vagdevi vilas e-newsletter - ...ramanujan stayed at cambridge for four years and during this period...

Volume: II Issue: 7 Dec 2015

Vagdevi Vilas Vignan Patrika

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Fill the brain with high thoughts, highest ideal, place them day and night before you and out

of that will come great work! - Swami Vivekananda

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Editor’s Note

A keen observer could only be a studious scientist. Observation of things includes the

variety, the changes, and the appearance and so on, of the objects observed. Once a

person starts observing things, he would be able to distinguish and differentiate and

tabulate the data in a systematic way. The patterns of observation would lead him to

postulate about a certain phenomenon. Constant and continuous observations would

help further to conduct experiments. Meanwhile the pros and cons of the hypothesis

become clear and he would be able to infer on the basis of observations and

experimentation. All through this process of perseverance a scientist is evolved.

Children when asked what they would like to become in their future, usually the

response would likely to be a scientist. Very good! , but at the same time children

should understand and realize the real ordeals involved in the process.

As a maiden step, let children start observing keenly around, befitting a young

scientist!

- R & D Department.

- R&D Department

Vagdevi Vilas Institutions

Chairman’s Note 1

Editor’s Note 2

Pre-primary activity on Wheels 3

Schneider Electric CMP - 2015 4

Eyes on Nature 2015 5

Vagdevi Science and Maths Olympiad 6

Articles by students 7

Famous Personalities born in December 8

Fun for all 10

Contents Page Number

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"Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow. The important thing is not to stop

questioning." - Albert Einstein



You cannot believe in God until you believe in yourself. – Swami Vivekananda

Vehicles help us move from one place to another. The little ones not only

recognised the pictures and models, but also knew what each vehicle was

used for. The tiny tots listened attentively to the explanation of how the wheel

was invented. They learnt about how a rolling log of wood evolved into the

modern wheel. They were quick to answer all the questions to connect the

series of events in the story. The little ones never fail to surprise us!

Pre-primary activity on Wheels!

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The CMP Programme began with the “Teacher’s Capacity Building Program” held at Schneider Electric India, Bangalore

office. Teacher co-ordinators from various schools were appraised of the objective of the programme and were all set to

implement the activities in their respective schools. Shri. Govindan of Vagdevi Vilas School, Marathahalli received an award

in the ‘Best Slogan Writing’ competition. The inauguration of the CMP – 2015 programme at school was solemnized on 25

August 2015 at the school assembly grounds amongst dignitaries from Schneider. 100 students from Grade 6 and Grade 7

were picked as green ambassadors from the school.

On 03 September 2015, The Ice-Breaker Session (Thumb Art activity) took place where the green ambassadors created

beautiful thumb art indicating their concern towards the environment. The Web of Life was conducted on 14 September

2015 where all the ambassadors represented various components of a food web and realised the effect when one link of the

web was broken.

“Don’t let our future go up in smoke” was the slogan with which our green cops observed ‘The Zero Emission Day’ (21

September 2015) at Divya Fuel Station.

The 'Ring of Recycle' and e-waste collection programmes were initiated as a part of the CMP programme in the school. The

school collected over 7465 milk covers (over 14Kg) and gave it for recycling.

At the final event of this programme, UMANG 2015, our Green Ambassador Pallavi H from Grade 7 secured the ‘SCHOOL

CHAMPION’ and won the final ‘GREEN CHAMPION - 2015’ award! Her innovative projects were under the title “FREEDOM

FROM POWER”.

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Schneider Electric - Conserve My Planet Programme – 2015



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“If you want to make a permanent change, stop focusing on the size of your problems and start

focusing on the size of you!” - T. Harv Eker

Grade IX students of Vagdevi Vilas School Marathahalli and Varthur participated in the ‘Eyes On

Nature’ programme guided by Smt. Anitha Sukhdev and Smt. Suma N of the R&D Department.

This programme was initiated by Smt. Prema and Dr. Harish Bhat of KSCST, Indian Institute of

Science, Bangalore. The programme began in the month of June’15 and concluded in Nov’15.

The programme was to inculcate a habit of observing nature closely. Butterflies, birds and plants

were the main objects of study. The habitat, feeding habits, growth were the key points of

observation and nature diaries were maintained all throughout. Saplings were handed over to

children for nurturing and caring.

On the final day, the students enthusiastically showcased the case study reports and creatively

maintained nature diaries. The nurtured saplings were also a part of the presentation. Students

added a few meaningful nature slogans to spread awareness. A skit on ‘Journey of Eyes on

Nature’ and ‘Earth 2050’ was presented by the students, which received a lot of appreciation. A

certificate of appreciation and a trophy was awarded as an encouragement to the effort put by the

students during the entire duration of the programme.

