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Ekya / March 22, 2018 Posted by : administrator

One of the biggest challenges faced by cities across the globe is the management of the waste they generate every day. Students from Grade 4 C of Ekya JP Nagar took up this challenge, visiting the garbage crisis faced by the city of Bangalore. This, they did through the lens of Design Thinking – part of the Science curriculum at Ekya Schools.

Through the process of Design Thinking, students brainstorm, categorize, organize information, conduct research and interviews, ideate and make prototypes that solve real-world problems. They work with multiple perspectives, learn to access and make sense of information, apply critical thinking and intuition, iteratively learn from failure and create solutions that integrate the emotional and the analytical.

Brainstorm

After an introductory activity set the ball rolling, our fourth graders huddled for several rounds of brainstorming. A number of ideas floated across the classroom, some revolving around Universal Dustbins to banishing waste to space and particular planets; others explored the possibility of bots segregating waste at its source. The students even offered to incentivize efficient waste management by proposing a machine that allows children to play games if and when they segregate their waste properly.

Observation

An integral part of Design Thinking is observation as it enables the students to understand the gravity of the challenge they are dealing with, the key factors that they have to consider while ideating and creating their prototypes and the roadblocks they may face in the process. Our children met and observed Pourkamikas, members of BBMP who help segregate waste on the streets, They even keenly observed their own family members at home, peers in class and support staff at the school, jotting down copious observations

Interviews

With their observations recorded, the children grabbed the opportunity of interviewing the Asst. Commissioner of Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike(BBMP), shooting a wide range of questions on the administrative body – from its objective, how it feels to work at BBMP to whether BBMP had studied other municipalities to understand best practices that Bangalore can adopt.

Using their observation and interview material, with references from newspaper articles about Bangalore’s waste management, user empathy maps were made. These maps helped the students arrive at interesting points of view:

– People tend to litter their surrounding plot or vacant grounds in their neighbourhoods because of a lack of dedicated space.
– Waste is not segregated at source because people may not be patient enough to deal with the procedure or that they do not like handling dustbins or the odour that comes with it.

Feedback

Having studied the user empathy maps closely, the students arrived at the decision of focussing on specific users, to solve challenges specific to them. They created designs and blueprints for products and ideas, sharing it with the entire class for feedback. During this session, students offered critique, also taking the time to share their appreciation of what they liked about each project.

Prototyping

With ideas in place, blueprints finalized, the teams proceeded to build their prototypes. Described by many as their favourite part of the design thinking, our children had a riot putting together their models. Some had to deal with conflicts within their team over material, individual responsibilities or bringing the whole team on board to go with an idea – which they addressed democratically.

Once ready, the models were proudly displayed for user testing by teachers and other teams. With the showcase done, the students reflected on their journey with design thinking, exchanging notes on the impact their models would have on the city’s garbage crisis and also exploring what they wanted to do differently.

The chocolate vending segregator is designed to reward children with chocolates when they dump waste into the correct dustbin, thus incentivizing segregation.

Design of attractive dustbins to interest people in segregation.

Classroom Segregation Bot

The dustbins have the facility for children to put waste into four categories (dry, wet, hazardous and sanitary). They punch in their name whenever they dump waste. A bot would monitor the process and submit a report to the teacher on children segregating waste consistently. There are specific monthly rewards for children segregating waste properly like extra PE periods.

Game on segregation: A game designed to interest children, the idea is to make it available at kiosks around different communities, to spread awareness of the importance of segregation.

Solar powered segregator

To know more about Design Thinking, its process and how it fits into the Ekya curriculum, read our quick guide here.

