Students of Tender Care Montessori at a costume parade on March 6, held as part of National Science Week at BITM. Picture by Anindya Shankar Ray

The students trooping in to Birla Industrial and Technological Museum (BITM) from March 2 to 6 had a lot to look forward to at National Science week, observed with shows and activities for all age groups.

The occasion was National Science Day, celebrated on February 28 to commemorate CV Raman’s discovery of what is now known as the Raman Effect on the same day in 1928.

The week started with the 3D film Turtle Adventure and an exhibition, Darwin Now, inaugurated by Dona Ganguly. The film traces the underwater journey of two sea turtles, including a chase by larger predators and a sequence where they are caught in a shipwreck. “Turtles co-existed with dinosaurs once. Their successful adaptation to the changing world is a matter of study for science,” said director E. Islam, explaining why the film was selected.

Dona Ganguly inaugurates the Darwin Now exhibition. Picture by Aranya Sen

The exhibition, to continue till March 31, combines photographs and writings about Darwin’s theory of evolution.

March 2 was DIY day. Armed with a sound level meter, students from classes VIII to X headed out to Gurusaday Road to measure sound pollution.

March 3 saw students of schools like Loreto Day School, Dharamtalla, Rishra Vani Bharati and Lake School for Girls enjoying a puppet show on the environment, featuring a tiger and penguins talking about the dangers of global warming.

Recycling was the mantra at an interior decoration workshop using household waste material on March 4. Participants learnt how old paper cups and glasses could be made into pretty trinkets and old, bent utensils fashioned into masks.

The 58th Sishu Mela, organised by the Nikhil Banga Nababarsha Utsab Samity, was held at Netaji Indoor Stadium on March 2. Around 14, 000 students, between three and 15 years, attended the fair, inaugurated by governor M.K. Narayanan. “Students took part in competitions like drawing, poster-writing, recitation, dance and gymnastics,” said Jnan Maity, the founder-secretary of the Samity. There were 34 events at the fair, including Saaj Baichitra, a competition where children dressed as mythological or historical figures recited their famous speeches. Students from several states as well as Bangladesh and Nepal attended the fair. Picture by Bishwarup Dutta

On March 5, Tapan Saha of the Institute of Environment Studies and Wetland Management spoke on rainwater harvesting.

Showing images of a harvesting system in Purulia, he explained: “It can be done by people in their homes and is very economic too. A system can be built using only Rs 100 as the initial outlay.”

“I didn’t know it was so easy to set up a rainwater harvesting system at home. I would like to try it myself,” said Latika Gupta, a student.

Two workshops for students were also conducted by British Council on March 6. In one, students from six to nine years of age learnt about the uses of plants, while in ‘Darwin — a natural tourist’, participants from 10 to 14 years discussed the ecosystem and the environmental problems of places they had visited.

“Both their writing and speaking skills were exercised in the workshops,” said Aparna Bhattacharya, manager, Young Audiences, British Council.