srividya Vashishta as a part of the camp followed by a nutritionist Sandhya check up.Earlier the camp started with a inaugural talk by the head of  Parishkan Labs who delivered a thanksgiving speech to the organizing team of the camp. I was surprised when he called out my name and thanked me for "showing interest in the camp even before my exams were over "  I seriously did not see that coming and was humbled as my friend who had worked under him had told me really good things about him.