Afterschool Science at the Museum

Did you know? - the first science museum in the country was set up in 1956 (I do not know yet which one it is!). The National Council of Science Museums has about 25 science museums across the country. Here is a map showing you their locations. Apart from these, there are science 'cities' set up state governments (for example, the Gujarat Science City, the Science City in Chennai). Then there are those set up by independent foundations (the Birla Science Museum in Hyderabad).

The Gujarat Science City has a variety of programmes and facilities for popularizing science. The facilities include exhibit halls on science and space, an energy park, a life science park, etc. The activities include a series of lectures on popular science topics, workshops on science for children, events to mark important days (such as the World Ozone Day), etc. Interestingly, they also have a training module on use of puppetry for science popularization - and a puppetry corner at the science city. The best part is that the science city is open till 9 pm.

Puppets and Science

Today's newspaper had this piece Puppet classes make learning science fun. It describes an effort by the Indian Science Communication Society to help school students understand and communicate the science behind contemporary environmental issues (ground water exploitation, pollution, etc). The article says the children learnt to make puppets, write scripts, and enacted their puppet shows. The quotes the organizer "...We brought in puppetry because it made the whole experience of learning science rather joyful."

I think the value of this intervention lies in the opportunity it offers children to reinforce their learning of science (which is best learnt through explorations, experiments, etc.). Writing a script sharpens research and communication skills. What is the main message you wish to give your audience (is it the most important thing that needs to be told about this issue? will it help your audience do something about the issue? etc.)? How will you say it in a way that relates to your audience (what is it that they are interested in? what is it that they already know? what is the new stuff that you wish to tell them? etc.).

The article made me search a little on the use of puppets for science communication. And here is what I found:
A news item in Current Science (2003) on the efforts of The National Council for Science and Technology Communication (NCSTC) introducing "the art of puppetry for science and technology communication for the first time in the country and has also developed a training module for the same use of puppetry for science". Organizations which have used puppetry in science communication include: Kainat Foundation, Kako (Bihar); SEARCH, Ghaziabad (U.P.); Students’ Welfare Society, Anantnag (J&K); Manthan Yuva Sangthan, Ranchi (Jharkhand); Gujarat Council of Science City, Gandhinagar (Gujarat).
The PUPPETS: Talking Science - Engaging Science project which explored "the use of puppets to engage and motivate children and promote conversations which help their learning in science. Puppets are used with primary school children to capture their interest, stimulate their thinking about science, challenge their ideas and model learning conversations". Among the positive outcomes listed, I found this the most interesting - "creating a context for the use of scientific vocabulary". The site also offers tips for teachers in using puppets. The tips range from little practical details ("Keep the puppet’s head down - it needs to make eye contact") to more profound stuff ("Your puppet needs to present a problem to the children for them to think about").

From what I have gathered so far (which is not much, mind you) I can sense a difference in approach in the two efforts mentioned above. The emphasis of the first is communicating about global/national/local issues. The second focuses on motivating children to think about solutions to everyday problems using science. The first is an advocacy tool, the second a teaching tool.