HT Bureau
GUWAHATI, April 27: A two-day students’ nature and summer camp was held at the Chandrasing Rongpi Memorial High School, Kohora of Karbi Anglong to develop scientific temperament among students from the Kohora River Basin Area of Kaziranga. The camp organised by Aaranyak, NE India’s most prominent biodiversity conservation non-profit, provided an ideal environment to the students for learning about scientific concepts and exploring the natural world.
During the course, 23 students in standard 7 to 9 from four schools of KRB, including Rising Sun School, Sankardev Sishuniketan Vidyalaya, Village English School, and Chandrasing Rongpi Memorial High School, participated in the programme that was aimed at exposing them to hands-on activities on science that could be connected with daily life and nature.
“Science encourages seeking truth in every aspect through integration of various subjects and ideas thus creating new knowledge that overall improves the quality of life. Particularly for students, science is responsible for understanding the environment they live in, developing analytical thinking and problem solving skills,” Bhargavee Rava, an Aaranyak official, said.
“Throughout the two days, the students happily participated in a variety of educational and enjoyable activities. Some of the activities that can be mentioned are the principle of chromatography that was used to create colourful animal models followed by the use of turmeric as a natural litmus indicator and onion extract as an invisible ink. Second day of the session started with a discussion on the student’s perception of river as a natural resource and why is it important to conserve the river ecosystem followed by observing specimens under microscope, benefits of composting and how it can be used to improve soil quality and promote plant growth and learning to find the use of numbers in nature,” another official from Aaranyak, Arijit Dutta, said.
The programme organised in the Community Resource Center of Aaranyak on April 21 and 22, concluded with a note on Earth Day by Jayanta Kumar Sarma which also marked the anniversary of Amar Bagisa programme, another initiative of Aaranyak, that started last year with the students of Chandrasing Rongpi Memorial School. The students were also advised to impart their learning to their fellow classmates so that they may be equally interested in science. Overall, the programme provided students with a unique and stimulating environment in which to learn and explore, and it helped to foster a sense of appreciation for the natural world.
Bhargavee Rava, Arijit Dutta, Jayanta Kumar Sarma and Swapan Nath from Aaranyak looked after the academics and ensured that the programme was both educational and engaging. Rangsina Phangcho, Shaan Ali and Joshna Terangpi extended their assistance to make the programme a success and ensured that all students had a memorable experience.
