NOVEMBER 2014 ISSUE 1

First Lego League 2014, Canada Teamwork Award Winners.

Genesis Global School achieves first position in FLL International Open at Toronto under the category - Core Values

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GENESCIENCE AT WORK

NASA EXPLORED PG 9

CV RAMAN PG 8

ROBOBEE PG 6

EUREKA

NOVEMBER 2014 ISSUE 1

Editorial Column

Ignited minds

Indeed it is a Eureka! Moment for the Science Department of Genesis Global School, as the first edition of the Science magazine reaches our readers. Research in Cognitive Science has revealed that experts in any field are able to ask themselves, “Do I understand this? How can I check my understanding?” The world of Science at Genesis Global School invites students to observe, hypothesize, debate, experiment, and solve problems through Experiential Learning. In the following sections of this edition of Eureka, we proudly present The Scientific Genesian that showcases our students’ achievements in the world platform of Robotics in Toronto and explorations at NASA.

Genescience @ work presents the range of inquiry-based activities done by students that make scientific principles real. A special section is dedicated to the life and achievements of scientists to value their scientific contributions around the world. We begin by paying our tribute to Prof. CV Raman, Physicist and Nobel Laureate. A special appreciation goes to Kshitij Srivastava and S.Senthureswaran of class XI Science for their contribution in designing and developing this edition. To answer the eternal question of a student ‘Why should I study Science?’ the following lines by Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam come to our rescue,

‘As a young citizen of India, armed with science and technology and love for my nation, I realize, a small aim is a crime’

(Ignited Minds)

Science Department Genesis Global School

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The Scientific GenesianGenesis Global School achieves first position in FLL International Open at Toronto under the category - Core ValuesGenesis Global School, participated in the First Lego League International Open, which was held in Toronto, in June 2014. Five students of the school, who represented India in the League, bagged the first position in the League’s Core Values category. First Lego League is a robotics program for 9 to 16 year olds, which is designed to get children excited about science and technology and teaches them ways to apply their knowledge practically and learn valuable life skills.

Mark Breadner, Executive Director of FIRST Canada, Skip Gridley (USA), FLL Global Judge Advisor and Dave Ellis, Director FLL, Toronto, were amongst the key jury members. Five students of Genesis Global School, Piyush Singh, Amogh Sharma, Shashwat Jha, Udyat Anand, and Drona Sharma represented India and performed exceptionally well in categories such as Core Values, Robot Design, Research Project and Robot Game amongst the other 72 teams.

Mr. G P Tiwari, I/C Robotic Club and team coach said, “Winning the 1st

position in the internationally acclaimed robotic competition was quite a challenge for the school heroes who called themselves the Electros. The competition witnessed around 20 countries with participation of Asian countries such as India, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, Turkey and China. “

Students actively participated in activities like designing, building, and programming robots using LEGO MINDSTORM KIT applying math and science concepts. The league stressed upon team-building, critical thinking and presentation skills exercises, with discussions and research around the challenges faced by the scientists today.

Speaking at the occasion, Mr. Pramod Sharma the Principal said ‘It is very exciting to see the strength of students participating in such skill based activities from across India. We feel encouraged to see the young minds gaining knowledge through participating in brain storming sessions. Our constant efforts are towards organising an array of such platforms for the children and giving them an opportunity to test their analytical skills for critical thinking.’

Teams, composed of up to ten children with at least one adult coach, participated in the competition. The regional level First Lego League was held at Genesis Global School and National Level was held at Pune. The qualifying teams from the National level, represented India at Fist Lego League International Open, held at University of Toronto, Canada.

G.P.TiwariTeam Coach & In charge

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Explored The NASA Space Camp is located in Huntsville in the state of Alabama. This camp provided us with cutting- edge technology and an experience so realistic, that only a week later we walked out of the premises with full understanding of how astronauts work. So what makes this little town such a place of extreme attraction? –Simulators, astonishingly real simulators that make Huntsville seem like outer space.