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Ekya / March 26, 2024

The Hot Garlic Soup Inspired by ‘The Last Leaf’ by O. Henry

Sue and Johnsy, two young artists, shared a small flat on the third storey of an old house.
Johnsy fell ill in November. She was diagnosed with pneumonia. She would lie in her bed, gazing out of the window. Sue sent for the doctor. The doctor said to Sue, “Johnsy’s condition is not so serious yet. It seems she is unable to recover because she has lost the will to live.”
Sue became extremely worried for Johnsy’s well-being and mental health. She tried to make Johnsy interested in the things around her, but Johnsy never replied with more than a noncommittal hum.
One day, Sue was painting when she heard Johnsy counting backwards. Sue looked out of the window and saw an old ivy creeper climbing on the brick wall. The ivy was shedding its leaves in the strong gust of the wind.
“They are falling faster now,” whispered Johnsy. “Three days ago there were so many leaves. Only five are left now.”
“It is autumn,” said Sue, “and the leaves will fall.”
“When the last leaf falls, I will die” said Johnsy with finality. “I have felt this for the last three days.”
“Oh, that’s nonsense,” replied Sue. “Why do you believe your fate is tied to those old ivy leaves?”
“Human life is fleeting, just like those ivy leaves,” said Johnsy. “I got sick just as the ivy started shedding its leaves. It must be an omen. The last leaf will fall, and I will slip into slumber forever.”
Sue sat on Johnsy’s bed, kissed her and said, “You are not going to die. Plenty of people fall sick in autumn, and they recover soon enough. Do you want some soup?”
“I don’t want any soup. My time is almost up, I’m sure of it,” murmured Johnsy.
Sue decided to change tactics. She was not going to give up on Johnsy.
“It is true that human life is somewhat fleeting, but that’s exactly what makes life valuable. Do you not want to see what life has to offer before you slip into slumber? Will you not miss the cool breeze waking you up, the warm embrace of sunlight? Do you want to give up the feeling of the paintbrush gliding over the canvas?” Sue quavered.
“Look beyond the ivy to that tree over there,” Sue continued. “Even that tree is shedding its leaves, but it is also growing new leaves. It is going to live for many more years, just like you.”
Johnsy contemplated for a while. Then, she looked out of the window and smiled.
“Perhaps I will have some hot garlic soup. You made me realise that life is worth living after all.”
Written by Aahana,
from grade 9A

Ekya / March 22, 2024

Importance of Literature in a Classroom.

"Literature is one of the most interesting and significant expressions of humanity" - P.T.Barnum

We as humans are social beings. We can't imagine our lives to be solitary. Literature facilitates us to understand and communicate with one another in society. It helps us explore the world around us and is a medium to express our views and experiences. So it is of vital importance that the students are introduced to literature at a young age.

Literature is necessary for students as it helps them to develop imagination, improves vocabulary and language skills and even enhances creativity. Literature helps them understand the world outside their home and school.

It is disheartening to see that literature is often not put on the same pedestal as other technical subjects like Math or Science. where it shouldn't be the case.

Literature includes different types of texts like stories and fables, myths

and legends, poetry and drama or even informational texts that help them explore other subjects. It prepares students to read and understand the real world.

There are one too many benefits of including literature at a young age. It is like an exercise for the brain, keeping an individual mentally active and stimulated.

Exposure to cultures from different countries brings in a sense of respect and tolerance, a feat possible through literature. It motivates one to appreciate different lives and their ways and also to graciously disagree with something that may not be right. The different characters the students are introduced to become a source of inspiration. They start to imagine themselves in varied situations. they learn different solutions to problems they come across.

More importantly, reading is fun and literature develops an inclination toward reading and makes them self-learners.

It can be concluded that literature is a gateway to nurturing a child’s life skills more than any assignment or task

can ever do.

Written By:

Shruthi Prakash

English Educator - Primary

Ekya Schools BTM Layout

Ekya / March 22, 2024

A Day to Remember: Juniors Bid Goodbye to Seniors with a Spectacular Farewell Party.

As the academic year draws to a close, emotions run high at our beloved school. The time has come for the juniors to express their gratitude, love, and affection for their departing seniors.

And what better way to do this than by throwing an unforgettable farewell party?

The air was buzzing with excitement as the juniors meticulously planned every detail to make it a night that their seniors would cherish forever.

The audio-visual room was transformed into a place of nostalgia and celebration, adorned with decorations to welcome the seniors. Each performance was filled with energy, enthusiasm, and dedication. Each video played, spoke volumes about the memories shared and the bonds formed throughout their academic journey, blanketing the atmosphere with a mix of joy, laughter, and a hint of bittersweet anticipation.

Our seniors were all dressed up to the nines for the occasion with the girls in a blue and white saree and the boys in black suits.

But how did all of this come to be? I am a grade 11 student and let me take you through behind the scenes of this event and how we prepared for this event.

  • Many girls formed a group and decided to dance to “Paint It Red” and “All Is Well”. Everyone’s efforts are to be appreciated as they come up with new steps and formations. Well-coordinated teamwork led to an amazing performance that got everyone cheering.

