A participant waits for her turn to explain her project on thermo-insulated box. These boxes serve as thermos, as hot food continues to cook because of their insulating factor. (Below) A student presents a survey to demonstrate the efficacy of carpooling for cost-effective and energy-efficient transportation for school children. Pictures by Ashwinee Pati

Bhubaneswar, Nov. 2: Young scientists, armed with creativity, attempted to address local and national energy issues at the regional round of the 20th National Children’s Science Congress yesterday.

About 200 students from 31 Kendriya Vidyalayas in Odisha and Andhra Pradesh presented projects and ideas at the daylong event organised at Kendriya Vidyalaya No. 1 here. The theme was Energy: Explore, Harness and Conserve.

Shweta Parna Nayak, a participant from Bhadrak, had developed an idea of generating electricity from waste retrieved from bio-toilets.

“After water is extracted from the waste and purified, it would go through underground pipelines to the town outskirts. There, using turbine generators, the water would be converted to electricity and supplied to tribal villages,” said the Class VIII student.

V.V. Appa Rao, co-ordinator of the science show, said the theme was relevant as the country was grappling with an energy crisis, which demanded a shift in focus from non-renewable sources of energy to renewable sources.

“It is apt that we seek solutions from the future generations. This event relates their learning process to the issues in their physical and social environment,” he said.

Experts from the National Institute of Science Education and Research (Niser) judged the projects.

“About 10 per cent of the participants had come up with some very interesting projects. The rest were general or based on borrowed ideas,” said Bedanga Mohanty, associate professor of Niser.

The other two judges were Kartik Senapati and Ritwik Das, both assistant professors from the institute.

The final round of the science congress will be held in December. Students selected at the district and state levels will take part in a series of deliberations and fun-filled science activities over five days.

Principal of Kendriya Vidyalaya No.1 Sarat Kumar Behura said the aim of the science congress was to provide a platform to young scientists to unleash their creativity by experimenting on problems faced by people in their day-to-day life.