‘Science for Life’- a project organised by Scintilla – the Nuclear Science Society of the University of Colombo, was to give students a better understanding of what real Science is. The Workshop, held on March 8, at Bandarawela Central College, targeting Advanced Level (AL) Science students, covered many facets of basic Science and its theoretical background, as well as its applications. A group of 750 students participated in the Workshop. The Workshop, an interactive event, initiated with a constructive dialogue on ‘Why should we learn Science?’, was conducted by Ms Jivendra Wickramasinghe, a Lecturer of the Department of Nuclear Science. She also focused on undergraduate Degree program’s and possible higher studies opportunities.
As most students are unaware of the real science behind Radiation & Nuclear Science it, these have now been included in the AL Science syllabus, to give a greater understanding to students. An introductory lecture on Radiation was conducted by the Head of the Department of Nuclear Science, Dr. M R Lamabadusuriya, focusing more on the fundamental concepts of Radiation based on the AL syllabus. The lecture was followed by a group discussion on Radiation applications and a ‘Q&A’ session on AL Examination papers by Mr. Muditha Bandara.
In keeping with the advancing world of Nanotechnology, there was a lecture on “Introduction to Nanotechnology” by Dr. Laksiri Weerasinghe- Senior Scientist, Sri Lanka Institute of Nanotechnology (Pvt) Ltd, which gave a broad perspective on the basic concepts of Nano Technology and its uses in today’s world. To ensure that the Workshop wasn’t all about lectures and discussions of A/L questions, the members of ‘Scintilla’ conducted an interesting practical on the theme, “Let’s look at Radiation”. The practical was on the “Cloud Chamber”, which is a particle detector used for visualizing the passage of ionizing Radiation. Special thanks were extended to Bandarawela Central College Principal D.M. Ranathunga and the Science sectional head of the College, Lalith Ravindra, who worked tirelessly to make this project a success. This project definitely enabled the students to develop a deeper understanding and interest in Science.
Ramalka Kasige
Pic by Shalitha Amarasinghe,
FOS media