  • Meanwhile, my batchmate, Lara,  and a few teachers were preparing to sing songs dedicated to the seniors. Lara sang a melodious rendition of “When You Believe” and the teachers sang a medley of songs which got the seniors singing along as well!

  • The boys planned on dancing to the song “Galti Se Mistake” and their performance was full of creativity and humour. The choreography was inspired by the original music video of the song and they worked hard together and taught each other the steps. This performance got everyone giggling and cheering so loud!

  • It did not end with the students, even the teachers chose to step into this grand celebration. They danced on a variety of songs and each song made the seniors hoot louder. Even though they had a very busy schedule they would still take time and dedicate it to the dance practice during after-school hours. Huge kudos for their coordination and effort!

  • Mohana and Arshia came up with a very engaging script which had the attention of the audience. A small game was organised for the students where they had to write something good about one of their batchmates. Everybody put their hands together and made 32 crowns of appreciation for their seniors. A video of the seniors was made including photos and videos of their dearest memories. Last but not least, our teachers also prepared a video message for the seniors bidding farewell and wishing them the best for their future endeavours.

The day finally came. The 10th of February came. It was the day - the day for which we had been preparing for days. The graduation.

The place was set, the background screen was ready, the mic was ready and the sound system was ready. Our seniors came one by one and the auditorium was filled with chatter until the anchors came in and the event started.

After a few minutes, the head boy gave a heartfelt speech, followed by the chit game of affirmations then Lara’s beautiful performance.

The girls donned black kurtis and sunglasses and danced to “Paint It Red”, which got a round of applause. The seniors loved the “Galti Se Mistake” dance by the boys for its creativity and comedic execution and what made it better was the shorts with shirt and tie combination. The dance finale was to the song “All Is Well” which got the audience cheering for the dancers with lots of enthusiasm.

Then a video filled with the memories of the seniors was shown which made most of them emotional. The dance which everybody was eagerly anticipating started - it was our beloved teachers who completely rocked the stage with their amazing performance.

Then a few teachers gave a very emotional message followed by songs dedicated to their students. The event came to an end with video messages by the teachers,  a crowning ceremony and high tea.

In conclusion, the event was successful, and enjoyed by all the students - juniors, seniors and teachers. It wouldn’t have been possible without everyone’s contribution and teamwork. It was an emotional roller coaster for everyone and a day which will never be forgotten.

Written By:

Stutee Samantray

(Grade 11, Ekya BTM)

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Understanding the Social Science Program at Ekya Schools

Gone are the days when a class in History revolved around marking important portions in a textbook and listing out dates whose significance is not just historical but also for answering questions for examinations. When learning about a country in Geography was about marking its rivers and mountains, states and capitals. The days when a lesson in Civics had an ocean of words sum up the roles and functions of various administrative institutions and governing authorities, frightening students for their lack of enough fingers to remember the points by. At Ekya, a lesson in Social Science has our classrooms bustling with activities, having done away with marking lines and paragraphs in textbooks and bringing in the "Live the Lesson" experience. In this edition of Understanding Ekya Curriculum, we look at how these subjects are delivered in our classrooms by exploring the Ekya Social Science program designed by the Ekya Learning Centre.

History

History for the young learners at Ekya doesn’t restrict them to learning about the past but gives them the opportunity to understand how and why they should learn about it. This is achieved by having ‘research about the past’ as the pulse of the history class - students think like historians, posing real questions, finding resources, interpreting information, reporting what they find. They even conduct interviews with friends, neighbours, and family. This inquiry-approach to learning about the past begins at the tender age of first graders, working on the curiosity of our young children. Students at Ekya imagine themselves to be in the shoes of historical characters or present at significant events during the course of History. They give their own opinions on how they would have dealt with the situation if they had really been there.
Grade 4 students pretending to be historians to learn about the past.
Before the fourth graders went about exploring the Indus civilization, they were given an opportunity to understand how historians try and find out what happened in the past. After understanding why kingdoms and empires grew in India, our children from Grade 5 sailed across the Mediterranean to explore how the people in a small island of Greece started a culture that has had an enormous impact in the modern world.
At Ekya, we bring back the past in our own fun and quirky ways.
History is not just about devouring pages of facts and information. It encourages young minds to understand the past, in order to fully appreciate themselves, and others. It helps them understand the present and contribute to planning for the future. It helps them shape opinions about what happened in the past which they reproduce in form of journals, letters, and narratives.
At Ekya, we don't just focus on the content of what they learn in class. We are helping our children get familiar with factual knowledge and give them opportunities to nurture the skills required to harvest such information - if they are not familiar with a specific historical reference, they should be able to locate it in place and time, know how to find sources of information and evaluate them, familiarize themselves with context and grasp the significance of the reference.

