Students display their models at the Mathematics exhibition at Venkateswar English Medium School, Chandrasekharpur. Telegraph pictures

Bhubaneswar, Dec. 12: Around 500 students of Classes III to X from various branches of the Venkateswar English Medium (VEM) School, Chandrasekharpur, participated in a mathematics exhibition, which was held for the first time in the history of VEM schools.

VEM Students displayed more that 200 mathematics projects. They explored the various components of mathematics through their models based on geometrical shapes, arithmetic and trigonometric formulae, statistics and probability. They even went beyond the confines of their prescribed textbooks.

Class IX students Manisha Rout and Priyanka Som demonstrated the activity of a circle by dividing it into 22 parts to find out the value of pie and to calculate its area and circumference. “Apart from calculation, two geometric forms can create a new shape. With the same length of thread, we can draw two concentric circles on either sides of a rectangle. After joining them, it forms the shape of a cylinder,” said Manisha.

Class VI students Ankit Mohapatra and Stithapragyan Patnaik displayed another interesting project called “Pascal’s Triangle”, triangular array of the binomial coefficients in a triangle.

“In this arrangement, each number in the subsequent rows is the sum of the numbers diagonally above it which makes it a never-ending triangle,” said the participants.

“This exhibition has been organised keeping in view the CBSE curriculum, which calls for experimentation and innovative practices. Through this, the students are putting various aspects of theory into practical use. This will help them gain conceptual clarity,” said S.S. Rath, mathematics teacher of VEM School, Chandrasekharpur.

Principal of the host school, B.K. Tripathy, said mathematics was given prime importance in the VEM schools in order to develop the mental ability of students. “Everything in our lives is driven by numbers and figures. The main objective is to alleviate the maths phobia and create an interest in the subject,” said Tripathy, who recently developed over 20 soft skills among teachers to aid in the mathematical studies and enhance their skills.

A.K Ojha, head of the Mathematics department, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Bhubaneswar, inaugurated the event. Director of the VEM schools, Chandrasekhar Pati, was also present at the event.