Eyes on Nature - 2015



For the second successful year, VVI was proud to conduct the in-house Science and

Mathematics Olympiad for Grade I to Grade X across all the branches. This was organised by

the Research and Development department in collaboration with the Centre for Ecological

Sciences, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore.

“If you don’t build your dream, someone else will hire you to help them build theirs.”

- Dhirubhai Ambani

Vagdevi Science and Maths Olympiad VSO/VMO - 2015

The second round of VSO and VMO will be held on February 08 & 09, 2016.

The results of the first round are available at:

http://www.vvi.edu.in/results-vagdevi-science-mathematics-olympiad-2015-16

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Faith is the bird that feels the light when the dawn is still dark.

– Rabindranath Tagore

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Why does the Sun look red at sunset?

The reindeer is a majestic animal that inhabits the frozen

Arctic tundra. It has adapted remarkably to a harsh, barren

habitat where food is scarce much of the year. It survives on

the lichens and tough grass that grow on the tundra. The

reindeer is a valuable and important animal to the nomadic

tribes of the Arctic regions, especially the Lapps. It is the only

deer that can be domesticated. It provides and

transportation. Its antlers and bones are used to make tools

and utensils, and the tough sinews in its legs are used to

make thread.

Wild reindeer are called caribou. The caribou is the only

member of the deer family in which both males and females

grow antlers. Caribou are herd animals that are always on

the move. As summer approaches, caribou herds go north.

This is one of the world’s great animal migrations. They

spend the winter in more sheltered climes.

Compiled by Aditya Rao, II G

We have all enjoyed the beauty of glorious sunset, when the

Sun appears to be a fiery red. Why is the Sun, which is blazing

white at noon, red at sunset? It is because sunlight or what we

call ‘white light’ is made up of different colours, each having a

different wavelength. During a sunset, the Sun’s rays are

slanting, and they pass through a much longer path in the lower

atmosphere. The lower layers of the atmosphere have many

more of the tiny particles called aerosols, which are suspended

in the cleanest of air. Aerosols come from many sources like

soil, salt from the ocean, plants, the burning of fossil fuels, or

vegetation. As the lower layers of the atmosphere have more

aerosols, their scattering effect is magnified. This results in

more red lights being scattered towards you than any of the

other colours-and in blazing sunsets.

Compiled by Deepak Sharma, II L

Reindeer and Caribou



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YPEN

SRINIVASA RAMANUJAN IYER (1887 – 1920) Ramanujan was born on 22 December 1887 in Erode, Madras Presidency (now Pallipalayam, Erode, Tamil Nadu). In 1900 he began to work on his own on mathematics summing geometric and arithmetic series. He lived just for 32 years but during this short span he produced such theorems and formulae which even today remain unfathomable in the present age of super computers. He left behind him about 4000 formulae and theorems. Ramanujan stayed at Cambridge for four years and during this period he produced many papers of great mathematical significance in collaboration with his mentor Professor Hardy. His phenomenal and exceptional genius was recognized all over the academic world. He was elected Fellow of the Royal Society, London in 1918.

His mastery of certain areas of mathematics was really fantastic and unbelievable. But soon his hard work began to affect his health and he fell seriously ill in April, 1917. Ramanujan had contracted tuberculosis. And it was decided to send him back to India for some time. He reached India on March 27, 1919. He breathed his last on April 26, 1920 at Kumbakonam at the age of 32 years. His death shocked Professor Hardy and others beyond words.

UPENDRANATH BRAHMACHARI (1873 – 1946) Rai Bahadur Sir Upendranath Brahmachari (19 December 1873 – 6 February 1946) was a scientist and a leading medical practitioner of his time. He synthesised Urea Stibamine in 1922 and determined that it was an effective substitute for the other compounds in the treatment of Kala-azar. His discovery led to the saving of millions of lives in India, particularly in Assam, where several villages were completely depopulated by the devastating disease. His achievement was a milestone in successful application of science in medical treatment in the years before arrival of antibiotics. He was awarded the title of Rai Bahadur and awarded the Kaisar-i-Hind Gold Medal by the Governor General Lord Lytton (1924). In 1934, he was conferred a Knighthood by the British Government. He was a nominee for the Nobel Prize in 1929 in the category of physiology and medicine. He was president of the 23rd session of the Indian Science Congress in Indore (1936). He was the President of the Indian Chemical Society, Calcutta (1936). He was honoured with the fellowships of the Royal Society of Medicine, London and the National Institute of Sciences of India as well as the President of the Asiatic Society of Bengal for two years (1928–29). He was also the Vice-chairman of the board of Trustees of the Indian Museum.

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Famous Personalities born in December

DDeDecember

One man practising sportsmanship is far better than a hundred teaching it.”

