Training for KVS Teachers

Date: 31st March 2015

Time: 09:00 AM 01:00 PM

Venue: Kendriya Vidyalaya, RK Puram Sector 8

No of participants: Teachers: 38 TGTs Students: 40 studnts of class XII

Chief Resource Person: Mr Samar Bagchi

Assistance from Anveshika: Vinita Sharat, Renu Mittal

Mr Bagchi dealt with Archimedes Principle, Air Pressure, Surface tension and Newtons Laws of Motion through his low cost apparatus and offered insight into seemingly difficult concepts with very simple explanations.

Mrs Indu Kaushik, Assistant Commissioner, KVS was also present during the program.

The program was organised by Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan through special efforts by BVN-IAPT Anveshika.

Training for Teachers of NDMC Schools

Date: 30th March 2015

Time: 10:30 AM 01:00 PM

Venue: NDMC Conference Hall, Sansad marg

No of participants: Teachers: 32 TGTs, Students: 10 students of class XII

Chief Resource Person: Mr Samar Bagchi

Assisting Resource Persons from Anveshika: Sutapa LahaDe, Pragya Nopany

Touching everyones heart with his humour and simple, easy to grasp explanations, Mr Bagchi was an instant hit with the audience. He dealt with Newtons laws of motions & Fluid mechanics using very low cost demonstrations. Mrs Sutapa Laha De & Pragya Nopany also showed one experiment each. Mrs Vidushi Chaturvedi, Director NDMC was also present at the occasion.

The program was organised by NDMC through special efforts by Sutapa Laha De, a resource person of BVN-IAPT Anveshika.

From Conventional to Empirical@ The Heritage School, Gurgaon

Date: 14th March 2015

Time: 08:30 AM 02:30 PM

Venue: The Heritage School, Gurgaon

Name of the workshop: From Conventional to Empirical

No of participating teachers: 51 TGTs & PGTs

Chief Resource Person: Dr H.C.Verma

Anveshika Resource Persons: Mrs Pragya Nopany, Sutapa LahaDe, M.K.Uma, Smita Fangaria

With full support from BVN-IAPT Anveshika, The Heritage School Gurgaon hosted an interactive physics workshop conducted by Prof. H.C.Verma to a packed auditorium of physics teachers from schools all over NCR.

Inspiring teachers, in his motivational lecture Dr Verma said in my 30 years as an IIT professor, I don't need to know more that 25 formulae. Then why do we force kids to remember 500 formulae?! More than succeeding in exams, it is important to feel science...

Praising the demonstration experiments developed by BVN-IAPT Anveshika, he said he does not need to bring any experiments with him to Delhi and invited Anveshika resource persons to demonstrate on stage.

He led the discussion on each experiment through his probing, mind tickling questions, highlighting how our observation of different aspects of same experiment can bring excitement and joy. He showed us practically how to get the students to fall in love with the subject by moving beyond definitions and equations.

From Fear to Fascination - Physics through activities

Date: 27th Sept 2014

Time: 08:30 AM 04:30 PM

Venue: Birla Vidya Niketan

Title of workshop: From Fear to Fascination - Physics through activities

No of Participating Schools: 50

No of Participants: 300

Level of Participants: Class XI & XII students & PGTs

Chief Resource Person: Dr H.C.Verma, Professor of Physics IIT, Kanpur

Guests of Honour: 1. Mrs. Renu Sharma, Deputy Director of Education, Directorate of

Education, South Delhi

2. Mr. Mani, Deputy Commisioner, Kendriya Vidyalaya Sanghatan,

Gurgaon Region

Resource Persons from BVN-IAPT Anveshika: 1. Mrs Vinita Sharat 2. Mrs P. Uma

The event commenced with the welcome address by the Principal Ms. Meenakshi Kushwaha who urged the students to take up research endeavors in science and not go for conventional career options. The chief guest Mrs Renu Sharma welcomed the efforts of BVN-IAPT Anveshika to make learning of physics easier through interesting activities especially because students find physics very stressful.

Interacting with students at length Dr. H.C.Verma explained his joy of learning physics through experimentation and asked the students to delve into the road not taken. In a stimulating session next, Dr Verma demonstrated numerous activities designed by him for the senior secondary students. We sat with awestruck faces, as he drew our attention like a magnet commented Nikita , a student of Amity International School.

