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Exposure Visit to BARC
M. Tanushree of Class 9 E shares her experience of BARC Visit
The day began uneventfully. The group of 10 was slightly nervous and extremely excited. After reaching school we all assembled together along with our Incharge teachers Ms. Khushboo Singh and Mr. Thirumala Rao. We started off from school at around 8:40 AM in two auto rickshaws. Having never been to this place we were all wondering where we would be going. This place turned out to be a BARC guest house in Seethamdhara.
We were all led to a room in one of the 2 buildings. There students of a few other schools were already seated. Within a few minutes, we all received a welcome kit which contained an info sheet, a notepad and a pen and a cap. Having nothing else to do we browsed through the info sheet. It contained in a brief manner, how and what the AMD (Atomic Minerals Directorate for Exploration and Research) does. When all the participants finally arrived, we were introduced to the guests and informed about our itinerary for the day.
We began by watching two videos. One was about what the AMD and BARC do and the second one was about the history of Atomic Energy in India since independence. They were extremely informative and filled us in on many gaps. Having already browsed a little bit about these topics we now had a very good knowledge of them. After this at about 11:00 AM we had a tea break. We were given a pack of biscuits and juice each.
Then the fun part started. We were going to see a few exhibits and then we would be quizzed about them. It began with a model of a coastline. We were very surprised to learn that the black sand on the beach is actually mineral content. We learned about how these minerals take hundreds of years to get formed and how sand contains 6 atomic minerals.
Next, we were taken to the microscope room where we observed a few minerals like granite, rutile and monanzite under a microscope. It was really fun. We were lead into another room full of samples of rocks and minerals. We learnt about where in India we would find these. Also, we learned about how rocks and minerals are formed and about the cycle of formation and breaking down. We also saw a few panels on nuclear energy.
Now, it was time for the long-awaited quiz. It was four schools against one another. But it was only a friendly trivia quiz. Each correct answer earned us one pen as a gift. Some questions we aced, others we missed but we had fun. This was my favourite part of all.
All the schools were presented with mementos and then it was time for pictures. The pictures were taken and we were led to the dining hall for lunch. Lunch was simple yet we all enjoyed it immensely. We even had ice cream. Then we started back to school with memories to cherish forever. In this process of learning we never once felt bored or any burden that is usually connected with learning. The way the officials broke the topic with simple and enjoyable parts made it even better. This method of interactive learning can be combined with our education system. To conclude, I thank the management for selecting us to be a part of this program. I also thank our Incharge teachers for supporting us throughout. I hope there will be many more such events in the future.
