How cool would it be if students could have the opportunity to nurture the astronomer within them? Panchayat Union Middle School (PUMS) at Thudiyalur, Tamil Nadu actually offered this opportunity as they were teaching about the construction of telescopes via a workshop to students from other government schools, stated a report by The New Indian Express.
Called Namma Telescope, with the help of the Open Space Foundation and Rotary E-Club of Metro Dynamix, this workshop was conducted on August 10 and 11, Thursday and Friday. As many as 110 students and Science teachers from 24 PUMS in Periyanaickenpalayam participated in the Namma Telescope workshop and those from the Open Space Foundation taught about the fundamentals and construction of telescopes.
A teacher speaks about their experience
A Science teacher, S Chitra, spoke about the workshop with The New Indian Express and said, "At present, most government school students are unaware of astronomy education and its opportunities. To encourage government school students in the field of astronomy education, we took a decision to create awareness about it. For this, when we approached the team of the Open Space Foundation, they gave the idea that they would equip the school with a functional telescope. Following it, they taught about telescope construction to the students."
"Under the supervision of Open Space Foundation's members, our school children made a five-inch telescope with the financial support of the Rotary Club. Students understood the Science concepts easily and understood the concepts behind assembling the telescope. Using the telescopes assembled by children, they spotted the moon, Jupiter, and Venus from the schools. Due to this, students benefited and understood a lot about astronomy," the teacher said.
"So, we decided that other school students should learn telescope construction and use this at school instead of buying a telescope. Following it, we shared this idea with the Open Space Foundation, Rotary Club and others. Rotary Club and others sponsored Rs 4 lakh for this. With their support, we conducted a two-day workshop for 110 students from 24 schools. The children from each school constructed the telescope in the workshop under the supervision of the Open Space Foundation. As a result, it was useful for the government schools," she said.
A Class VIII student, P Thanikasri, from a PUMS told The New Indian Express, "I read about telescopes in books as theory. For the first time, I could see the construction of the telescope live. This was exciting for me. Moreover, I learned the basics of astronomy. It was useful."
On this occasion, District Collector Kranthi Kumar Pati visited the school on Friday and appreciated the students.
