CIPAM team
Our students are always full of ideas, some quite brilliant actually. If built upon, these ideas can turn into solutions to problems like pollution, space management, depletion of natural resources, etc. As teachers/facilitators we must encourage our students to keep their ideas coming and tell them how they can patent their ideas and take them to fruition.
B R Sitaram
Did you find out why the tanpura and not the harmonium maybe a better musical instrument to accompany Hindustani music? Why do you think peacocks dance in the rain? If you haven’t yet been able to figure out then we give you the answers here along with a few more questions to keep you thinking until next month.
Dhiraj Pratim Medhi
The reading that most children do is from textbooks, which they consider a chore. With little or no access to different books, children don’t develop a reading habit. Here is how the Azim Premji Foundation is taking up this challenge in government schools in Uttarakhand.
Anuradha C
Hindi or English? The question on every Indian mind today. While what language we use to communicate in informal contexts is not much of a concern, it is the medium of instruction in schools that is the cause of this nationwide debate. But does the language used to teach really matter so much? As long as we know what really to teach and how to teach it, learning will happen no matter the language.
Prakash Iyer
The draft National Policy of Education 2019 was put to public scrutiny and suggestions were sought. What is the point of such an exercise? Will all the one lakh comments and more be incorporated in the final Policy? Such large scale public exercises often offer more than participation in a democratic process. They offer us a chance to reflect, empathize, and even learn to express ourselves—some things which we will do good to develop in our classrooms as well.
Shivani Mathur Gaiha and Spandana Kommuri
Adolescence continues to remain a tricky stage in the lives of human beings. Apart from parents, teachers also have to be alert and prepared to handle several ‘teenage’ situations. One constant struggle teachers, especially in high school, go through is the growing attraction between boys and girls. Is there a sensible way of handling issues that arise out of adolescent love?
Shivani Mathur Gaiha and Spandana Kommuri
Adolescence continues to remain a tricky stage in the lives of human beings. Apart from parents, teachers also have to be alert and prepared to handle several ‘teenage’ situations. One constant struggle teachers, especially in high school, go through is the growing attraction between boys and girls. Is there a sensible way of handling issues that arise out of adolescent love?
Chintan Girish Modi
The world is a shattered place today. Gruesome violence and terror are an everyday occurrence. The world needs to heal. Taking into account an experiment—Write to Reconcile—the author discusses why we should teach creative writing and how it can turn into a healing experience.
Sundaram S
The pie is a mysterious and fascinating number; the more you try to understand it the more surprises it throws up at you. Here are some interesting facts about this number.
B R Sitaram Here are the answers to last month’s questions! Q 1. Lunar calendars are based on 30-day months and 12 such months give you only 360 days. Does this create a problem? How is it solved? A. It does create a problem. If we do not do something about it, a lunar calendar will very quickly go out of step with the solar calendar. This will result in festivals that are celebrated according to the lunar calendar being held in the wrong season! This is corrected by adding an extra month (called an intercalary month) every few years, so that the lunar calendar is brought back in step with the solar calendar. In the Hindu calendar, these extra months are called “Adhik maas”; in 2018, for example, an extra month (adhik jyaishta) was added. In such years, there will be two months with same name, one with the qualification “adhik”. Q 2. A common claim on WhatsApp and Facebook is that ancient Indian Rishis knew about the existence of nine planets (nava gruha) for millennia, while European astronomers discovered them only after the discovery of the telescope in the 17th century. Why is this claim absurd? A. To see the absurdity of the claim, all you need to do is to list out the nava gruha. They are the Sun, the Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Rahu and Ketu. Of these, 4 are not planets! Only the remaining 5 (Mercury to Saturn) are planets! These were known to astronomers all over, including in Babylon, Greece, China and Egypt. What we knew was exactly what every one else knew! And, please note that the Earth was not considered a planet, neither in India nor anywhere else. Q 3. What is wrong with the phrase “burning calories”? A. Calories are a unit of energy! You cannot burn a unit, anymore than you can destroy a centimetre. What you can do is to convert energy from one form (in this case, chemical energy) into other forms (work and heat). And while this requires the oxidation of glucose, it is certainly not burnt! Q 4. We make it a point to make young children realize that left, right, front and back are all relative to the observer. For example, if I am standing facing you, my left is your right and vice versa. However, we rarely (if ever) talk about ‘up’ and ‘down’ in the same way. Are they relative or absolute? Is it OK never
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