Have you heard of Andromeda or Hubble or the beautiful crab-shaped nebula? This might remind you of your Physics class and many might not like it when the summer vacation is in full swing. But, the kids who attended the ISRO Kids summer camp have a different story to tell. They were all ears during the interactive session when D. Vijay Kumar, an amateur astronomer, took them on a journey to outer space to have a close look at meteors, stars, comets and nebulae.
“I enjoyed it here. I am interested in Astrophysics and I joined as soon as I heard about the camp. The camp introduced me to a lot of new subjects. The Space Technology part where we discussed about space stations and space food was my favourite,” said Bala Murali, Std VII, Jawahar Vidyodaya S.S.S., Ashok Nagar.
ISRO Kids is an education programme that attempts to help students explore various fields of space science and encourage budding scientists. Started with the guidance and support of ISRO on April 20, 2011, isrokids.com attempts to impart scientific knowledge about space to kids online, keeping in mind the enormous opportunities in the area of space science. A group of young open source entrepreneurs — “Venture Seeds” developed an education centre with the help of First Planet. Dr. Mayilswamy Annadurai, ISRO's Project Director of Chandrayaan Mission I and II, inaugurated the education centre held at First Planet Technologies, recently.
Approximately 100 children in the age group of eight to 16 attended the camp. The ten-day learning module had theory, interactive sessions with experts, activities, practice sessions and contests. Interested participants could extend it up to 20 days.
The course covered topics like the history of Space Science, Solar System and Space Technology.
“Our team has developed this education programme and the summer camp was the first step in implementing this. We are planning to take it to schools and educational institutions,” said T. Ashok Kumar of Venture Seeds, who takes care of the Development Process of this online learning programme.
HARSHITHA S., V, Vidyamandir: I learnt a lot about space science. In school we don't learn these things in detail. It was a fun way of learning with pictures, quiz and other activities. The videos helped me to understand the concepts better.
ANNAPOORNI C.A , V, D.A.V.Girls School, Gopalapuram: I have attended many summer camps. But, this one was different. Every body is friendly and they guide us in such a way that we are pulled into the subject. I liked it and so extended my training to 20 days.”
MADHUMITHAA M, D.A.V.Girls, Gopalapuram: During my visit to a planetarium, I got a chance to view Jupiter. From then on I was fascinated by this subject. This camp was different from other camps that I had attended. Games, videos and online learning made it enjoyable.
TITUS VIMAL RAJ , X, K.V.: I met new people and the activities helped me overcome stage fright and present my views confidently. In this learning method, we have more freedom; we could go and research more on the topics of our interest. Information on Hubble telescope and Voyager Spacecrafts made me more interested in Space Technology.
NADHINI R , VII, SBIOA Model M.H.S.S., Mogappair: To our surprise, the assignments and exams in the camp were interesting. Online learning is fun; we can post questions online and get our doubts cleared, as well as interact with experts in the field.
