A celebrated tradition at DPS is the Annual Fair. This year, the unfortunate COVID pandemic curtailed the mega event to a smaller, yet exciting affair. On Sunday, March 1st, 2020, the DPS Science Fair invited students and their families to view magnificent exhibits and innovative working projects developed by our budding scientists from Grade II to Grade IX. A daylong event covering themes of Science, Math, Technology, History and Geography, spectacularly transformed classrooms and grabbed the attention of visiting science enthusiasts, providing insightful learning exposure to all.
Led by our seasoned coordinator for Science, Ms Talat Seema and her team for , DPS STEAM Department
The Pre Primary Building presented unique projects. A ‘Robotics and Microcontroller Arena’ displayed three interactive gaming centers – the LFR, a Maze and a Pet Robot, offering Arduino controlled one-way and three-way traffic light systems, a Smart Lamp and glasses for Augmented Reality as well as Virtual Reality. The ‘Digital Arts Area’ presented Video Editing, White board animation and STEAM branding where students proudly presented their Cartoon and Character designing project in Photoshop, titled ‘Khadija and the Bird’; an animated story that was drafted, designed and graphically developed by young learners of Grades VI and VIII. The ‘Programming Arena’ and ‘Technology Arena’ were popular spots for enthusiastic participants as they anxiously waited for a turn at exciting Scratch Games: ‘Help the Crab pass the road’, ‘Basket Ball Match’, ‘Jurassic Egg’, ‘Thief Run’, ‘Flappy Bird’, ‘Lucky Shooter’, Hit the Ball’, ‘Hit the Knife’ and ‘Fruit Falling’. Technology Trends 2020, Explore Tech 2020 and The Book Geeks were webpages designed on WIX. The Technology Arena also displayed LOGO Programming Presentations and TUX Paint Wego Robot.
The Pre Primary Building also had an entire floor area covering intriguing questions for Geography. Surrounding the query ‘Do You Want to Probe the Earth or Discover the Sky’, visitors explored project displays that presented Earth’s Internal Layers, Earth’s Atmosphere, Extreme Weather Conditions, and Weather Instruments that included a working barometer and thermometer. Projects also depicted Plate Tectonics, Volcanoes, Convergent and Divergent Plate movement, Rotation and Revolution of the Earth and Seasons. The area featured refreshingly interactive students explaining essential geographical concepts.
Another innovative area for Geography represented the theme ‘Life is at ease with Water and Breeze’. The well crafted displays showed the Spotted Lake, Dallol Lake, Boiling Lake, Lake Natron, Lake Baikal, Underwater Waterfall, Blood Waterfall, and the Niagara Falls. The area also offered creative representations for Tsunamis, the Blue Hole, Mariana Tranch, the Bermuda Triangle and depicted the phenomena for Glow in the Dark and Human Interference. Visitors also availed the opportunity to observe Weather Instruments which included a rain gauge, an anemometer and wind vane.
What was generally the Nursery Activity Room, transformed into a myriad of History Projects as inviting attractions throughout the fair. Enthusiastic students showcased the ‘Evolution of Cloth’; displaying Animal Skin, a Cotton Field, Cotton Weaving, Khaddi, the Life Cycle of Silk Worm, Shoes, a ‘Charkha’ and a display of Modern Cloth. This area also offered a journey through the ‘Evolution of Architecture’ where visitors could explore the Stone Hange, Egyptian Pyramids, the Parthenon and Raman House, a Medieval Castle, Research Board, Islamic Mosque, Gussenine Museum and study the evolution of Building Material. Here, the comprehensive model of the DPS Campus was the favorite spot.
Also featured here, were an amazing chain of projects under the themes ‘Evolution of Transport’ and ‘Evolution of Sports’. Students brilliantly unveiled Modes of Transportation as Air Transportation, Land Transportation and Water Transportation in the former category and showcased the Hunting Football Ground with a Decimal System Racetrack, Boxing Ring, Football Scientific Bulb Ground and the Olympic Evolution for the latter.
Transforming the O/A Level Building, were thirty six projects for Physics, formulated and exhibited by students from Grade II to IX. Displayed in five rooms, the theme encompassed the Power of Friction, Generating Current with Magnets, Eddy Currents, Magnetic Levitation, Light Operated Switch, Sound Operated Switch, Dancing Candles and the most popular interactive center proving that Walking Without Friction Is Not Possible. Intriguing the visitors, a ‘Newtonian Room’ displayed a race between liquids and showed the lifting of a jar of rice with only a pencil. All enthusiasts could try their luck at finding hidden metal balls in a jar of sand, observe air resistance on different shapes, learn about the effects of gravity on inclined and curved surfaces and using air resistance to fill up an empty bottle with water; experiencing Newton’s third law which demonstrates ‘up thrust’.
