Students and faculty members of Magadh Mahila College at a poster exhibition organised on the institution premises to observe the International Ozone Day. Picture by Nagendra Kumar Singh

Patna, Sept. 16: The need to protect the depleting ozone layer was the high point of the day, as school students took part in quiz and painting competitions on International Ozone Day at Shrikrishna Science Centre.

The participants not only got a chance to learn about the ozone layer in the atmosphere, its importance and steady depletion and protection measures but also attended the inauguration of a terrace garden on the premises of the science centre.

More than 200 students from different schools, including Gyan Niketan, BD Public School, Delhi Public School, Kilkari Bihar Bal Bhavan and others, were categorised into three age groups — sub-junior for students of classes I to IV, junior for students of classes V to VII and senior for students of classes VIII to X. Twenty students bagged winning positions in the quiz competition on “Ozone and its importance” and were awarded books on science.

Navin Kumar, a Class X student of Kilkari Bihar Bal Bhavan, was one of the senior category participants in the quiz competition. He said: “We have read a lot about the ozone layer. But here, after interactions with students and teachers from other schools, we came to know several practical facts about its importance. It was a great learning experience where we learnt things that are beyond bookish knowledge. I am very happy to be a part of this competition.”

For the painting competition, too, the students were divided into three groups. Adya Kumari, a Class IV student of St Michael’s School, won the first prize in the sub-junior category. She was over the moon after being declared the winner, and said: “I love painting and I am very happy to win the competition.”

Amit Kumar of Government High School, Kankerbagh, bagged the first prize in the junior category, while Divya from Baldwin Academy came first in the senior category.

Satish Ranjan, education officer, Shrikrishna Science Centre, said: “The purpose behind organising these competitions is to educate and make the children aware of depleting ozone layer. We also inaugurated the terrace garden, which has a lot of medicinal plants helpful in protecting the environment.”

Bihari Singh, a faculty in the postgraduate department of environment, AN College, also delivered a lecture on “Ozone layer: Our protective umbrella” to the students.

Magadh Mahila College also observed International Ozone Day on the college premises, concluding weeklong competitions organised by different departments of the institution.

The Science and IT Society of the college organised the event at the seminar hall, where winners of the competitions were awarded. Second-year mathematics student Subha Sinha won the slogan-writing competition and Divya of third-year economics won the debate competition. The departments of physics, chemistry and zoology had organised an essay, painting and poem competition respectively. Third-year students Priya and Anamika Rashmi won the essay and painting competitions respectively. Second-year zoology student Priyanka bagged the honours in the poem competition.