YOUTH FOR SEVA

CHHOTE SCIENTIST

Project Introduction:
Chhote Scientists aims at leveraging the experience and skills of the science enthusiasts and
through them imparting practical knowledge and inducing scientific thinking among the
school students with a series of sessions, experiments and fun activities. This program
frugally teaches students around the concepts of pressure, light etc.

My Introduction:
I, Akshay S, currently pursuing my bachelors in Computer Science, studying in Jyothy
Institute of technology participated in the Chhote Scientist program organised by the Youth
For Seva Organization in Bangalore. Through this, I look forward to work more and reach
more students under this program.
Teammates:
● Akshay S
● Ajay
● Aisiri
● Giridhar
● Anusha
● Ananya D

Project Objectives:
● To develop potential scientific breakthroughs among students.
● To strengthen and focus on developing scientific ideas.
● To prosper in the field of innovation and to grasp the essentials of diverse problems.

Process:
The volunteering process consists of three-four sessions of training by the volunteers from
YFS who proceeded to train a couple of lead volunteers from each class who then trained
the remaining students.

Once all the students have acquired the necessary training, they are divided into teams and
each team teaches a given class from the government school allotted to them. Four
different sessions are conducted on 4 different days namely:
1. Sound 2. Light 3. Chemistry 4. Pressure.
On the final day, a Science fair/exhibition is conducted at the allotted school providing the
students with an opportunity to perform experiments of their own will and showcase their
talent.

Orientation/Training:

Orientation on the “Chhote Scientist” programme consisted of a brief presentation on what

the programme is all about, detailed information on the Youth For Seva Organization and
what it stands for. The first training session was conducted by a volunteer from the Youth
For Seva team who explained all the experiments based on the topics Sound and Pressure.
The second training session was done by the lead volunteers who briefed the students
about the experiments on the topics Light and Chemistry.

Implementation: Day wise

The first two sessions conducted were for solely training purposes.
Four sessions were conducted on four different days at the allotted government school (KPS
Kaggalipura) as follows
⮚ 19/12/22- Sound experiments
⮚ 20/12/22- Pressure experiments
⮚ 30/12/22- Chemistry experiments
⮚ 31/12/22- Light experiment
⮚ 05/01/23- School students were split into groups with a volunteer monitoring and
helping them out.
⮚ 06/01/22- Science fair conducted at KPS Kaggalipura with all the students performing
various science experiments and showcasing their talent.
Project Outcomes:
● To sensitize college students into becoming positive change agents in society.
● To establish a working relationship with college management to facilitate sustainable
volunteering.
● To initiate YFS clubs in college where there are no community service clubs. To
collaborate with existing social initiative clubs in others.
● To identify and groom student coordinators to organise activities in colleges.
● To facilitate a system which can utilise mass of student volunteers and not merely
individuals are present.

Team Work Experience:

Teaching is indeed a strenuous task which requires a lot of effort. Teamwork was one of the
key reasons as to why this programme was even successful. All of us worked together as a
team, helped each other in learning the different experiments, bounced off each other’s
ideas and backed each other up when faced by puzzling questions posed by inquisitive
students. This definitely helped in controlling the class and managing to grab the attention
of all the students.

No. of Hours Spent:

The first two training sessions were conducted over the span of 6 hours in total.
The four teaching sessions were conducted on four different days at the allotted
government school (KPS Kaggalipura) as follows:
● 19/12/22- Sound = 2 hours
● 20/12/22- Pressure= 2 hours
● 30/12/22- Chemistry=2 hours
● 31/12/22- Light= 2 hours
● 05/01/23= Splitting of groups spanning over 2 hours
● 06/01/22= Science fair conducted at KPS Kaggalipura lasting around 4 hours.
● Action Oriented Pictures:
Target Beneficiaries:
The students of the allocated school were enlightened on the four basic science topics
which were delivered by the volunteers .They seemed to be having a lot of fun while
performing the experiments. It was an interactive session which helped them understand
the objectives easily and implement the knowledge they learnt in class on a practical scale
giving them a more hands-on experience. The students were also given pre-test and post-
test worksheets which helped us evaluate if the sessions aided in helping the students
understand the concepts in a better way.

Expectations Vs Reality :
The expectations of the teaching atmosphere was initially thought to be very challenging
as we expected a definitive language barrier between us and the students as it is pretty
difficult to communicate certain scientific terminologies in Kannada and more difficult
to explain the same and if they would be able to grasp the concepts being
taught. However it was in turn a very nice surprise to know that the students were very
good at communicating with us in English and were also well versed in the concepts we
taught them as they were pretty interactive too.

Scope for Improvement:

The conduction of more Chhote Scientist programmes would definitely be extremely
beneficial to the students as something that the government school student’s face is the
lack of resources/equipment to perform more science oriented experiments. Provision of
this required material would help the students to implement the knowledge learnt in their
classrooms by giving them hands-on experience to learn practically. Also, conduction of
more science fairs at their school premises would help pique their interest in the field of
science and technology.
My Volunteering Future:
I am very grateful for this opportunity to be a part of the Chhote Scientist programme
organised by the Youth for Seva Organization as it helped me discern my passion for
volunteering. It made me realise that volunteering helps counteract the effects of stress,
anxiety and anger and provides a boost of self-confidence and self-esteem whilst providing
you with a sense of purpose as we are giving back to the society. Therefore I see myself
volunteering a lot more in the future and would like to be a part of more Youth for Seva
Volunteering programmes.

Conclusion:
I would like to conclude by saying that the Chhote scientist programme organised by the youth for
Seva organisation was one of the most enriching volunteering programmes I have ever been a part
of. The programme was very orderly planned and systematically implemented in the form of various
stages. It not only benefits the school students but also personally enriches the volunteers by
providing them with a boost of self-confidence. Thereby it is doubly advantageous and provided me
with a great sense of satisfaction that the students learnt something new every day and I could be a
tool to give back to the society as there is no greater thing than imparting wisdom. I conclude by
saying that if given the opportunity I would like to be a part of this programme once again and look
forward to volunteering in the future