– Knute Rockne

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erode

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madras_Presidency

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madras_Presidency

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pallipalayam

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erode

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rai_Bahadur

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assam



KARIMANICKAM SRINIVAS KRISHNAN

Sir Krishnan, FRS (4 December 1898 – 14 June 1961) was

an Indian physicist. He was a co-discoverer of Raman scattering, for which

his mentor C. V. Raman was awarded the 1930 Nobel Prize in Physics. In

1928 he moved to the Dacca University (now in Bangladesh) as the Reader in the physics department where he studied magnetic properties of crystals in relation to their structure. Krishnan, along with other rising scientists such as Santilal (S.) Banerjee, B.C. Guha, and Asutosh Mookerjie developed a technique to measure the magnetic anisotropy of dia - and paramagnetic crystals. Their findings were published by the Royal Society of London in 1933. In 1933 he returned to Kolkata to take up the post of Mahendralal Sircar Professor of Physics in the Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science where he continued to collaborate fruitfully with Dr. Santilal Banerjee to elaborate on the magnetic properties of crystals in relation to their structure. Their experiments in Dhaka and continued collaborative research in Kolkata led to what is now known as the Krishnan Banerjee method in measuring the magnetic susceptibility of small crystals

ISAAC NEWTON

Isaac Newton was born at Woolsthorpe near Grantham on 25 December 1642. His father died before he was born and in 1645 his mother marred a clergyman from North Welham in Leicestershire. She went to live with him while Isaac Newton lived with his grandmother. When her second husband died in 1656 Isaac’s mother returned to Woolsthorpe and Isaac Newton went to live with her again. From the age of 12 to 14 Isaac Newton went to Grantham Grammar School. During this time he lodged with an apothecary and his family. Then in 1659 Isaac had to leave to help his mother on the family farm. Isaac Newton was not in the slightest bit interested in running a farm and in 1660 he went to the grammar school again. In 1661 he went to Trinity College Cambridge. Isaac Newton obtained a BA in 1665. In 1666 Isaac Newton was forced to flee Cambridge because of an outbreak of the plague and he returned temporarily to Woolsthorpe. He returned to university in 1667.

In 1667 Isaac Newton was elected a fellow of Trinity College. The same year he was elected a member of the Royal Society. In February 1672 a paper he wrote about light and colours was read to the society. In 1669 Isaac Newton became Lucasian professor of mathematics. In the meantime, in 1668, he invented a reflecting telescope. In 1689-1690 Isaac Newton was MP for Cambridge University (in those days Cambridge University had its own MPs). He became an MP again in 1701-1702 but he did not take an active part in politics.

Isaac Newton published his masterpiece Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica in 1687. It set out his theory of gravity and his laws of motion. In 1695 Isaac Newton was made Ward of the mint and in 1699 Master of the mint. He resigned his fellowship and professorship at Cambridge in 1701. In 1703 Isaac Newton became president of the Royal Society. He was knighted in 1705. Meanwhile in 1704 Isaac Newton published another great work about light. Isaac Newton died at the age of 84 on 20 March 1727.

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Working hard for something we don’t care about is called stress, working hard for something we

love is called passion. – Simon Sinek



“Don’t forget to water your dreams today!” – Jane Lee Logan

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Paper chromatography Materials required: Filter paper strips, water, different

types of colour pens and a large flat dish.

Procedure:

1. First drop one or two drops of ink on each strip.

2. Then pour a little water into the dish and dip the end

of each strip (one at a time) into the water and wait until

the water reaches the inky patch.

What do you observe?

The water gets dirty and some of the blots, including

black, break up into different colours.

Do you know why?

The water breaks up the coloured pigment, which

according to the colour, move through water at a

different pace.

Fun for All!

1) Did you know?

1. Foot print: Elephants have huge feet, and can weigh more than five tonnes. But they have soft,

spongy feet that spread their weight out so well that they barely even leave footprints!

2. Upside Down: Bats hang upside down because they can’t stand right side up. Their leg bones

are too thin to hold up their bodies.

3. Age old: The earlier fossil cockroaches is about 280 million years old _ 80 million years older

than the first dinosaurs!

4. High Jumpers: Rabbits have strong hind limbs which allow them to leap great distances. They

can jump up to a height of one metre, and length of three metre.

5. Deadly: The female black widow is a spider. Its poison is 15 times deadlier than a rattlesnake’s!

2) 3) 4) 5) 6) 7)

8) 9) 10)

Just Try!

Which number replaces the question mark?

Send your answers to:

[email protected]

2

16

10

4 6

26 ?

vagdevi vilas e-newsletter - ...ramanujan stayed at cambridge for four years and during this period...

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