At space camp, there were a number of simulations like the G-Force simulator, Scuba Diving to experience microgravity, the 1/6th chair, the Multi Axis Trainer, and many others. Having been a part of the Advanced Space Academy, we got to do what the trainers called ‘grown up stuff’. Space camp activities are pretty wide- ranging, depending on the program and duration. We got to design our own rockets, worked with purification units, worked on heat resistant coatings for the capsule, got briefings on how things work in space and watched two movies in the IMAX theatre.

The camp has control rooms and shuttle modules which seem as real as they can get. There is an ISS (International Space Station) module that has control panels and headsets just like the actual station. It’s a pretty unique experience, and according to the folks behind the program, it's more than fun and games. It rekindles an interest in physics and gives vision to the many principles that we learn in class - after all it’s hard not to be impressed by a spacewalk.

Arisha AhmedXII C

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Genescience @ Work: Students doing hands on activities

• A cocoon nurtured in favourable conditions by the students of class VI .

• Agricultural practices in the field.

• Electrical circuit to light up basic colours.

A visit to see Science in action

XII is the culmination of school life. It is very different from previous classes as the only focus of students as well as teachers is getting good marks in board exams. This means endless classes and

assignments and tests, which makes life boring at times. So when one day, while discussing chemical industries, one of our

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classmates, Prerak invited us to visit his dad’s roller factory, we jumped at the opportunity. We went to Modinagar, Delhi on 25th April’2014. Prerak’s dad gave us a warm welcome and showed us the roller factory. Rollers of all sizes are made and repaired there. We saw how they made rollers of metal, rubber and PU. The visit ended with the famous lemon soda of Modinagar.After the roller factory, we visited the mustard oil factory where mustard seeds were crushed and churned to obtain oil. The residue left was pressed into mustard cakes, which is a nutritious feed for cattle.

Next on the tour was the electroplating factory. We were all fascinated to see an industrial electroplating cell in function. Last but not the least we saw the paper factory. When we think about paper factories we think trees being cut and wood pulp used to make paper. Instead they used 80% waste paper, which was recycled into brown paper. The waste paper is made into slurry and treated chemically, before being rolled out into sheets. These sheets are dried on a series of steamrollers. Each roll had about 2 km of brown paper.

After our factory visit, we had lunch at Prerak’s house. It was a perfect meal after an amazing educational trip. We look forward to having more trips like these. We thank Prerak and his family for a lovely day but above all we would like to thank Nivedita Ma’am, our class teacher, for organising.

Shambahvi ShivaXII Science

TECHNEWS Caution! Your Tech Gadgets Are Spying on You

Recent headlines about PRISM — the U.S. government program that allows security officials to spy on people’s Internet activity — confirm what conspiracy theorists have long been foretelling: Big Brother is watching. But is the government the only one keeping tabs on what you search for, watch and discuss with friends? The truth is, there are others out there — businesses, advertisers, scammers — hoping to line their pockets by collecting your personal data. And they have a variety of tools at their disposal

to gather the information they need — tools you might even have with you right now. That's right — everything from the smartphone in your pocket to the television in your bedroom can potentially be used to spy on you.

Here are some ordinary gadgets with serious spy potential.

Smartphones

You know your phone is smart, but just how smart is it? Smart enough to sense your every movement. Smart enough to capture your every word. Smartphones possess an arsenal of powerful features — including microphones, GPS receivers, accelerometers and Wi-Fi antennas — that are meant to help users communicate and access information, but those very same tools can also be used for spying.

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Tablets

If your smartphone turns against you, at least you still have your trusty tablet, right? Wrong. Most tablets have the same operating systems — as well as the same built-in spy tools — as smartphones do.

KRITIKA PUNIA X-B

India in the world of Science: Sir CV Raman

This article talks about Sir C.V. Raman, an Indian Physicist whose ground-breaking work in the field of light scattering earned him the 1930 Nobel Prize for Physics. Science is such a vast subject that it intrigues everyone. I really like all fields of science, as it is my favourite subject. I especially love Physics, and during one of my sessions of browsing through Wikipedia, one night, I came across ‘The Raman Effect’. That’s how I came across C.V. Raman and his ground breaking and revolutionary work in the field of light scattering

During a voyage to Europe in 1921, Raman noticed the blue colour of glaciers and the Mediterranean Sea. He was motivated to discover the reason for the blue colour, which was his inspiration for discovering the ‘Raman Effect’. He discovered that when light traverses a transparent material, some of the deflected light changes in wavelength. This effect is called The Raman Effect which is of great importance, as it gives further proof of the quantum nature of light, that is, it is both a particle

and a wave. He later discovered the quantum photon spin in 1932, which further confirmed the quantum nature of light. Raman also did considerable work in the field of acoustics. Then with his combined knowledge of light and sound he, along with his student Nagendra Nath, provided the correct theoretical explanation for the acousto-optic effect (light scattering by sound waves).

