Out of thin air!: Workshop on air pressure and atmosphere by Vidnayan Vahini

After our students got an introduction to our unique and life- giving atmosphere, it was time to dwell deeper.

Mr. Sharad Godse and Mr. Vinakay Dixit of Vidnayan Vahini came down to Pench to give the students more insight into the atmosphere and the properties of air.

Mr. Godse and Mr. Dixit introducing the various properties of air through experiments.

A quick game to go over the composition of our atmosphere, and the students were ready to look at a few visuals. The students wondered what a complex atmosphere would look like, and Mr. Godse and Mr. Dixit were ready with photos! The photos showed the atmosphere from a distance of 10,000 meters above the earth’s surface. The students then discussed the ozone layer and its thinning, man made green house effect and the harmful UV the planet is exposed to.

Moving closer to earth and using more unscientific quotidian terms, the discussion moved to ‘air’. We are all aware the air is all around us; it is colourless and odourless; it is life giving and consists of many different gases and water vapour. However, how does air behave when it is interacted with? How does air exert a pressure on us? What is the Bernoulli’s principle and how is it important ot us in our daily lives? Finally, if air is everywhere, how does it occupy space?

Our students learnt about the various properties of air and air pressure through some wonderful science experiments and activities. Here are a few images of the activities below:

Air pressure explained using a simple shampoo bottle!

Understanding how air occupies space.

The teachers at Kolitmara Residential School too joined the workshop, participating in the experiments.

Bernoulli’s Principle is the principle behind the flight of airplanes. A more commonly experienced phenomenon with fast moving trains explains the Bernoulli’s experiment. when a fast moving train passes people standing on a platform, they feel a pull towards the train. When the velocity of a moving body increases the air pressure exerted on it decreases and thus there is higher chance of getting pulled along with an object moving at a high velocity.

An experiment to understand just how the Bernoulli’s experiment works.

Mr. Sharad Godse uses two table tennis balls and a string to explain the Bernoulli Principle. The two table tennis balls try to move closer to each other when one blows towards them explaining the principle.

(If students can’t reach the E-Base, not a problem, we can reach out to them. Workshops on the Maharashtra side of the Pench Tiger Reserve began in July 2014. With a modified E-Base program, we take the workshops, projects and even a library to the doorstep of these students in Maharashtra. With an audience of close to 180 students this year, we are sure to make a lasting impact and continue growing as the years pass. The enthusiasm and curiousity displayed by the students in Maharashtra make every effort we take to travel for hours to reach the schools in Pench, Maharashtra worth it.

Keep up with our blog as we continue to travel to different ends of the forest of Pench to reach out to a wider audience to aggrandize our impact, thereby aggrandizing the effort to save the tiger and its home.)