An awe inspiring ‘Tesla Room’ comprised other wonders for the visitors. Interactive projects enabled visitors to try lifting clip pins without touching them, depicted Magnetic Field in Liquids, offered the possibility of lifting an astronaut, displayed an Erratic Pendulum, showed how a moving car can be powered in hands using repulsion, offered replicas for DC Motors, Magnetic Deflection, Joule Room, Ibn e Hashim Room and the Black Hole. The physics marvels also included an observation for the Jumping and Bumping of Water Molecules, an experiment to find a raw and a boiled egg and how to boil water in a paper cup. Students further enjoyed displaying their talents at creating Conventional Currents, a Water Level Indicator, a Fire alarm, and models for the Law of Heat Exchange, Bending of Light, Mixing of Colors, using Different Colored Light to produce White Light, a Laser Show, Magnification using the concept of refraction and a Light Polarizer.
Some special projects displayed in ‘Light Rooms’ included Broken Pencil Disappearing Tools, Candle in Water, Newton Wheel Light Filters, Light Box Laser Show, Black Hole Thermistor which showed the effect of temperature resistance, and Electricity Generation by Wind Power.
Accompanying the Physics exhibits were the Chemistry projects which occupied five rooms. Selected group of students presented models under the theme ‘Magic Chemistry’. A confident team of students presented Tin Dendrite, Green Lantern, Electrolysis, Flame Test, White Magic, Hot and Cold, Blue Ink and a captivating Breath Analyzer. The second theme; ‘Battle of Chemicals’ offered spectacular experiments including observations of copper coral, identification of halogens, purple fumes, soil pH and a wonder bottle. Further ‘Mysteries of Chemistry’ projected Natural vs Synthetic, Saturated and Unsaturated, Saponification, Artificial Silk (rayon) and Perfume. Students created models under the theme ‘Heat Energy and Air Pressure’ which covered the Law of Heat Exchange and Conventional Currents. Projects also showed the making of tea in a paper cup, air pressure, a spectacular crushing can experiment, boiling eggs in a bottle, the jumping and bumping of molecules, heat alarm and a Water Level Indicator.
Some interactive games also kept all visitors interested in the Science Fair. Students created a Flash Card Game, Element Bingo, Dart Game, Sorting Hats and a challenge to sort States of Matter in the Periodic Table. An enthusiastic group of students presented the theme ‘Fractionalization’, and displayed projects on Filtration Chromatography, Sublimation, Distillation, Crystallization, Evaporation, Water Content of Fruits, Factors Affecting Evaporation and Rusting of Metals.
The ‘World of Mathematics’ presented Eureka Beaker, Life of Pi, Dancing d’s, Light up the Angle, Volume and Surface Area and Pythagoras Theorem. The world supported a room which offered ‘Fun with Mathematics’, showcasing Domino Fraction, Tangram, Multiplication by Hand, Time, Triangles, Dice Train and Quadrilateral.
The rooms presenting projects by the Biology Department were the most colourful and interactive. The awe inspiring Five Kingdoms Whitakers Classification 3D Chart Frame explained the development of all the botanical and zoological developments in the natural world in what was termed ‘Carl’s Linnaeus Room’. Similarly, ‘Robert Hooke’s Room’ presented models on cell and cell organelles, cell city, finger printing, tissues, description of osmosis, description of heart and the model for heart circulation. The theme ‘Plants’ set up fun filled games for Pollination, Germination, Chlorophyll Painting, Edible Parts of Plant and the Color Changing Flower. Here students from the Primary Section took the lead in presenting their creative exhibits.
Health Sciences were portrayed in the ‘Ibn e Sina Dormitory’ which arranged 17 projects. ‘Orthopedics’ displayed projects on bone dislocation, BMI, flat foot problems and their remedial exercises, treatment of pains using pressure point techniques and a game of assembling bones of a human skeleton. ‘Cardiovascular’ showcased Angioplasty, a game of finding goodies within the Chambers of Heart, Yoga for Heart and Hypertension. ‘Dentistry’ allowed visitors to observe detailed models for Oral Hygiene, Root Canal, Mouth Cancer and Periodontitis. The theme ‘Neuroscience’ highlighted Alzheimer Role Play, and explained the effects of exposure to harmful microwave rays. It also included several Optical Illusion Games and a Therapy Room.
The widespread extravaganza for the Science Fair had to be curtailed as it was as yet a first day of the COVID-19 identification in the city. DPS ensured full safety measures and opened its gates to only parents and students as a consolation for weeks of hard work by all. The day quickly transformed into a busy humdrum of appreciative visitors taking away the wonderful learnings from exhibits that had been creatively designed to portray the wonderful worlds of Science, Math, Technology, History and Geography.