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Simplifying science
| Winner of the Best Science Teacher Award, A. Hemavathi
makes science interesting for children |
MODEL TEACHER A. Hemavathi
Photo: T. Singaravelou
Riding a two-wheeler, she goes around the town cultivating a
scientific temper. We know her from the days of the Arivoli Iyakkam
(literacy programme) and she is a genius at simplifying science. A.
Hemavathi, Headmistress, Government Middle School, Veeraveli in
Pondicherry and vice president Pondicherry Science Forum (PSF), has
been recognised by the Government for her contribution to science.
She was presented the Best Science Teacher Award by the Department
of Science, Technology and Environment recently.
"It was my father Anandapadmanabhan who inculcated
a love for science in me. He would say that I should understand the
subject to learn it and taught me the basic principles of science
and mathematics at a very young age. Though at that time we had
bookish methods of teaching, our teachers were good at explaining
things to us. At home, we (four daughters and a son) were allowed to
study the way we wanted to," says Hema Miss, as she is known among
students as well as members of Samam self help groups of which she
is the president.
Having done her B Sc Chemistry, M A and M Ed, she
is presently doing her M Phil "My first loyalty is to science. Even
in college, I was president of the science club. When I joined
Soucilabai Government School, my headmistress Sunithi gave me a lot
of freedom and we did science projects and organised science
exhibitions.
In 1986, when Halley's Comet came, Dr. Sundaraman,
one of the founders of PSF came to our school with a show about the
cosmos and also showed us the night sky. It was after that I joined
the PSF. In 1987, the International Year of Peace, I was asked to
take around slides on the uses and abuses of atomic power. With a
projector and several slides I met thousand people in a week," she
recalls.
She began collecting material for science
experiments after attending a literacy camp in Madhya Pradesh. "Now
I have around 150 experiments. In 1989, the Arivoli Iyakkam was
started to improve literacy so that even people in rural areas could
learn about science. The Government deputed me to join that
programme for a year as women's coordinator and till 1992 I was
fully involved with it."
A person who believes that science touches every
aspect of life and has a scientific explanation to everything,
Hemavathi takes children on science picnics. "For me, science is not
a monster it is a part of life if you understand it. We wanted to
make science as interesting as possible for children. For instance,
we take children to a cycle shop, take apart a cycle, put it back
and show how the same principles work elsewhere. We also visit glass
factories, soda factories and the railway station to understand
their functioning," she says. This dedicated teacher's passion for
science grows deeper by the day.
DEEPA H RAMAKRISHNAN
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