With the objective of showing the effectiveness of teaching through activities BVN-IAPT Anveshika resource persons Ms. Vineeta Sharat and Ms. M. K. Uma took up two model classes for teachers on Refraction of Light and Electromagnetism respectively.

For teaching the complex concepts of Thermodynamics, an exclusive teachers session was conducted by Dr Verma in which through a series of experiments he debunked several myths of physics that we blindly follow.

The session ended with a vote of thanks by Mrs Pragya Nopany, co-ordinator, BVN-IAPT Anveshika.

The event was a huge success because it not only helped the students in appreciating the beauty of physics but also channeling their natural curiosity into quest for finding this beauty in everything around them.

The event was covered by NDTV India and shown on their Hindi channel on 29-09-2014

2013-14

Towards Leadership in Activity Based Teaching of Physics @ BVN

Date: 13th Sept 2013 15th Sept 2013

Venue: Birla Vidya Niketan

Title of workshop: Towards Leadership in Activity Based Teaching of Physics

No of Participating Schools: 33

No of Participants: 35 selected teachers

Level of Participants: TGTs & PGTs

Chief Resource Persons: Dr B.N.Das & Dr H.C.Verma

Programme Details:

13th Sept 2013:

11:30 am 12:15 pmDemo class for students of class XI on Mechanical Properties of Fluids by Dr B.N.Das

12:15 pm -12:55pmHand on experiments

1:00 pm 1:30 pmLunch Break.

1:30 pm 3:15 pm Demo & Discussion by Dr B.N.Das

3:15 pm 4:30 pmDemonstrations by Participating Teachers

4:30pmTea/Dispersal

14th Sept 2013:

09:30 am 11:00am Lecture Demonstration by Dr B.N.Das

11:00 am -11:15 am Tea Break

11:15 am -01.30 pm Hands on experiments

01:30pm - 02:00 pm Lunch

02:00 pm - 03:15 pm Lecture- Demonstration by Dr B.N.Das on

03.15 pm - 04:30 pm Demonstrations by Participating Teachers

4:30pmTea/Dispersal

15th Sept 2013:

08:30 am 11:15 am Demo Class on Rotational Dynamics for class XI by Dr H.C.Verma

11:00 am - 11:15am Tea Break

11:15 am -01.30 pm Demo Class on Interference for class XII by Dr H.C.Verma

01:30pm - 02:00 pm Lunch

02:00 pm - 03:30 pmDemonstrations by participating teachers

03.30 pm - 04:30 pmplanning for future activities with Dr H.C. Verma & Participants over tea

Extensive demonstration sessions were taken by Dr. B.N. Das on the 13th and 14th Sept. Phenomenon in optics, electricity and magnetism , properties of liquids and heat were interestingly demonstrated which were thoroughly enjoyed by the teachers. The sessions focused onactivity based understanding of various concepts of physics, which not only gave a new dimension to teaching but was fun to learn also. The participants were given a chance to do hands on activities in which everyone participated with great zeal. The participants were also given a chance to show the activities of their choice in one hour sessions on both days.

On the 15th Dr. H.C. Verma conducted demonstration lessons on rotational mechanics and interference for about 50 students and the teachers coming from various schools of Delhi. He imbibed simple demonstrations on axis of rotation, torque and angular momentum to make the lesson on rotational mechanics very interesting. Demonstrations on interference and diffraction and an altogether different perspective on interference made the lesson on interference simply mesmerizing. He taught both the topics extensively for four hours. He interacted with the students and took up their queries. In the post lunch session he saw the demonstrations given by the participating teachers and gave explanations of many demonstrations. It was a very enriching experience.

Discussing the plans for future, the participating teachers suggested once a month meetings exclusively for teachers where similar discussions on exhibits could be held for professional growth. To keep everyone informed about activities of BVN-IAPT Anveshika, formation of a face book page of Anveshika was also suggested.

A valedictory session was held in the end in which Dr. Verma gave away the certificates of participation to all the teachers.

Three days of workshop were entertaining and educating where teachers from different schools got a chance to meet each other, exchange ideas and thoughts and learn many things. This workshop educated every mind to teach the way the children want to learn and not by the age old way of dictating the theory.

