"How did they know atoms exist when they can't see them?" "Why can't we see sound or hear colour?" "What would happen if the sun died?"

 

At Al Qamar we encourage kids to ask questions. The kids have made a small "Question Box" with a mailbox like slot and have put it up in the classroom. When a question strikes them, they write it out on a piece of paper and slip it into the box. 

 

However, answering the questions is not such an easy task - some questions definately need expert answers. So we approached different people who are a part of the Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education, Mumbai for volunteers who would be willing to answer the children's queries.

 

Alhamdulillah Mr. Sushil Joshi who is with the Eklavya program (MUST SEE: http://eklavya.in/go/index.php?option=com_content&task=category&sectionid=5&id=50&Itemid=69) offered his help. We sent the questions to him and he provided detailed responses!

 

MashaAllah our student Shaheedha, 7 years, qualified the SpellBeel State level competition and is now headed InshaAllah for the National round! According to the organizers about 2000 students across all classes participated and 100 were selected. What is impressive is that the young lady worked independently towards this goal without anyone really pushing her! MashaAllah.

MashaAllah our students, Siddiqa Hussain & Mujahid ul Islam won the 1st & 3rd prize in the Senior catagory in the handwriting competition organized by HandWritingSkills on 28th January 2012.  About 130 children from 14 Chennai schools participated.

The Junior Elementary children at Al Qamar Academy have been having a wonderful time learning about “Air” using lesson plans from the Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education curriculum. Instead of boring black board based work, the kids did a number of activities to understand properties of air.
First they “captured” air using plastic bags and saw how air is trapped when you fold the bag. They learned that air makes noise – “phut” if the bag is burst suddenly and a “wooo” siren when let out gently from a balloon. They thought about how air doesn’t pour out of an upturned glass but water does. They ran races holding an unfolded newspaper in front of them. “It was hard. The paper kept pushing me back” said Nusaibah, 8 years.
The children filled 3 balloons with air, water and sand. They found it very difficult to put the sand in. First they blew into the balloon to make it big, then they tried to pour sand in. But by then the air would escape and the balloon would reduce to its original size. Eventually a respectable amount of sand was somehow pushed in. (They didn’t think of using a funnel) . They had to think about which of these should be filled in car tyres. Initially the idea that a tyre full of water would burst and spill water all over the road bothered them as very messy. But after they had rolled these balloons on the floor, they saw that the air balloon travelled the furthest. Ofcourse, squishing the balloons and twisting them to make shapes, checking out their weights were all done.
In groups of 2-3 the children made parachutes using hankies, string, and stones. They weighted a toy camel and a piece of chalk respectively on the parachutes and saw how these floated down when released at different heights – from a chair, from the top of a jungle gym and finally from the roof. “The camel didn’t break because the air pushed at the bottom also pushed the hanky up!” observed Abdurrahman, 7 years. They also tested to see which paper could be thrown the furthest – a flat sheet or crumpled paper. They noted their observations and then drew bar charts to record their results.
The kids filled up bottles with water and made holes at different places. “Aunty, cover the top of the bottle. Then the water won’t come out” advised Mudassir, 9 years. So we tried, and for sure, Mudassir was right. “It is because the air can’t go in and push the water out” he explained.
Finally today, the kids had a ball making bubbles using different solutions and straws. “Bubbles are full of air” said Samreen, 9. Plain water didn’t make any bubbles really. Water with Dettol soap make smaller bubbles with flew. But detergent powder made BIG bubbles. Then we added glycerine. “The biggest bubbles which flew” said Shahida, 7 years. They had seen bubbles in the sea water – so they “hypothesized” that sea water must make lots of bubbles. We tried it out. But no, sugar or salt water didn’t make bubbles. They are thinking about why.
No wonder the kids love science!

Alhamdulillah, it was our privilege to have Dr. A.M. Salahuddin, Vice President of Anjumand Himayath e Islam, and Mr. Iqbal Shah visit Al Qamar Academy on Monday, 30^th January. They toured the Montessori and Elementary environments and saw how we teach Maths, English, Deeniyat and other subjects. Dr Salahuddin commented that he was “..very impressed with the laudable work being done at Al Qamar Academy. I have learnt a lot by my visit and hope to implement the concepts.”   Mr Shah was similarly “very impressed with the children, they are very active and intelligent”

 

Dr.Salahudeen kindly consented to address the Elementary children. He narrated his experiences as a veterinary doctor. And also how, early in his career, he had to treat an elephant with a toothache!! He explained how dogs typically have to be muzzled but one of his patients was so "patient" that he simply scrambled onto the examination table and rolled over to his side to be examined.

 

The children, some of whom love the books by James Herriot, really enjoyed the session. At the end of the session, some four children enthusiastically claimed they were going to be veterinarians once they grow up.  

 

Again we thank Allah for granting us this privilege.