Exhibition: Future belongs to curious minds

Science and arts projects brighten up the day at The City School.

ISLAMABAD:

Little uniformed boys gathered around a clay volcano, distraught that the last of their vinegar bottles had been exhausted.  The remains of previous demonstrations of exploding baking soda, vinegar and red food colouring could be seen on the soaked model volcanoes displayed at The City School’s Art and Science Exhibition held at their H-8/4 campus on Wednesday.

Young scientists and artists from grades three to nine displayed their creative geniuses in booths set up in an open ground. Parents, teachers and peers were guided from table to table as each student explained the theories and workings of their display.

Sixth graders prescribed solar energy as the future source of electricity generation and irrigation. “It is cheaper to use and is not harmful to the environment,” explained a bright-eyed student. She said that since we have already depleted our fossil fuels and are facing an energy crisis, it would be timely to start relying on the sun and wind as alternative forms of energy creation.

A prop of the world’s most famous sheep, Dolly, explained the science of cloning and though dangerous, Amina Faiz admitted that she wouldn’t mind a clone of her best friend. Nearby, an anemometer made of a plastic bottle, bottle caps and disposable barbecue skewers spun around, measuring the speed of the wind and, right next door, glowing flowers revealed the difference between a parallel circuit and a series circuit.

Students of the art club stressed on the importance of recycling, using discarded material such as glass jars, cardboard boxes, old jeans and scraps of paper to innovate. “This is the Taj Mahal,” described a seventh grader, Hasan Ali Rizvi, in a charming tour-guide manner as passersby admired the cardboard replica of the famous monument.

While standing by her colourful self-portrait, Shanza Asim shared the sense of freedom she felt in creating art. Her teacher and head of the art club, Nazia Mazhar, reiterated this feeling, describing art as a form of release and a way of expressing one’s inner emotions, pointing to a collective mural of the world as her young students see it -- bright and hopeful.

Pakistan Museum of  Natural History Director Gen. Dr Syed Azhar Hasan inaugurated the event, sharing with The Express Tribune that “curious minds” are the future of the country and the saviours of the environment. He added that there is a need to encourage such innovation at all levels in order for future generations to enjoy a quality life.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 22^nd, 2012.