Dekho-Karo-Sikho @ BVN

Date: 7th September 2013

Time: 08:15 AM 1:00PM

Venue: Birla Vidya Niketan

Title of workshop: Dekho-Karo-Sikho

No of Participating Schools: 25

No of Participants: 62

Level of Participants: PRTs and TGTs

Chief Resource Person: Mr Samar Bagchi, Ex-Director, Birla Industrial & Technological Museum, Kolkata

Other resource persons: Ms. Shabnam Sharma, Ms. Jyotika Tayal, Ms. Rinila Devan, Ms. Disha Bansal and Ms. Geetika Kukreja from junior wing

of Birla Vidya Niketan

Programme Details: 08:15am-09:00 Demonstration Class

09:00am 09:15am - Inauguration

09:15am 10:30am - Demonstration/Discussion by Mr. Samar Bagchi

10:30am 10:45am - Tea Break

10:45am 12:30noon - Demonstration/Discussion by Mr. Samar Bagchi

12:30pm - 01:00pm - Distribution of participation certificates

The day began with a wonderful session with the students of Class 5. Through this session Mr. Samar Bagchi demonstrated to the teachers how to conduct the activity based teaching in the regular classroom. He demonstrated the scientific interaction by creating the inquisitiveness among the students about the themes he picked up leading the children to create their own hypothesis, analyze and derive conclusions. Children seemed absolutely engrossed and enjoyed every moment of the session thereby learning and participating actively in the process.

The workshop titled Dekho Karo Seekho for the science teachers of teaching science to classes I VII, began sharp at 9:00 a.m. with Saraswati Vandana and the symbolic lighting of the knowledge lamp by the chief guest Dr V.Vijaylakshmi and Mr Samar Bagchi. The Principal, Mrs. Minakshi Kushwaha, welcomed the guest of honour, The vice Principal, Mrs. Ranjana Joshi then introduced the chief resource person, Mr.Bagchi to the audience. Ms. Pragya Nopany, HOD Physics at the school and the coordinator of BVN-IAPT Anveshika, introduced BVN-IAPT Anveshika and its programmes.

Delivering his motivational lecture on the need of the activity based science teaching in schools, Mr. Samar Bagchi emphasized the use of easily accessible low cost no cost equipment . His emphasized on first developing observation skills to bring in inquisitiveness among the learners and then to develop analytical skills gradually. He also laid emphasis on multi modal teaching to develop multiple intelligences in the young learners with a special reference to the Gardners Theory of Multiple Intelligence.

He went on to mesmerize everybody with his way of explaining the concept of rotation and revolution of heavenly bodies in the solar system. Using himself as Earth and the participating teachers as the sun, the moon and the stars, he explained beautifully why dont we have solar eclipse on every new moon day and lunar eclipse on every full moon day, the stars we see in the sky are the same always or do they change, how to predict the position of a particular star in the sky, etc.

At 10:45a.m, a short working tea break of 15 minutes was given, during which short science experiments were demonstrated by the Science faculty of Junior School, Birla Vidya Niketan - Ms. Shabnam Sharma, Ms. Jyotika Tayal, Ms. Rinila Devan, Ms. Disha Bansal and Ms. Geetika Kukreja . The audience was invited to identify the principles behind each demonstration. The interactive tea kept the guests involved with their thinking caps on and they participated whole heartedly. Followed by this were the presentations by the motivated teachers of other schools who shared their activities with the rest. .

Post tea Mr. Bagchi presented various experiments based on the air pressure like, rotating tennis ball at the edge of the funnel, sticking of the card on the inverted glass filled with water, physics through human body. He delivered difficult concepts in such a simple manner that every participant could relate to it. His enthusiasm, energy, command over the concepts, his sense of humour were a great source of inspiration. At 12:30, the house was thrown open for the questions which were answered by Mr. Bagchi at length.

Delivering her speech after sitting through the whole session, the guest of honour Dr. V. Vijay Lakshmi thanked Birla Vidya Niketan for such an enlightening experience. This was followed by the vote of thanks given by Ms. Shabnam Sharma, the organisational in-charge of the workshop. Certificates of participation were given to all the participants.

