Talk by Nomad-Hitchhiker, Ansh Mishra

Incredible talk at Al Qamar by Ansh Mishra - the nomad hitchhiker who is travelling throughout India - without a penny in his pocket. After travelling through 9 states and 3 Union Territories, Ansh arrived in Chennai.

He held us spellbound with his narrative on why he embarked on this incredible journey after setting himself a challenge of not using money, not even accepting money from anyone. How he's hitchhiked on bicycles, cars, trucks. Most eye opening and heartening were his tales on how at every stage people came forth to help, give shelter, food and a ride. How he's made friends, and experienced kindness which seems a rarity in today's environment.

A not to be missed experience! We felt we were travelling along him as he described the blackness of the Thar nights, the sweetness of the Gujarati dhal, the Kerala rain, the warm welcome of the Tamilians.

Open Day @ Al Qamar 2016-17

Open Day @ Al Qamar - a huge success. With over a 120 people attending - each child had a great audience. Open Day is a showcasing of research projects by our students. The projects surpassed all expectations MashaAllah, especially since they were done independently by the students.

Here are some of the 6th & 7th grade projects which were outcomes of the Spark Science Club and the "Self Directed Learning" classes.

One SDL project was on innovation in cooking - how cooking technology has changed over time. Another project mapped what drives innovation in transportation. Students identified various variables and mapped different means of transport to these. Another project was on understanding factors which drive "Animal Migrations" while the last was on Chennai - its maps, streets, flora and fauna.

Spark science Club had some fascinating projects. One student studied whether children learn better inside or outdoors. Some worked on seeing if children preferred gadgets or books, whether people get influenced by fancy brands, or they liked microwave or oven baked pizzas. A 7th grader tested the caffeine content in filter and instant coffees, while a 6th grader tried to find whether dosa batter fermented faster at warm or cool temperatures. A cool project was seeing whether natural or chemical mehndi lasts longer.

Upper Elementary Exhibits ranged from results of science investigations,Math puzzles, geography research, Nanowrimo extracts, science experiments, and other fascinating projects. 

The Upper Elementary tour started with a project on Maths - which included a history of maths, an overview of different number systems, and a bowl full of math puzzles. If that didn't have your head spinning, the next one dealt with Storyboarding - how to make a storyboard, a dummy book, yada yada. Included samples. Then we moved onto a bunch of experiments which demonstrated the properties of air, conducted very professionally by a young man. A culminating geography project on "My Island" took us to a wondrous land - where the student outlined the physical, political, historical and economic geography of an island he invented. Next came a science investigation into the efficacy of a non electric air conditioner - one which uses waste plastic bottles! Following that one were the results of a psychology experiment designed to understand what kind of books kids like - fiction or non fiction. Next was a project on solar energy where the student not only presented his research, but also demo'd solar energy using models he had made. Up next was a city made with junk. To relieve the mood came a bunch of fun experiments demonstrating the properties of water. And one which demonstrated rainwater harvesting using a child crafted model. A well researched project on gemstones followed - with many interesting bits of trivia. Up next were projects on photosynthesis, more cars, the Kabah, a travel write up, a display of beautiful crafts and a project on chocolates. Yes, with real home made chocolates! 

Lower Elementary (Grades 1-3) on Open Day@ Al Qamar - just super work! From a thorough research project on Volcanoes (Completely independently done by 2nd Grader, mind you!) to different designs for paper planes done by a Montessori child (the only one elevated to Lower Elem for a day), to an analysis of Female characters in Fiction books (which included an old favourite - Anne from the Famous Five and Mathilda from Dahl), the projects were amazing. A 1st grader did a lovely project on Athletics while a project on Cats and Kittens was a testimony to the careful detailed observations made by a 2nd grader of her pets. Two impressive ones were on the 4 Caliphs and Women Sahabas - extremely well written and presented. Three young men decided to quiz the visitors on African animals, Asian landmarks and Asian animals, while a young lady had us breaking our heads on Optical Illusions. One had incredible sketches of different continental animals while another dealt with Sea Creatures. A 3rd grader astounded me with his research on deserts - teaching me a thing or two! Then there were the "Maker" ones - lego cars, inventions with junk which included really funky stuff. Just to reiterate - projects were selected and executed independently by the children.

MashaAllah, kiddos - you totally wow'ed everyone.

Series of Bookmaking workshops held

An amazing workshop today on Bookmaking - by K Ramnath Chandrasekhar. This was the first of the 4 sessions and was attended by students from Grades 4-7.

After the children had watched a documentary on the conservation efforts to save the Amur Falcon, they brainstormed what kind of people create change. They then created a group story. Ramnath taught how to create a story map using the group story.

Then children spent time creating a synopsis, drawing the characters and making story maps. Ramnath emphasized the goal - the creation of stories around social issues. This will be a take off point for the next step where they start working on actual books.

Absolutely brilliant. Wish I was more than just a fly on the wall!