Ahmedabad, 18 May 2012

A team of 30 Std X students, 15 boys and 15 girls, from 26 districts of the state were turned the scorching heat wave of summer to the cool and fun filled learning experiences in exploring the most exited biodiversity sites and eco-regions of the state. To all of theme the programme had taught them how to maintain real life with all respect to nature and its resources.

Addressing the valedictory session on Friday afternoon, eminent educationalist and Vice Chancellor of Children University, Dr Harshad P Shah advised the students to be environment friendly and to explore the science through a journey which is an endless process.

He also advised to practice good habit on constant learning and observation and to be a role model for others.

Prof. Bharat B Chattoo, Former Vice Chancellor of Jammu University and Presently Head of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology of M S University explained the student about the un-explored area of biosciences which are not only challenging, but also interesting and exciting for societal development.

The students had a wonderful time with field trips to 18 bioresources site all across the Gujarat, hands-on experiments, innovative scientific projects, developing communicating skill, multimedia presentation and a great exposure to wonder world of science and technology. They were not only interacted with some of the best faculties in the country, but also experienced the wisdom for their career in an informal set up.

Shri Dilip S. Gadhavi, Executive Director also addressed the students.

This vacation training programme on bioresources for school children, jointly organized by the Gujarat Science City and Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Government of India.

The programme was designed to inspire curiosity and supports lifelong learning among the younger students and aimed to provide proper awareness and understanding about the importance of bioresources, their sustainable use and conservation practices. It provided an opportunity to interact with leading scientists and experts in the frontier areas of biosciences and to have extensive filed trips to major eco-regions of the state.

Few of the unique features of this programme includes,

· 30 participants, that included 15 boys and 15 girls, who have appeared the SSC board examination this year from 26 districts of the state.

· The students were grouped in 6 groups and each of the groups has been assigned a scientific project to complete during the programme period.

· On the basis of their project work and their experience, most of the students may get a chance in receiving the prestigious Kishor Vaigyanik Puraskar Yojana (KVPY) scholarship, being awarded by the Indian Institute of Sciences, Bangalore.

· There were 30 interactive sessions by eminent experts from different scientific organizations at state and national level, 6 laboratory sessions, 12 activity sessions, 10 project sessions, and 18 filed trips in total during these periods.

· In addition to basic knowledge on bioresources and biodiversity, the participants also learnt soft skills including working in the team, presenting their projects and write ups, documentation, photography along with yoga, meditation, computer proficiency.

· Each of the students got a unique email id and will be in loop among the group as well as the resource persons and the Science City.

· The students also designed and prepare four issues of Newsletter, titled as “BIO WONDER” during the four week time.
· All the materials including content deliberations, experiments, project works, field trip reports, etc will be compiled as a multimedia CD and to be distributed to each of the participants and DNA Club schools in our state.

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