HR: 11:20h
AN: ED12A-05    [Abstracts]
TI: Indian Contribution to IPY Outreach Activities
AU: * Tiwari, M
EM: lucknow11@gmail.com
AF: National Centre for Antarctic & Ocean Research, Headland Sada, Vasco-da-Gama, Goa 403804, India
AU: Ravindra, R
EM: rasik@ncaor.org
AF: National Centre for Antarctic & Ocean Research, Headland Sada, Vasco-da-Gama, Goa 403804, India
AB: India is involved in a major way in both the aspects, i.e. scientific as well as outreach activities, of the International Polar Year (IPY) 2007-2008. National Centre for Antarctic & Ocean Research (NCAOR, under the Ministry of Earth Sciences, Government of India) is acting as the national coordinating agency. The launching of the Indian chapter of the IPY 2007-2008 took place at NCAOR and parallely at Jawaharlal Nehru National University (JNU), New Delhi on 1st March 2007. Two Indian scientific proposals have been endorsed by IPY, which are Project id. 70 and Project id. 129. Simultaneously, India is actively involved in the outreach activities related to IPY. NCAOR had sponsored the visit of two college students to Antarctica during the 25th Indian Antarctic Expedition (IAE). A series of lectures were delivered by one of them at more than twenty schools & colleges in the rural & suburban areas of Indian state of Maharashtra regarding the wonders of Antarctica to educate the general public and popularize polar science. NCAOR is the only Indian institute that has the capability to store and sample Antarctic ice core with special Cold Room facility that is maintained at -20„aC. Students from several schools and colleges and scientists/visitors from various Indian institutes/foreign countries have visited NCAOR to get first hand experience of polar research. NCAOR has also collaborated with WWF-India (World Wide Fund for Nature) for carrying out the outreach activities to schools throughout the vast expanses of India. In this regard a calendar of event was released on 1st March 2007, which lists various competitions and activities that will be held during 2007-2008. It includes competitions such as poster & model making, stamp designing, petition writing etc. for school children. The first competition, poster making & slogan writing, was held at New Delhi on April 10, 2007 and prizes were distributed by the H'ble Minister of Science & Technology and Earth Sciences on the Earth Day. Further under the aegis of IPY 2007-2008, a 14 year old Indian student from Father Agnel School, New Delhi was selected by the Canadian organization, Student On Ice, for their annual Arctic expedition that was held from August 2nd to 17th, 2007. The participants were accompanied by an international team of polar scientists, experts and educators. The participant on return will share their experiences with fellow students to introduce them to a world unknown to them. Further, NCAOR has supplied audio-visual & printed material on polar science to Nehru Science Centre (unit of National council of Science Museums, Ministry of Culture, Government of India) which is organizing exhibitions on the theme ¡§The Story of Poles¡¨ focusing on geography, environment, flora, fauna, people & importance of poles along with issues related to poles such as ozone hole, global warming etc. the exhibition will consist of graphical panels, 3D interactive exhibits, animations, charts, 3D models, computer kiosks etc. Financial sponsorship has been extended to Goa Science Centre, India & Geographical Society of the Northeast Hill Region, India for popularizing polar science and other aims of IPY to general public. Moreover, under the "Popular Book Series" initiative of the Ministry of Earth Sciences, a book entitled "Story of Antarctica" is under publication by NCAOR. Similar books on "Story of the Oceans" and "Glaciers - The Rivers of Ice" have already been published & distributed to students in different states of India. Further details can be had at the National Centre for Antarctic and Ocean Research website (www.ncaor.gov.in).
UR: http://www.ncaor.gov.in
DE: 0700 CRYOSPHERE (4540)
DE: 0805 Elementary and secondary education
DE: 0810 Post-secondary education
DE: 0815 Informal education
DE: 0850 Geoscience education research
SC: Education and Human Resources [ED]
MN: 2007 Fall Meeting