Geography

While our students study the physical and political divisions of India and the Continents of the World, the learning doesn't stop there. Geography at Ekya, allows students to understand the importance of the Environment. Action plans for protecting natural and human environments are given voice within the four walls of every Geography class, chalked about by students after gathering a plethora of resources and research material. They learn how to submit plans to save, restore or conserve a place and its environment
Chalking out action plans to save the forests of India.
Geography at Ekya is about
  • Developing curiosity and interest, a sense of wonder and knowledge about the kinds of environment, people, culture and places that exist around the globe, while providing students with a sound geographical knowledge of their own place, India, and of the world.
  • Enable students to explore and gain a good understanding of geographical thinking including its perspectives, concepts and ways of explaining.
  • Enable students to become active, thoughtful local, national and global citizens, and to understand how they can influence the future of a place.
  • Develop students’ ability to ask geographical questions, plan an inquiry, collect and analyze information, (particularly through fieldwork and spatial technologies), reach conclusions based on evidence and logical reasoning, and communicate their findings in effective ways.
  • Build the confident and creative use of geographical skills, and to enable students to use these skills to extend their knowledge; make sense of new situations, and to solve problems.

Understanding the climatic belt of Australia.

Civics

Introduced from Grade 3, civics and citizenship is aimed at facilitating the attitudes, values, and dispositions students need to fully participate as active citizens in their communities. As one of their activities, our third graders play a game without rules to understand the significance of rules and that one should be responsible for one’s own actions. They explore the meaning of democracy by collaborating to frame rules for their own classroom. They become aware of their rights and responsibilities and learn to appreciate the need for making decisions democratically. Students in Grade 4 understand the meaning of a Government and how it works, at the grassroots, also exploring the differences between rules and laws.
Principles of duty and responsibility are conveyed at Ekya through storytelling. Planning games and making rules for the whole class allows students to comprehend the concepts of the subject. Once they realize their responsibilities as a citizen, and the basic functions of the government, the children then take up projects to solve problems that plague their neighbourhoods. They conduct interviews and collaborate to find a practical solution to resolve these issues.
Our Grade 5 students participate in a role-play to understand which is the best form of government by imagining that they are stranded on an island. Here, they understand how governance works when they are to manage everybody else who are stranded with them on the same island. Through this activity, the students put different forms of governments under the lens, understanding why democracy has become the most popular form of government in the world. To know more about what each grade covers in the Social Science program, do have a look at our course descriptions through the links below: Grade 3 Grade 4 Grade 5 Grade 6 Grade 7 Grade 8 Grade 9 at Ekya ITPL(CBSE) Grade 10 at Ekya ITPL(CBSE) Grade 9 and Grade 10 at Ekya JP Nagar (ICSE)  

Understanding the Computer Science Curriculum at Ekya Schools

In most schools, Computer Science is addressed as a subject where students learn about Microsoft Word, Excel and Powerpoint. Here, the focus is more on using generic application software and less about encouraging students to research, analyze, and problem-solve using tech tools. While traditional programming languages such as Turtle programming and QBasic are introduced at elementary and middle school level without teaching fundamental computational thinking concepts, very few schools venture into physical computing aspects of computer science. In addition to this, most schools use printed material that is outdated and not relevant to the changing tech landscape. Practical activities and assessments are far and few in between and do not give the students enough opportunities to explore a particular application. We sit with Ms. Ahlada Sudersan, who builds the Computer Science curriculum at Ekya Learning Centre and understand how we do it differently at Ekya Schools.

Starting Early

The CBSE curriculum does not lay emphasis on coding in Primary and Middle school. Today, technology has become unavoidable, being integrated into everyday life. We need to prepare our students to be comfortable and contribute actively in a technology-rich society. They need to be able to design solutions to real-life problems using programming skills. In order to create an interest in programming, we introduce Computational Thinking from Grade 1. In this strand, students learn to look for patterns, group similar data, use a sequence of instructions to make something happen and solve puzzles that require logical reasoning. They learn that a problem can have multiple solutions and the efficiency of the solutions depends on the problem itself. This builds a problem-solving mindset from a young age. Students are also able to phrase clear and understandable instructions.
Students of Grade 1 work together to design and build a machine
Students of Grade 2 practise touch typing.
Students of Grade 1 drag and rearrange shapes to create the given image.
We have also introduced visual programming languages: Logo in Grade 3 and Scratch in Grades 4 and 5 where students familiarize themselves with concepts like decision making, repetition, variables, functions, parallelism and random values. These languages act as a precursor to text-based languages that are taught from Grade 5.

How Computer Science unfolds at Ekya

The current focus of our unique Computer Science curriculum is on four main aspects of Computer Science:
  1. Information and Communication Technology
  2. Computing
  3. Digital Society
  4. Computer Engineering.
The Computer Science learning area equips learners to: • Be responsible, future-ready digital citizens. • Design, prototype and implement solutions to real-world problems using technology. Programming is a substrand of Computing. The following programming languages are taught at Ekya schools: In Primary school, in addition to the programming languages, students learn basic application software such as Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Paint and Google Apps. They discuss the impact of technology on society and what internet safety means. By Middle School, students are researching on ethical issues and distribution of technological resources around the world, learning how to use these resources responsibly. They learn animation using Vectorian Giotto, image editing using Paint.net, electronics and physical computing using Arduino, GUI development using Visual Basic, Web development, database management and so on.
Grade 5 students locating the ROM on a chip.
Secondary and senior secondary students learn Java, C++ and Python. They also address real-world problems as part of their project work and create end-to-end solutions for these problems.
Under Digital Citizenship, students explore the positive impact of technology. They work in teams to research and validate information on the given topic and present it.
The curriculum is designed to facilitate learning beyond the classroom through school clubs where students get the opportunity to work on a specific niche like game development, app development, and web application

Hour of Code

As part of Computer Science Education Week observed every December, Ekya students host the Hour of Code. It is a global awareness program, celebrated at Ekya ITPL in 2016 and Ekya JP Nagar in 2017. The programming event, organized and managed entirely by students, aims to educate people on the basics of computer programming in a fun, simple way. Through “Together We Code”, parents of students are also invited to participate in the programming challenges – Crack the Code, Techno Quiz, Discover-Design-Display to name a few. The recently held Hour of Code had students present interesting projects using software such as Scratch, Visual Basic, Java, Python and Arduino.
Students from middle school conducted a pair programming event for younger children as part of the Hour of Code celebrations at Ekya JP Nagar. Parents also participated in a tech-quiz during the event.
Over the years, students from Ekya and sister institution CMR National Public School have built and tested interesting projects that address real-world needs. Some of these are: • Home Automation System using Arduino • Heart Rate monitor and distance tracker for a bicycle using Raspberry Pi • Self-watering plant using Arduino • Electronic Voting Machine using Arduino • Autorola, a monitoring device for autistic children using Arduino • Crowdsource funding platform for differently abled people using Weebly • A multipurpose app for differently abled people called Yippy using App Inventor • Demonstration of Augmented Reality using Javascript and HTML • Health help app using Java swing
Students built an Electronic Voting Machine for Open Day at Ekya ITPL.
Students at CMRNPS designed and built a pill dispenser for visually challenged people using Arduino.

Cross-disciplinary

Computer Science teaches students the importance of validating information obtained from the internet. They learn about plagiarism, copyright licenses and responsible usage of internet, all of which hones a student’s ability to research and gather information. Students learn to present all kinds of information (text, numbers, images) in a meaningful manner, which is a required skill for other subjects and learning programs. Math concepts such as geometry, algebra, and problem-solving are inherent to Computer Science and Physics concepts such as Ohm’s law, circuits, electrical safety are all addressed as a prerequisite topic for Arduino. Students are taught to pay attention to the design aspect of a solution to problem. They analyze the needs and purposes while creating a product or a service and how the final product addresses these needs. Read more on our Understanding the Ekya Curriculum feature: Understanding Design Thinking at Ekya Schools Understanding the Social Science Program at Ekya Schools Understanding Singapore Math at Ekya Schools

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