December 16, 2024 | Drishti Jain, Asian College of Journalism
“Come sit here in the centre, we will be able to see the full frame,” a man said to his five-year-old son. The duo reclined their chairs to get a good look at the overhead dome in Chennai’s BM Birla Planetarium. Scrawled across it were the words: ‘The Search for Life in the Universe.’ It was pitch dark except for the bright stars dotting the sky.
“This star is 8500 light years away,” boomed the narrator’s voice across the theatre. The little boy’s eyes widened in wonder and he frowned as the star came closer and closer.
The Periyar Science and Technology Centre houses the BM Birla Planetarium, which has eight galleries with over 500 exhibits on display. It is one of many places in Chennai with outreach programs that make science and mathematics accessible to students, teachers, and the general public. Since it opened its doors in the late eighties, it has seen many generations of citizens. “I used to come here when I was a kid,” the little boy’s father said as he was exiting the show.
The Periyar Science and Technology Centre, Chennai was established by the Government of Tamil Nadu over forty years ago for science education and outreach among the general public. (Photo: Drishti)
Outside, visitors queued along an iron railing to get their 3D glasses to ‘Meet the Dinos’, a show about extinct dinosaurs told through vivid storytelling. In the queue was Mridula Vasudev on a college trip with her classmates from RMK College of Engineering and Technology in the city. “Science is very interesting and has the capability of fascinating young minds. More places like this should be accessible to the public,” she said.
The library allows people to participate in the many demonstrations that it houses. One of the rooms echoes with rustic notes of people running a steel rod across other suspended ones, to learn how rods of different lengths produce different sound frequencies. In another exhibit, a 3D cutout of a scientist narrates the history of calculus to visitors.
A gallery showcasing the life and work of the mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan at the Centre. (Photo: Drishti)
“They are eager about the space and are learning a lot,” said Shantani, a school teacher from Shri Natesan Vidyasala who was shepherding her Class IV students around the galleries. “When they have seen the experiment performed live, it makes it easy for us to communicate and explain things to them in their mother tongue.”
Through a narrow passage in front of the library is The Solomon Victor Heart Museum, where hearts of various animals are suspended in glass jars allowing visitors to see their anatomical details.
An exhibit showing the anatomy of a shark heart at the Solomon Victor Heart Museum. (Photo: Drishti)
Shahid, a first-year engineering student from Mohamed Sathak College of Arts & Science, Chennai, and his classmate made three rounds around the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV)-4 model in astonishment. “Our college has brought us here as a part of our industrial visit,” says Shahid, whose class is on a mandated tour for a fortnight, where they learn by visiting places outside the classroom. “I think it's a very good initiative.”
“I scored seven out of ten,” said V Muthukumaran, a friend of Shahid’s after taking the space quiz at the India in Space gallery. He has eagerly waited to visit the planetarium for two years. “I want to become a Physics lecturer, and my visit today has enhanced my knowledge about the Davisson–Germer Experiment which we’re taught in books but have never seen. This will help me prepare for my public exams,” he said.
Models of various spacecraft missions of the Indian Space Research Organisation on display at the Centre. (Photo: Drishti)
“Students are made to rote learn, score marks and come to the science field without any practical knowledge,” says Aashiq Muhammad, who has just finished school and was stopping by the Periyar Centre on his way to the Anna Centenary Library. “This is very wrong,” he says emphatically. “Exposure to practical science can even help the nation make advancements in the army,” he says near the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) gallery.
A teacher among the managing staff at the Planetarium said that they hold regular classes for college students to make gadgets over a course of 3-4 weeks. “This year, we invited many schools and colleges in Chennai to celebrate the first National Space Day through essay writing, model making and painting competitions. These types of outreach programs help students to study science and pursue a research career.”
A few kilometers down the road from the BM Birla Planetarium, The Institute of Mathematical Sciences (IMSc) in Taramani was holding its Open Day. Many government schools were invited, where students and teachers learned scientific phenomena using simple experiments. Over forty exhibits were displayed across the campus by PhD students, interns, postdoctoral researchers and faculty.
The Institute of Mathematical Sciences, Chennai was founded over sixty years ago and carries out fundamental research in the fields of Mathematics, Theoretical Physics, Theoretical Computer Science and Computational Biology. (Photo: Bharti)
“I loved this journey today,” said Dharshini, a class 11th student of Rani Lady Meyyammai Girls Higher Secondary School, Chennai. “We experienced things which we are going to learn about in 11th and 12th standard, which will also help me in preparing for NEET [National Eligibility cum Entrance Test].”
Several tables were laid out on either side of the public library in IMSc, where students in small groups went from one table to the next discussing what they had learnt and meticulously taking notes.
“This is a greedy cup,” said Aniruddha, a PhD student, which made everyone around him burst into laughter. “If you keep pouring in more than the required quantity, it will overflow,” he said, explaining the siphoning effect. The students let out a combined “Oooh” in chorus after the experiment ended, amazed by the mechanism they just heard.
A demonstration of the Pythagorean cup illustrating the siphoning effect. (Photo: Bharti)
“This is the second time we’re conducting the Open Day over the last few weeks. The students are not forced to come here unlike in their school, which makes a huge difference,” said Aniruddha. “They are curious, going around with the spark of learning science.”
At the next exhibit, students were busy with the Sand Lissajous demonstration. The experiment was carried out using a large bottle filled with sand. It hung upside down from the ceiling and was fixed with two adjustable strings, which allowed the suspended bottle to move in two different directions as a pendulum. When the bottle was released the sand flowing from it created complex and beautiful patterns.
IMSc students creating Lissajous patterns using sand pendulums. (Photo: Siva)
Bharti who was teaching students how to use a microscope said, “Many school children said they don’t have basic instruments like microscopes in their school. The idea is to make them use various types of microscopes, including the Foldscope where the frame is made of paper and can be easily assembled by anyone.”
Visitors looked at a range of materials using different kinds of microscopes (Photo: Hareesh)
“The outreach programs of every institute can allow children to find some kind of spark within,” said TV Venkateswaran, a faculty at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Mohali visiting IMSc. People often have a fixed image of a scientist - they may immediately think of APJ Abdul Kalam or Einstein, he says. “One may never study about a woman scientist in school, but when you come here, you find that it isn’t the case and this motivates girls to enter this space.”
After the sunset, the students sat on the side of the garden and discussed their day. “Did you see the water prism,” a girl asked her friend while sipping tea. “Yes, yes! I did. That was the most beautiful one,” she replied excitedly.