Khel aur Jigyasa se Gyan tak @ BVN

Date: 24th January 2013

Time: 09:00 AM 1:30PM

Venue: Birla Vidya Niketan

Title of workshop: Khel aur Jigyasa se Gyan tak

No of Participating Schools: 24

No of Participants: 71

Level of Participants: PRTs and TGTs

Chief Resource Person: 1. Mrs Champa Banerjee, Ex-Principal, Springdales, Jaipur & currently on panel of Oxford University Press

Other resource persons from BVN-IAPT Anveshika: Ms Shweta Sharma & Ms Kirti Bharadwaj from Birla Vidya Niketan

Programme Details: 8:45 - 9:00 : Registration

9.00 9:20 : Lamp Lighting/ welcome by BVN Principal Mrs Minakshi Kushwaha/ introduction of BVN-IAPT Anveshika & its

programmes by the coordinator Mrs Pragya Nopany

9:20 -10.40: Demonstration/Discussion by Mrs Champa Banerjee

10:40 -10:55 : Tea break

10:55 -11:10: Demonstrations/Discussion by Ms Kirti Bhardwaj &

Ms Shweta Sharma

11:10 1:15: Demonstration/Group Activity/Discussion by Mrs

Champa Banerjee

1:15 1:30:Open house/ Vote of Thanks/Distribution of Certificates

Concepts Explored:

The programme began at 9:00 AM with symbolic lighting of Knowledge Lamp. The Principal, Ms Minakshi Kushwaha, welcomed the gathering and initiated the proceedings. Ms Pragya Nopany, HOD Physics at the school and coordinator of Anveshika spoke about BVN-IAPT Anveshika and its programmes.

Mrs Champa Banerjee started the workshop with paintings of Van Gogh and music which captured the attention of one and all conveying the power of vivid visuals and music for introducing a topic to the young learners. Sudoku and word scramble were next used to underline the need and the method to develop language and simple maths amongst young students. She went on to show how scientific concepts can be developed in a playful manner using easily accessible materials. She took an example of floating and sinking activity using vegetables and fruits to show how this activity can be used in class 1 for fun as well as in class 8 to explain Archimedes principle, buoyancy, refraction, surface tension, centre of gravity etc. She made a densitometer with plastic straws which was very eye catching. She also conducted a group activity in which teachers were divided into different groups, each group was assigned a different section of a house like bedroom ,kitchen, washroom etc and were asked to draw and write about various scientific activities going on in that part of house.

Another highlight of the workshop was demonstration of activities by BVN teachers Shweta Sharma and Kirti Bharadwaj at their own initiative, the activities were liked by all.

The vote of thanks was given by Mrs Pragya Nopany. The members of the organizing team were - Sutapa Laha De from another school and Ms Anju Chhillar, Mrs Tripti Saxena, Ms Shweta Sharma, Ms Kirti Bharadwaj, Ms Bharti Puri, Ms Bharti Arora, Ms Bhavna Suman, Ms Deepika Pareek, Ms Kaveri Raj, Ms Nupur Kharbanda, Ms Yashoda, & Mr Rajeev Jakhmola.

All the participant teachers were given participation certificates.

Pehle Dikhao Phir Sikhao @ BVN

Date: 24th November 2012

Time: 08:30 AM 4:30PM

Venue: Birla Vidya Niketan

Title of workshop: Pehle Dikhao Phir Sikhao

No of Participating Schools: 50

No of Participants: 84

Level of Participants: PGT and TGT

Chief Guest: Dr Subodh Mohanti, , Scientist G and Ex-Director , Vigyan Prasar, Govt of India

Resource Persons: 1. Mr Samar Bagchi, Ex-Director, Birla Industrial & Technological Museum, Kolkata

2. Dr B.N.Das, Visiting Professor , Presidency College, Kolkata

Sponsors: IAPT

Programme Details: 8:00 - 8:30 : Registration

8.30 9:00 : Lamp Lighting/ welcome by BVN Principal Mrs Minakshi Kushwaha/ introduction of BVN-IAPT Anveshika & its

programmes by the coordinator Mrs Pragya Nopany/Inaugural address by Dr Subodh Mohanti

9:00 -10.30: Demonstration/Discussion by Mr Samar Bagchi

10:30 -10:45 : Tea break

10:45 -12:30: Demonstration/Discussion on Experiments

12.30 -1.00: Lunch

1:00 4:00: Demonstration/Discussion on Experiments

4:00 - 4:15 :Tea/Open house/ Vote of Thanks/Distribution of Certificates

Concepts Explored:

Mr Samar Bagchi, in his inimitable style, packed with humour, literary quotes and anecdotes, demonstrated numerous activities on centre of mass, torque, Galileos Experiment with freely falling objects, weightlessness, air pressure, buoyancy and Archimedess principle, rising and setting of sun, moon &stars, upward motion of a cone on an incline, Newtons First Law of Motion. He took a class of 50 minutes with class IX students to show how the demonstrations make learning more effective and time efficient.

