A group photo with school students before the Scientoon workshop 

CSIR-National Institute of Science Communication and Information Resources (CSIR-NISCAIR) organised a workshop and competition on scientoon for children followed by a panel discussion on communicating science to children in collaboration with the National Book Trust (NBT), New Delhi, during the 28th New Delhi World Book Fair 2020 on 11 January 2020. 

Science cartoons are a confluence of science and cartoons. Cartoons have a long history of impacting the world in different ways including global politics, international relations and even social changes. Joining hands with science, cartoons became scientoons and are now impacting society in different ways to teach scientific knowledge, spread awareness and build scientific temper among the public.

The scientoon workshop was focused on training students to make science cartoons under the mentorship of famous science cartoonist Dr Pradeep Kumar Srivastava, retired scientist, CSIR-Central Drug Research Institute, Lucknow. He has delivered hundreds of lectures in and outside India to train students in making science cartoons. His scientoons have been published by reputed newspapers and magazines. 

Students of different schools enthusiastically participated in the workshop. Dr Srivastava explained the basic elements of a science cartoon as a scientific fact and satire. Demonstrating his several popular scientoons, he narrated several instances when scientoons had a direct impact on the public and even the authorities. Interacting with the students of different classes, he explained the process of choosing a subject and making a relevant story through art and sketch around the subject and then hitting the minds with a satirical punch-line. Giving a demo, he asked several questions to students relevant to potential cartoon subjects. The students enthusiastically participated in the process.

After the workshop session, a scientoon competition was organised among the students in the children’s pavilion at the 28th World Book Fair. More than 120 students from different schools participated in the event. The theme of the scientoon competition was “Clean India”. The scientoons prepared by the students were judged by experts including the mentor Dr Pradeep Srivastava. The panel of judges included Mr Hasan Jawaid Khan (Editor, Science Reporter) and Ms Charu Verma, Senior Principal Scientist, CSIR-NISCAIR. 

The competition was held for two groups of students – 6th to 8th and 9th to 12th class. In group-I, Aditya Yadav (Class-VIII; Cambridge School) won the first prize, the second prize was won by Hetal Kohli (Class-VIII; Delhi World Public School) and Arju Kathiyat (Class-VII; Delhi World Public School) won the third prize. In group-II, Prakhar (Class-IX; Cambridge School) won the first prize, the second prize was won by Prateek (Class-IX; Delhi World Public School) and third prize was won by Muskan Sharma (Class-XI; Cambridge School). 

The winners were awarded mementos and also two years’ subscription to Science Reporter and Vigyan Pragati, the popular science magazines published by CSIR-NISCAIR. Copies of the magazines were also distributed among all the participants as a participation gift.

Panel Discussion on Communicating Science to Children

In the second session, a panel discussion on “Communicating science to children” was organised. The panellists were renowned science communicators Dr Madhu Pant (Former Director-National Bal Bhawan, New Delhi), Mr Biman Basu (Former Editor-Science Reporter) and Mr Kapil Tripathi (Scientist-Vigyan Prasar). The discussion was chaired by Dr Ranjana Agarwal (Director-CSIR-NISCAIR).

Initiating the discussion, Shri Biman Basu highlighted the need for motivating students and the public towards developing a questioning and scientific attitude. He commented that science and technology have become a part of our daily life and we should take an interest in understanding it properly. Understanding science and technology will change the way we use it and revolutionise the social behaviour of human beings. Children accept the changes more enthusiastically, he said.  

Taking the discussion further, Dr Madhu Pant interacted with the students reciting a poem for children and asked them to repeat the lines. The title of the poem was “Karo Sawal”. The poem started as:

               Karo Sawal, Karo Sawal.
              Baat Samajh me agar na aaye, Karo Sawal Karo Sawal.
              Sooraj subah-subah kyo jaage? Pahiye chal  ke kaise bhaage?
              Baat Samajh me agar na aaye, karo sawal…..

The poem called on students to ask questions and become curious about the world around us. Dr Pant also defined a scientist for the students. She said anyone who asks questions and tries to find the answer with logic and experimentation is a scientist. Dr Pant explained that children are by default scientists in their attitude, exploring the world around them, where everything is new for them. 

        Mr Kapil Tripathi of Vigyan Prasar talked about scientific laws and their applications in the world around us by demonstrating them through activities. He explained the scientific method of conducting an experiment by picking a problem from daily life. 

        Dr Ranjana Aggarwal (Director-NISCAIR) gave the concluding remarks and appreciated the interactions of the panellists with the students in the event. She urged students to get associated with CSIR-NISCAIR for more such scientific activities. 

        Ms Shubhada Kapil, Assistant Editor, Vigyan Pragati, CSIR-NISCAIR anchored and moderated the event. All the sessions were held in the Children’s Pavilion in the World Book Fair premises at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi.