WIth our schools opening their doors soon, summer stories of our students have been trickling down all week. Here is Janhvi Agrawal, from Grade 6 of Ekya School ITPL talking about how she learned yoga and pranayama over the last month:
This summer, I went to my maternal grandmother’s house in Jaipur in the early week of April. I had so much fun there as expected. We were back from there by mid-April.
After returning I had plenty of days on my vacation. So I thought of utilizing that time constructively. There was a course specially designed for kids, scheduled to start in the first week of May. It used to be called Art Excel (All Round Training) Excel now it is called Utkarsh Yoga. Some of my friends also joined this course.
The course taught me about yoga, pranayama, simple warm-up exercises, and meditation. Our teacher was very friendly with us. She taught us good moral values, the importance of nutritious food and golden keys to life. We played many team games in the course. We learned how to overcome stage fear. We got to know how to approach people without fear and make new friends.
Overall the course was very engaging and interesting. They also told us to do yoga & pranayama daily. For that, they gave us a 45 days challenge. In this challenge, we need to do our practice for 45 days continuously and send them thumbs up on their WhatsApp group after we have done it for that day. If you miss on a day, then you restart the count!
I have completed 20 days without missing a single day and I intend to do so forever and ever!
Want to read more of our summer stories?
Foldscope is the ultra-affordable, paper microscope that you assemble yourself. Designed to be extremely portable, durable, and to give optical quality similar to conventional research microscopes (magnification of 140X and 2 micron resolution), Foldscope brings hands-on microscopy to new places!What is the Foldscope grant all about? The Foldscope grant competition invited applications from across India for projects promoting the use of the Foldscope as a means to generate interest in Science. This grant, the first one being awarded for the use of the Foldscope as an educational, training and research tool, saw a total of 525 applications from schools, colleges and citizen scientists across India. The competition offered the grant to use the origami paper microscope to promote exploration in scientific areas. Under this programme, selected applicants will be in a twinning programme with schools/colleges across the Northeastern region of India for the exchange of students and ideas. The CMR Group of Institutions was fortunate enough to apply for this grant and be a part of projects that focus on sustainable development of our planet and eco-science, thereby make science interesting and exciting. Who awards the Foldscope grant? This is an initiative by The Department of Biotechnology (DBT), The Ministry of Science and Technology, Government of India in partnership with Foldscope Instruments Inc and PrakashLab (Stanford). How is the Foldscope unique? Technical Aspects: The Foldscope uses magnetic rings and one of them encapsulates the lens (aspherical lens), which is the key component of the Foldscope. The assembling of the Foldscope takes a few minutes. The construction of the Foldscope is such that the slide can be moved while viewing and the experience of a typical microscope is not compromised. The magnetic lens gets automatically attached when the Foldscope is folded properly. This provides a handy tool for enhancing curiosity in children. Outreach: The Foldscope’s attraction lies in its affordability and enablement for the purpose. The inventors of the Foldscope took the pain to simplify not just microscope, but slide making, biological sample handling, experience, etc. An Example of using the Foldscope: During the workshop in Delhi on March 16-17, 2018 one of the exercises included slide making with cello tape and the process took less than a minute to make the same. This was probably one-tenth of the time for typical slide making which involves many steps. Details of the five foldscope grants awarded:
Last minute cramming never works. I prefer a well-planned preparation schedule. I’d also suggest analysing and solving a number of old question papers. This will help shed light on important and frequently asked questions. CBSE questions are application based, so mugging the textbooks won’t be helpful. Making the best use of the study holidays is a must to score well.“My parents are elated. They were expecting a good rank but they didn’t see this coming. To see my name in the newspaper, to see them happy, it’s a nice feeling. My teachers from school have been messaging me best wishes. My friends and family have been calling in, to congratulate me. I will have to make a list now, for the sheer number of people I have to treat.”
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