Post lunch session from 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM was conducted by Dr B.N.Das, who showed amazing demonstrations on magnetism, electromagnetism and light especially suitable for senior classes. He also took a demonstration class for students of class XI to show how time is saved by teaching through activities and learning is better.

The whole program was video graphed by NCERT team for the their educational training programs

All the participating schools were given a kit useful for preparing demo activities in their schools.

From Hands on to Minds ON @ BVN

Date: 7th September 2012

Time: 08:00 AM 2:30PM

Venue: Birla Vidya Niketan

Title of workshop: From Hands on to Minds ON

No of Participating Schools: 84

No of Participants: 140

Level of Participants: PGT and TGT

Chief Guest & Chief Resource Person: Dr H.C.Verma, Professor of Physics IIT, Kanpur

Guests of Honour: Members, RC 1, IAPT

Resource Persons from BVN-IAPT Anveshika: 1. Mrs Sutapa LahaDe

2. Mrs Pragya Nopany

3. Mrs Ranjna Bharadwaj

4. Mrs Vandana Pandey

5. Mrs Smita Fangaria

Programme Details: 8:00 - 8:30 : Registration

8.30 9:00 : Inauguration/ welcome by BVN Principal Mrs Minakshi Kushwaha/ introduction of BVN-IAPT Anveshika & its

programmes by the coordinator Mrs Pragya Nopany/short talk by Dr Sher Singh, RC 1 , IAPT about IAPT

programmes.

9:00 -10.00: Introductory Lecture

10:00 -11:00 : Demonstration/Discussion on Experiments

11:00 -11:30 : Tea break

11.30 -1.30: Demonstration/Discussion on Experiments

1.30 - 2:15 :Open house/Address by Mr Anil Kumar, President RC 1, IAPT/Vote of Thanks by BVN Vice Principal Mr Desmond

DMonte/Distribution of Certificates

2.15 - 2.45 : Lunch

Concepts explored:

Interacting with teachers on experiment based teaching of Mechanics Dr Verma created magic in a hall packed with 136 teachers from 84 schools. Using humour, simple devices, hard logic and interactive approach, Dr Verma unfolded the beauty of physics with each word and action, keeping the audience enthralled by bringing up apparent contradictions and then offering fascinating explanations, inspiring one and all by his obvious love of physics, his commitment to transmit this joy and his methodology .

Interacting with teachers on the concept of Centre of mass he cautioned how the beauty of extended body motion can get lost in trying to replace an extended body by a single point object. Taking up the concept of torque, he showed with a simple scale and a heavy bag, how for a body in equilibrium, net force and net torque is zero. He brought to the notice of the teachers that in absence of any net force, the net torque about any two axes will be same. Discussing the properties of the COM, he showed that an object can be balanced at the centre of mass because the torque due to gravity about the COM is zero. He also demonstrated through many interesting exhibits, how objects can be balanced at interesting points by shifting the centre of mass and the difference between the motion of centre of mass and other points on a body undergoing complex motion.

The post tea break session started at 11:30 am with five short demonstrations by BVN-IAPT Anveshika team members Ms Vandana Pandey, Ms Ranjana Bharadwaj, Ms Sutapa Laha De, Ms Smita Fangaria and Ms Pragya Nopany on centre of mass, angular momentum, weightlessness, friction and rolling motion respectively. Prof Verma discussed the beautiful physics behind each of these demos. After exhibiting a rotating toy, a lively discussion on centrifugal forces ensued, with Dr Verma explaining how to deal with circular motion without bringing in centrifugal forces. With a mixie and also a marble on a rotating plate, he showed how angular speed tends to increase the radius. At the end Dr Verma walked around the audience with a milk vessel in his hand, stunning everyone with resonant oscillations of the vessel. The sheer beauty of the simplicity of his devices left everyone overwhelmed.