With so much to contribute in so many fields, C.V. Raman was highly awarded and greatly honoured. He received the Bharat Ratna, the highest civilian award in India. He also won the 1930 Nobel Prize for Physics, which is considered to be the highest honour in the field of Science. He was also a Fellow of the Royal Society, which is one of the oldest and most prestigious learned societies of Science. He was also knighted, and received the title of ‘Sir’. I felt really proud to be an Indian, seeing that India is one of the top contributors to modern science.

Source(s): www.famousscientists.org/c-v-raman/

Inputs from: Shashwat Jha IX I

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Discussing plans? Not in car with ACs on.

Recent tragedy that highlights the danger of keeping the AC running for long hours in a parked car should make people, especially the ones spending private time inside their cars after parking it in a garage or isolated stretches, aware of the consequences.

WHAT COULD HAVE HAPPENED?

• A slight leak in exhaust system builds Carbon monoxide in car cabin. • CO enters respiratory system. • CO and haemoglobin binds to form carboxyhaemoglobin. • RBCs pick up CO quicker than oxygen.

• Blocking of Oxygen leads to Hypoxia, a condition in which body is deprived of oxygen • Symptoms are headache, loss of consciousness and in severe cases lead to death.

• One of the most toxic compounds, CO i.e. Carbon mono oxide, being colourless, odourless and tasteless makes it difficult to detect.

SEPTEMBER ISSUE 1

HOW TO STAY SAFE?

• Make sure engine is off when vehicle is parked. • Roll down the windows.

• AC’s to be switched off in stationary vehicle.

• Exhausts and AC to be checked regularly

Kshitij Srivastava XI Science

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A Drone Bee in action

Engineers have developed the first flying, insect-inspired vehicle: the micro drone. Flying insects have a massive advantage over humans: they are small enough to get into almost any tight space and go unnoticed. Inspired by the biology of a bee, a group of scientists from Harvard school of engineering and applied science, USA have developed a tiny winged craft that could be used as a surveillance drone.

Dubbed the ‘RoboBee’, this little 80-milligram device has a pair of buzzing wings that flap 120 times a second. It has been developed after a collaborative research over 10 years.This will enable the device to sense and respond dynamically to the environment.

Group of robobees with their swarm intelligence are believed to be highly useful in search and rescue efforts and as artificial pollinators. To accomplish this goal of colony behaviour, abstract programming languages have been developed.

First is the ‘Karma’, which uses flowcharts, and second is the ‘OptRAD’, which uses probabilistic algorithms. Prospective applications for individual or small groups of robobees include covert surveillance

and the detection of harmful chemicals. The scientists will now undertake the creation of artificial ‘smart sensors similar to the bee’s eyes, and antennae.

Source(s): Science ReporterS.Senthureswaran

XI Science

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Science is fun Astronomy Crossword

Across

1.The name of our galaxy

4.A very small star

6.The planet closest to earth.

9.The “Red Planet”

10. The planet closest to the Sun

11. Number of stars in the Big Dipper

13. The distance light travels in one year

17. An instrument that makes distant objects look larger and closer

19. The spinning of the Earth on its axis

/20. Small rocky objects that revolve around the sun, mostly in the area between Mars and Jupiter.

Down

2. A scientist who studies stars and planets

5. A group of stars with a definite pattern or arrangement

7. A star's brightness is called its ______.

8. The largest planet in our solar system

12. Another name for the North Star

15. The movement of the Earth around the Sun

16. The planet with rings

18. A mass of material with a long tail that travels around the Sun.

Kritika PuniaX B

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LAUGHING GAS

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Teacher editor: Jayati Bhatacharjee

Student Editor: Kshitij Srivastava