The Science Park in front of Gadag’s Chikkatti School is said to be the first of its kind in North Karnataka.
The Science Park in front of Gadag’s Chikkatti School, said to be the first of its kind in North Karnataka, holds a wealth of information for young and curious minds. Its 31 models teach Science principles through practical methods, with enthusiastic students eager to learn and also explain how each one works. The Science Park is spread across nearly one acre, and Rs 30 lakh was spent to buy the necessary items for the park. The cherry on the sundae is that entry is free. The park was to start with a few models in 2019 but was put off due to the pandemic and opened two years later.
School founder SY Chikkatti wants his students to learn science through the models and invites government school students, private school students and other interested people to visit the park. Chikkatti School students spend their free time here, satisfying their curiosity and learning new things. The science models demonstrate popular laws of science like Newton’s Law, Optical Illusion, Barton’s Pendulum, Centrifugal Force etc. They also explain each model to the visitors. Videos of the models are shared on social media for students who aren’t lucky enough to visit Gadag. All videos are posted on the official Facebook page of Chikkatti Group of Institutions.
Ramya Bommanahalli, a student of Chikkatti School, said, “We are happy to have a Science Park in our premises. We have studied all 30 models and can now explain each model to visitors. Students of Classes 9, 10 and PU coordinate with visitors, based on their free periods. Many students enjoyed the Optical Illusion, Heat Perception, Barton’s Pendulum, Musical Pipes and other models and took selfies with them too.”
Yusuf Yeragudi, Ramya Tadahal and Drishti Jadar, students of Class 9, said they were glad their school has a unique Science Park. “Heat perception is one of the good models here. On hot, sunny days, one can see the heat on different coloured circular plates, white always has the lowest temperature and black has the highest. There is a sympathetic swing in which if one starts swinging, another swing automatically starts on its own, and it’s based on science. There is another called ‘Reflection of Sound’. There are two parabolic dishes at one end of the park and a hollow sphere is another end. Here, one can speak with another person standing at another sphere, it works on the principle that sound waves also travel as a reflection, similar to light waves,” they said enthusiastically.
Vikas Mareguddi and Ganesh Parasannavar, government school students who recently visited Science Park said, “The Park is nice and we learnt many things. We are happy to have a Science Park which can’t be found in any school of North Karnataka. We are thankful to Chikkatti Sir for allowing us here, and we want to tell other government school students to come here too. It’s good that there’s no entry fee.” Many people have asked the founder why he spent Rs 30 lakh and then made entry free. Chikkatti said that students from North Karnataka will lag behind if they are not exposed to such practical classes.
Interesting Models At Science Park
Parabolic Dishes, 3D Pendulum, Centrifugal Force, Archimedes Screw, Angular Momentum, Heat Perception, Gear (transmission), Gyroscope, Cycloid Path, Echo Tube, Creator and Mound, Colour Contrast, Optical Illusion, Inclined Plane, Loop the Loop, Motion Perception, Musical Pipes, Newton’s Colour Disc, Scale model of Solar System, Principal of Lever, Pull Yourself Up, Sympathetic Swing, Uphill Cone, Sun Dial and many more.