Prog : 38,27-02-2009, Municipal School No - 11, Saraspur, Ahmedabad

Hello!

Here’s a report on the 38th TAS Municipal School Program.

Today we visited the municipal school no. 11 at Saraspur, Ahmedabad.

As usual, we were accorded a warm welcome by the students and the authorities excitedly awaiting the program.

The poster display was set up for the students to explore the mysteries of the solar system at their own pace. And we watched them peruse the information and discuss the same with their friends.

The program started with Venus observation. They were particularly amazed to see the phase of the Venus. All were looking at us with doubtful glance as; the Moon was also visible below Venus today. To give correct image, we showed Moon through the telescope too. That satisfied their unsaid doubt.

During the interactive session that followed, all the slides fascinated them all. Another wonderful thing that gave us tremendous satisfaction is that the teachers too got into the spirit of things and participated wholeheartedly in the question – answer sessions that interspersed the presentation! Questions like – ‘who was the first Indian to go to space and who was first to go to the Moon?’ created some interesting debates. Today one of the resource persons from our team Stephen Samuel called his nephews to participate in the show as they were staying nearby and were studying in 7th & 5th standards. They answered nearly all my questions with amazing clarity.

Some exceptionally bright students like Kishan Waghela answered my questions was awarded prize at the end of the presentation. Both, the teachers and students, were especially keen to have us come again to give them a deeper understanding.

We acknowledge the gracious support of the following people in making this program a success: Jigar Darji & Stephen Samuel for set up and Urvi Vyas for the photo documentation. We thank them all for their interest.

Summary:
1. Venue : Muni school No -11, Saraspur, Ahmedabad
2. Date : 27-02-2009
3. Time : 6:30 to 8:00 pm
4. Object observed : Venus, Moon
5. Participants : 65
6. Volunteers : 1
7. Photo : Urvi Vyas
8. Resource Persons : 2
9. Winners (1st, 2nd, 3rd) : Kishan Waghela & Yash Samuel

Tanmaye Vyas
+91 9327019254
+91 9979861071

Prog : 37,26-02-2009, Municipal School Hindi-1, Naranpura, Ahmedabad

Hello!

Here’s a report on the 37th TAS Municipal School Program.

Today we visited the municipal school Hindi no. 1at Naranpura, Ahmedabad.

As usual, we were accorded a warm welcome by the students and the authorities excitedly awaiting the program.

The program started with Venus observation. They were particularly amazed to see it’s phase. During the interactive session that followed, the Aurora & Lunar Rover slides fascinated them all. Another wonderful thing that gave us tremendous satisfaction is that the teachers too got into the spirit of things and participated wholeheartedly in the question – answer sessions that interspersed the presentation! Questions like – what are dark spots on sun, who was the first Indian to go to space?’ created some interesting debates. Some exceptionally bright students like Samir Somaiya and Sunny Rana answered my questions with amazing clarity and were awarded prizes at the end of the presentation. Both, the teachers and students, were especially keen to have us come again to give them a deeper understanding.

We acknowledge the gracious support of the following people in making this program a success: Jigar Darji & Stephen Samuel for set up & Rajesh Nath for photo documentation and other help. We thank them all for their interest.

Summary:
1. Venue : Muni school Hindi No -1, Naranpura, Ahmedabad
2. Date : 26-02-2009
3. Time : 6:30 to 8:00 pm
4. Object observed : Venus
5. Participants : 51
6. Volunteers : 0
7. Photo : Rajesh Nath
8. Resource Persons : 3
9. Winners (1st, 2nd, 3rd) : Samir Somaiya, Sunny Rana

Tanmaye Vyas
+91 9327019254
+91 9979861071

Prog : 36, 25-02-09, Municipal School Hindi -5, Rajpur, Ahmedabad

Ready to answer...

Explaining the Milkyway

Students playing in front of heap of discarded furniture

Hello!

Here’s a report on the 36th TAS Municipal School Program.

Today we visited the Hindi municipal school no. 5 at Rajpur, Ahmedabad.

As usual, we were expecting a warm welcome by the students and the authorities but unfortunately there was lock on the gate. After calling one of the teachers, he replied that kids are called when it’s dark. We got shock. We asked him to come immediately and to call all students who stay nearby. The watchman came and opened the gate and he called some school children. They were students from 3rd to 10th standard.

