कुछ खोजें कुछ बनाएं: Let's Put Things Together (Hindi Text With English Translation)

For an inquisitive child, one with a sparkle of curiosity still left in him/her, the doit yourself experiments described in the accompanying pages would mean an excit ing experience.

Some children would be able to go through all the experiments with the help of the picture and the description given in each case; some others may be able to do most of them by themselves and the remaining ones with a little bit of help. The idea, however, is not to stop with this book let, but to begin with it and go on to design ing newer experiments, improvising new things, not just with straws, but with any easily and readily available lowcost, or waste materials lying about in the house.

This is not a very difficult proposition, provided one has understood the philosophy, internalised the methodology and grasped the underlying scientific principles behind the experiments/activities presented here; they are, therefore, not meant as an end in themselves but as a catalyst or a trigger to let loose the child's imagination, creative instincts and abilities to innovate and improvise.

The doityourself publications of NCSTC allow each child to work at a pace that suits him/her. And the most important part of all this is that children would enjoy and have fun doing things with their own hands and also learn a great deal in the process.

Science can be best learned by doing it. It is a common observation that in our schools there is a lot of emphasis on content teaching and memorisation of scientific facts which makes science instruction a drab and dry affair. Science instruction can be made interesting by incorporating elements of the scientific process in it. This can be achieved through lowcost, open ended and investigative projects in science.

If a science teacher is a little resource ful, a lot of processbased science experiences can easily be imparted to students using inexpensive and readily available materials. It is through experimentation and learning bydoing activities, that science related values can be fostered among students.

Investigative and openended experi. ments give students a first hand feel of the process of science and scientific principles. Such experiments put the student in the role of scientist who designs experiments, makes observations, interprets ob servations and draws conclusion.

Through this handbook an attempt has been made to make science instruction in teresting by giving some sample investiga tive science projects and demonstrations.

It is hoped that school children and science teachers will gain an insight into the process of science by doing the science projects given in this handbook in the right spirit.