Student orientation programme in Chilika Sarkari Upra Vidyalaya, Injanpur.

Jan 21, 2019 • 4:52 AM UTC

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Gurdeep Rastogi

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On 21 ST January 2019, Foldscope Team of Wetland Research and Training Centre, Chilika Development Authority, Balugaon, visited Chilika Sarkari Upra Vidyalaya, Injanpur, Odisha to educate the students of 6 th to 8 th standard on Seagrass biodiversity of Chilika and use of Foldscope. Around 70 students of school took an active participation in the interactive programme to know about the Foldscope and its application as a portable microscope. A detailed talk on Chilika, a Ramsar site of India, its macrophyte diversity with special emphasis on seagrasses and their ecosystem services was delivered by Chilika Development Authority. The concept of frugal science and invention of foldscope was introduced to the participants, which was well received by students and teachers. Foldscope videos of live rotifer engulfing feed, oligochaete and its internal structure, spirogyra were demonstrated. The students had their first interaction with the concept of Microscope, Foldscope.

Giving a brief introduction to the kids about Chilika, Seagrass and Foldscope.

Explaining how to make a Foldscope. Injanpur is a small village which comes inbetween Badkul and Balugaon. About 150-200 families reside in this village and most of the families directly depend on Chilika for living. The village is located about 3 kms away from Chilika, being easily assessible for the people to utilize the resource of Chilika.

The School is located about 15 minutes away from our Center.

Small building yet holds many young dreams. The fishermen and their children who
live right next to the Chilika Lagoon never got a chance to see the microscopic
world that also reside in Chilika. Fisherman, the resource user and their
children must be better educated about this microscopic world because it plays
a crucial role in sustaining the fishery and bird population of lake that
provides economic security to these coastal communities. In resource
constrained villages like Injanpur where Chilika Sarkari Upra Vidyalaya, Injanpur
is located right next to Chilika within 5 minutes of walking distance, nobody
has ever analyzed a sample from Chilika in their science class. In such
circumstances, Foldscope has plenty of opportunity to offer as a first
portable microscope for the school children where costly microscope cannot be
provided. These students can utilise the foldscope to understand the Chilika
which is surrounding their village. Students were given hands on exposure on
the use of foldscope and were allowed to use it by themselves. The benthic
specimens collected from the seagrass meadows were kept for demonstration and
use under foldscope. The entire programme was a success in creating awareness
and sensitizing school children and their teachers about seagrasses and utility
of Foldscope. The programme came to an end with a short round of quiz to
evaluate the attentiveness of students and educational kits on Chilika were
given to winning students. The programme saw a success as it magnified the
curiosity of children and the teachers and made them realize that science can
be done anytime anywhere and it could not just be confined to a class room.