The poster display was set up for the students to explore the mysteries of the solar system at their own pace. And we watched them peruse the information and discuss the same with their friends.

The program started with observation of magical Venus. They were particularly amazed to see the phase of Venus. During the interactive session that followed, nearly all the slides fascinated them all. Instead of routine interactive session, we carried out simple information session as, they were no knowing much about the subject. Still some exceptionally bright students like Chetan Diama of 7th standard and Ashish Bharwad of 10th standard answered my questions with amazing clarity and were awarded prizes at the end of the presentation. Both, the teachers and students, were especially keen to have us come again to give them a deeper understanding.

We acknowledge the gracious support of the following people in making this program a success: Mr Dave the watchman, Jigar Darji & Ravi Gamit for set up and Urvi Vyas for photo documentation. We thank them all for their interest.

Summary:
1. Venue : Muni school Hindi No -5, Rajpur, Ahmedabad
2. Date : 25-02-2009
3. Time : 6:30 to 8:00 pm
4. Object observed : Venus
5. Participants : 36
6. Volunteers : 1
7. Photo : Urvi Vyas
8. Resource Persons : 2
9. Winners (1st, 2nd, 3rd) : Chetan Diama, Ashish Bharwad, Vishal parmar

Tanmaye Vyas
+91 9327019254
+91 9979861071

Prog : 35, 24-02-2009, Municipal School Hindi - 1, Meghani Nagar, Ahmedabad

Blessings to Pradeep, who stood first

Parents too were enjoying the school today.

Curious and concerned mother...

Urvi guiding students...

Late. Mukesh Rathod

In memory of Mukesh Rathod!

Hello!

Here’s a report on the 35th TAS Municipal School Program.

Today we visited the municipal school no. 1 at Meghani nagar, Ahmedabad. The road to school was so confusing that, we reached after 20 mins of wandering in only 500 mtr area.

As usual, we were accorded a warm welcome by the students and the authorities excitedly awaiting the program. The school is dedicated to one soldier called “Mukesh Rathod” who lost his life during Kargil War in 1999, hailed from this area of the city.

We couldn’t display posters as they were in Gujarati language and no fluent Gujarati reader was there. This school was Hindi language school.

The program started with observation of Venus. They were particularly amazed to see the magic of so called “Moon”. During the interactive session that followed, the solar system slides fascinated them all. Another wonderful thing that gave us tremendous satisfaction is that the teachers too got into the spirit of things and participated wholeheartedly in the question – answer sessions that interspersed the presentation! Especially, the principal. Questions like what is the temperature of the sun, who was the first man to Moon?’ created some interesting debates. Some exceptionally bright students like Rajendra and Pradeep answered my questions with amazing clarity and were awarded prizes at the end of the presentation. Both, the teachers and students, were especially keen to have us come again to give them a deeper understanding.

The discipline was quite noticeable amongst the students.

We acknowledge the gracious support of the following people in making this program a success: the school staff, Jigar Darji & Stephen Samuel for nice set up & Urvi Vyas for photography & handling telescope for many times. We thank them all for their interest.

Summary :

1. Venue : Muni school Hindi No -1, Meghani Nagar, Ahmedabad
2. Date : 24-02-2009
3. Time : 6:30 to 8:30 pm
4. Object observed : Venus
5. Participants : 127
6. Volunteers : 1
7. Photo : Urvi Vyas
8. Resource Persons : 2
9. Winners (1st, 2nd, 3rd) : Pradeep Bagel, Jayant Prince, Paresh Katia – Rajendra (shared)

Tanmaye Vyas
+91 9327019254
+91 9979861071

23-02-2009, Comet Lulin

Hello,

Comet Lulin as seen from Ahmedabad. I have tried to capture from my home location as, unfortunately my allergy does not allow me to go out. In above picture, there are four stars in half circle as we see in clock. At 12, 1, 2 & 3 there are four stars in upper middle picture. If you try to see just below star at 12, you can see greenish haze. Yes, that's Comet Lulin. The tail is not visible from city. The picture is not very clear, but still the comet is visible through binocular. The photo detail is as under.

Time : 11:59 pm 23rd Feb, 09
Camera : Sony DSC H9 :: Exposure 20 sec. :: F 6.3 :: ISO 400

Tanmaye Vyas

Prog : 34, 20-02-2009, Municipal School -1, Rakhial, Ahmedabad

Everybody wanted to answer

Hello!

