OPTICS WORKSHOP AT HALLMARK: STUDENTS LEARN TELESCOPE MAKING, ENGAGE IN SKY-GAZING

By 121 News Reporter

Chandigarh 18^th November:- A practical Workshop on optics – a branch of Physics that studies the properties of light and construction & use of instruments that detect it, was conducted at Hallmark Public School, Panchkula by Society for Promotion of Science & technology in India(SPSTI) .

The students were divided into three groups for purposes of the workshop. Group "A" which comprised students of Class III, were put through a session on Kaleidoscope making, periscope making, principle of light travelling in a straight line & scattering of light. Group "B" was made up of  students of Classes IV and V who were shown hands on the Laws of reflection, refraction and they were introduced to lenses, mirrors and telescopes. Group "C" had students of Classes VI to IX and learnt Telescope & Microscope making, Principles of reflection, mirage explanation, ways to measure velocity of light and the difference between laser source and normal light source among others.

Ayon Ghosh, A Student, said that the workshop literally helped us 'see light', arouse the scientist within and certainly in becoming more confident about Physics which became a very friendly subject for them with today's workshop conducted by luminaries from SPSTI. Students were exposed to light & lenses by a team spearheaded by Professor Keya Dharamvir, who is also Professor at Department of Physics PU & General Secretary of SPSTI, V K Jindal,Emeritus Scientist, CSIR & Dept. Of Physics PU and Professor Suman Beri, who participated actively in frontline International High Energy Particle Physics Experiments and was the principal investigator in Discovery of Higgs Boson(God Particle) announced on 4th July,2012 world-wide. All the professors are members of SPSTI.

Mrs. Kavita Wadhwa, Principal said, that in Hallmark School our effort is always to invite the top names in their field to conduct such workshops. Therefore we are honoured to have the professors among our midst. The workshop saw students practically learning the science behind light, lenses and mirrors. Not just these aspects were dealt with by the experts but students even made microscopes and telescopes during the activity.

According to Prof Keya Dharamvir, General Secrearty, Society for Promotion of Science & Technology,SPSTI, that I appreciate the effort made by the school to organize the dexterity with optics workshop. We at SPSTI are working towards spreading awareness about science through our outreach programme and the session at Hallmark is part of this endeavour.

Jivtesh Garg, Director, Hallmark School, said that the students realized that learning about light and lenses theoretically is not as interesting as seeing and experiencing the real thing.