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Mumbai | December 4 - 10, 2014 | Vol 7, No 34 | ` 17.00

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A new initiative called Avasara Young Scientists unleashes the hidden scientist in young girls. It gives the girls hope and an insight into the developing world of science. Melissa Fernandes tells you more.

MAIN BHI BAALVEER > 16

Winners of Roll No 21 Contest! (in the issue dated October 23 - 29, 2014)

Chandresh Taneja Jeston Antao Naveen Kapoor

Nikhil BodapatlaPoonam JadhavPranay Sharma Shipla Gulabani

Prize dispatch date: Friday, November 28, 2014.In case prizes are not received by December 12, 2014, please contact Aircross Courier on +91 22 23877975 with your name, address and the above mentioned dispatch date

(Reference: Turner International Pick-up)

Shrishti Bekal Sujata Bansod Vandana Lilaramani

Many young girls love gadgets, laboratories and all things science.

But very few women build their careers in science, which is considered to be a male-dominated field. In order to break this mould, Avasara Academy recently started an initiative called Avasara Young Scientists

for girls between classes 6 and 8. The programme aims to encourage science education for girls by giving them hands-on experiences with science.

Urvashi Bahuguna, pro-gramme manager at Avasara Academy says, “Girls in India are not encouraged to take up STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics). They are told they aren’t smart enough or that a career in the field of arts is more suitable for them. When they do come across scientists and engineers, most of them are men. At school and at home, these fears and beliefs are reinforced by parents and teachers, who fear they will be harassed in the male-dominated institutes and engineering colleges. They even lecture the girls that science >> CONTINUED ON PAGE 2

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education would not help them in doing housework. We conceived this programme to fight these stereotypes and demonstrate to schoolgirls that science can be engaging and fun as opposed to difficult and boring.”

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DID YOU KNOW? DID YOU KNOW? Gori eats 2kgs of crab and a kilogram of fi sh everyday.

The person looking after Gori sends her a meal-time signal by beating the aluminium bucket carrying her food. The reptile immediately understands the

signal and comes to the end of the pen for her meal.

DID YOU KNOW? DID YOU KNOW? Zoology is a branch of

biology concerned with the study of animals. Zoology is divided into different fi elds—mammalogy referring to the

study of mammals, ornithology referring to the study of

birds, herpetology referring to the study of reptiles and

amphibians, ichthyology referring to the study of

fi shes, entomology referring to the study of insects and

helminthology referring to the study of worms. In the 1700s and 1800s, zoology became

a genuine and important discipline in the sciences,

leading to the expeditions of a number of noted zoologists.

Students Design Their Own Syllabus

Keeping in mind the development of modern technology and the industry’s changing dynamics, students of the zoology department of Mumbai University have designed their own syllabus. This is the first time in the history of Mumbai University that students have designed their own syllabus.

The 27-member committee that formulated the syllabus includes six students—a mixture of undergraduates and some rank holders from earlier batches. The newly designed syllabus will be studied by the university’s first-year Bachelor of Science students for the year 2015-16.

India’s Only Captive White Crocodile to Be Released Soon

India’s only female albino captive white crocodile, 39-year-old Gori, will soon be released into the wild. The proposal to set Gori free was made years ago but no decision was taken as wildlife experts expressed their concern over her ability to adapt to the wild. Now, Bhitarkanika National Park authorities have finally agreed to release Gori, however they will expand her territory before releasing her completely. To do this, they have linked the enclosed pond Gori lives in to the surrounding natural creeks such that there is a constant flow

of saline water into the pen from the Bhitarkanika river system. This will help Gori acclimatise to the new environment. Gori is 8ft long and was caged in a pen inside the Dangmal Crocodile Research Center in the Bhitarkanika National Park since birth.

The Avasara Young Scientists programme was held at Flame School campus in Lavale Village, Pune. Over a hundred eager, thoughtful and ambitious girls from Pune joined the programme to unravel scientific mysteries. The girls participated in activities such as creating the best helmet to protect motorcyclists, designing a pill coating, solving a crime scene and even coding a computer game. Naina Balvi, a class 7 student from Kilbil High School, Pune says, “I was thrilled to take up all the challenges and experiments thrown at us by the instructors. My favourite experiment was when we tested soaps to find the best germ-free soap. For this, we added food colours in milk and later threw soap solution into it. The colours spread out in a circle. We were told that whichever spreads the most is the best germ-free soap. Dettol proved to be the best, compared to Lifebuoy and Pril. I liked this experiment because it informed me about something I use every day. I was excited to discover this fact!”

The girls were also made to use their imagination to discover scientific rules hidden

in common techniques. Pranjal Mane, a class 7 student from the same school says, “We fancied ourselves as engineers. For every challenge, we were given a fixed amount of material and asked to make something out of it. We made a tower using spaghetti sticks. Our challenge was to balance the marshmallow on top of the tower for two minutes. We achieved this by building a strong foundation for the tower for which we stuck the spaghetti sticks together in a square, then added four sticks at each corner and then built a shed using the spaghetti over which the marshmallow balanced.”

Apart from exploring scientific concepts, the programme also built awareness on the various fields in science. Bahuguna adds, “The programme allowed the students to see other careers in science like forensic detectives and biochemists as against the traditional ones of engineering and medicine. Building a tower, designing a boat and learning basic computer programming helped the girls get a much clearer idea of the kind of work these fields require.” Echoing her thoughts, Mohini Khedekar, an ambitious class 7 student from Kilbil High School, Pune says, “I wanted to become an oncologist but after this experience I am even interested in engineering. The programme really helped me develop my thoughts and guided me with various options.”

The Avasara Young Scientists programme gave the young girls a chance to dream and aim for higher goals in life. It showed them that science is a wide and welcoming field for all women. The programme also celebrated the successful Mars mission–which has been named among the best inventions of 2014 by TIME magazine–and highlighted the increase in women scientists at the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). Tasneem Sayyed, a student of St Joseph’s High School, Pashan, Pune says, “I want to be a scientist and create things. One day I will become a software engineer for which I am learning science thoroughly.” Naina wants to pursue astronomy too. She adds, “I will become an astronaut because I want to see the Earth from outside and explore it.”

With the success of this programme, Avasara Academy is planning to conduct another programme at the end of December that will branch out into different subjects. Bahuguna adds, “The new programme will provide girls with a rigorous academic experience with hands-on learning to inspire continuous inquiry. We’re also opening the Avasara Leadership Academy for highly motivated class 7 and 8 girls in June 2015 that will hone their leadership skills.”

Urvashi Bahuguna with the young scientists

— Urvashi Bahuguna, programme manager at Avasara Academy

To participate in Avasara’s science and leadership programmes, log on to www.avasarayoungscientists.org

The programme allowed the students to see other careers in science like forensic detectives and biochemists as against the traditional ones of engineering

and medicine. Building a tower, designing a boat and

learning basic computer programming helped the girls get a much clearer idea of

the kind of work these fi elds require.