Here’s a report on the 34th TAS Municipal School Program.

Today we visited the municipal school no. 1 at Rakhial, Ahmedabad.

As usual, we were accorded a warm welcome by the students and the authorities excitedly awaiting the program. Today’s attendance was highest till date.

The poster display was set up for the students to explore the mysteries of the solar system at their own pace. And we watched them peruse the information and discuss the same with their friends.

The program started with observation of Venus. They were particularly amazed to see a common looking star in phase. During the interactive session that followed, the solar flare, aurora, saturn’s ring slides fascinated them all. Another wonderful thing that gave us tremendous satisfaction is that the teachers too got into the spirit of things and participated wholeheartedly in the question – answer sessions that interspersed the presentation!

Questions like – what is sunspot, what is the height of Mount Everest, how many classical planets are there?’ created some interesting debates. Some exceptionally bright students like Ansari Nawazahmed and Ansari Saifalam answered my questions with amazing clarity and were awarded prizes at the end of the presentation. Two girl students were also answering nicely but could not reach to final round were, Rajpur Arshiyairam, Sheikh Uzmakhatun. Both, the teachers and students, were especially keen to have us come again to give them a deeper understanding.

We acknowledge the gracious support of the following people in making this program a success: Jigar Darji & Ravi Gamit for nice set up and Rajesh Nath for photo documentation. We thank them all for their interest.

Due to acrid atmosphere and school building at road junction, I had to raise my voice to highest level even in allergic condition due to pollen. And as a result, I lost my voice by the end of program L

Summary :

1. Venue : Muni school No -1, Rakhial, Ahmedabad
2. Date : 20-02-2009
3. Time : 6:20 to 8:30 pm
4. Object observed : Venus
5. Participants : 212
6. Volunteers : 0
7. Photo : Rajesh Nath
8. Resource Persons : 3
9. Winners (1st, 2nd, 3rd) : Ansari Nawazahmed Anwarahmed, Ansari saifalam Mehfukalam, Pathan Sarfarazkhan Jawedkhan

Tanmaye Vyas
+91 9327019254
+91 9979861071

Prog : 33, 19-02-2009, Satyamev Jayate School, Bopal, Ahmedabad

Presenting the Castor & Pollux of Gemini...

Is it Moon or Venus??!!

Mrs. Hinaa Shah & Shaina Shah wondering between "Moon & Venus"!
Hello!

Here’s a report on the 33rd TAS Program.

Today we visited the school Satyamev Jayate at Bopal, Ahmedabad.

As usual, we were accorded a warm welcome by the students and the authorities excitedly awaiting the program.

The program started with observation of Venus. But before the observation, we announced that we are starting the program with magic. Though you can’t see the moon, I will show that through the telescope. At first no one believed, but as all saw so called “Moon”, they were amazed. Then before the interactive slide show began, we declared that, it was not moon, it was Venus showing phase.

During the interactive session that followed, at nearly every slide they appreciated the depth of slides as well as explanation. After many programs, we delivered today’s program in English. Another wonderful thing that gave us tremendous satisfaction is that the teachers too got into the spirit of things and participated wholeheartedly in the question – answer sessions that interspersed the presentation!

In between the program we also showed them through green laser, all the visible constellations like Gemini, Taurus, Orion, Auriga, Canis major, etc.

Questions like –what are sunspots, when did Rakesh Sharma go to space, why Pluto is not a classical planet now?’ created some interesting debates. Both, the teachers and students, were especially keen to have us come again to give them a deeper understanding. They have promised to start Astronomy club in their school. We suggested to start with monthly bulletin where astro news, astro words and night sky chart should be regular feature.

We acknowledge the gracious support of the following people in making this program a success: Mrs. Hinaa Shah, Shaina Shah, school teachers / staff and Ravi Gamit for handling everything beautifully. Ravi captured nice photographs too. We thank them all for their interest.

Summary :

1. Venue : Satyamev Jayte School, Bopal, Ahmedabad
2. Date : 19-02-2009
3. Time : 6:20 to 8:50 pm
4. Object observed : Venus
5. Participants : 45
6. Volunteers : 0
7. Photo : Ravi Gamit
8. Resource Persons : 1
9. Winners (1st, 2nd, 3rd) : Handy moon picture with information to all.

Tanmaye Vyas
+91 9327019254
+91 9979861071