Sandarbh - Issue 01 (September 1994)

How do plants know when to flower? Is there any mechanism in plants which gives them a signal to blossom? How is it possible that a plant blossoms almost at the same time of an year? Do plants have inbuilt 'clocks' to keep track of time? Does blossoming have anything to do with plants' age? Is it sufficient to say that plants blossom as they reach adolescence? How do we know that a plant is adolescent? Do plants also undergo through physical changes as they reach adolescence? What is our current understanding about blossoming? The article attempts to address some of these questions.

We keep hearing about computers but what is a computer and how does it work. The article provides some preliminary information about computers, the way they work, the role of various parts of a computer and how this understanding about functioning of computers can also enhance our understanding of functioning of human brain.

A teacher is always supposed to maintain a diary to keep record of everything she does in her classroom. But can these diaries be used beyond demonstrating the well-functioning of the system? Usha Rao talks about her experience of documenting her day-to-day teaching activities and the shift she made over time in her thinking about the role of her diary. A teacher's diary can have reflective notes, she can keep record of all the children in her class and these diaries can be used to share experiences with peers. Usha Rao argues that it is a promising tool for collaborative learning in the teacher community.

Many times questions like a) Understood? b) Did you understand? c) Ok? etc, are asked by teachers during their classes but negative answers are not expected. In fact, teachers assume that whatever is being taught, is being well-received by the students. So they actually don't care for the response to these questions. Rashmi Paliwal and Yemuna Sunny question this pedagogy. Further, they explore a more informal way of teaching day-night and seasons. Children's prior conceptions on both the topics are revealed as the discussion proceeds with a group of class 6 students.

There is a lot of fear of mathematics among children as well as adults. Ganga Gupta, a primary teacher from district Betul, locates the roots of this fear in the over-emphasis on learning algorithms. Once a person forgets a small step in an algorithm, it's obvious that the logic will go wrong in the subsequent steps. The author believes that if there is a focus on learning concepts and not on learning the related algorithms, one can overcome the fear of mathematics.

Difficult concepts can also be learnt easily if learners get a chance to apply that knowledge in some context. Hands-on activities can provide such opportunities. Borrowing from Arvind Gupta's 'The Toy Bag', Rajesh Khindri discusses a simple way of making a low-cost motor and its working principle.

A small mistake in basic algebraic manipulations can lead to weird conclusions. The article illustrates an example of that.

Classroom is a very dynamic space. Nothing goes on as per plan. John Holt discusses a whole lot of issues ranging from discipline, freedom, punishment, teachers' questions and children's strategies to deal with their teachers, from his experience of working with children. The article is an excerpt from the book 'How children fail' by John Holt.

Maps are very useful pedagogical tool in social sciences. Here is an activity suggested by a group of teachers from Rajasthan to prepare a stencil of Indian map and reproduce as many maps as one wants. Some learning activities have also been discussed using these maps.

Sawaliram explains the principle of aircraft flight in terms of its shape of wing, elevators, ailerons, radar etc.

How do historians investigate a fact? The article gives a flavor of that and encourages teachers to provide such opportunities to their students so that they are able to appreciate that the discipline is not just a bunch of facts. It has its own ways of constructing and validating knowledge and the beauty of the matter is that there are still numerous instances where it is difficult to arrive at some consensus.

Ghanshyam beautifully illustrates various non-academic issues teachers face on day-to-day basis.

Children are generally so imaginative that they can construct a completely new world in their imagination and prefer to be in that world. Satyajit Ray illustrates the same in this beautiful story.

K R Sharma reviews NBT's recent publication 'Saanp aur hum' written by Zai and Rom Whitaker. The book not only exposes various beliefs and superstitions about snakes but also provides technically correct information about snakes, venom and its cure.

The data from NCERT's fourth education survey conducted in 1982 reveals that a number of primary schools in rural areas do not have sufficient number of teachers. The report also shows concern for multi-grade teaching prevailing in such schools.

The short piece explains how smartly a chameleon preys. The role of eyes in catching preys is also touched upon at the end.