Workshop on “Utilization of foldscope as educational tool” conducted at Deorali Senior Secondary School, Gangtok
ICAR- National Organic Farming Research Institute (NOFRI), Tadong in collaboration with Agricultural College & Research Institute, Killikulam, TNAU organized one day workshop for orientation on assembly and utilization of foldscope as an educational tool for the students of class IX, X and XI on 13th November, 2018. A Foldscope is an optical microscope which can be easily assembled from simple components, including a sheet of paper and a lens. It has been developed by Indian physicist Manu Prakash at Stanford University, USA, and designed to cost less than US$1 to build. It is part of the "frugal science" movement which aims to make cheap and easy tools available for scientific use in the developing world. Dr. Chandramani Raj, Scientist (Plant Pathology) and Dr. Shweta Singh, Scientist (Plant Pathology) from ICAR-NOFRI, Tadong and Dr. M. Gomathy, Assistant Professor, SS&AC and Dr. K. G. Sabarinathan, Assistant Professor (Plant Pathology) from AC & RI, Killikulam are working individually on this Foldscope through projects sponsored by the Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Government of India. To democratize this science, the four scientists organized a workshop for about 140 students of the school.
During the programme, Smt. Anugraha Rai, Principal, Deorali Govt. Girls Senior Secondary School welcomed the scientists from both ICAR and TNAU, students and faculty from the school for the workshop and thanked the Joint Director, ICAR-NOFRI, Tadong for conducting the valuable workshop at their place. Dr. Shweta Singh briefly presented the audience about the foldscope, its benefits and application as educational tool. Dr. Chandramani Raj explained the students about assembly and orientation of the foldscope. Dr. Gomathy and Dr. Sabarinathan from TNAU elaborated about the microbes, their kinds and how to identify them through foldscope. During workshop, the students assembled the foldscope paper to microscope under the guidance of Dr. Chandramani, Dr. Shweta, Dr. Sabarinathan and Dr. Gomathy. They also prepared slides of various pathogen infected samples, pollen grains from flowers and leaf tissues viewed under the foldscope. The students had a very interactive session with the scientists on on the various samples they prepared for the foldscope. The programme ended with vote of thanks to all the guests and participants by Dr. Chandramani Raj. The programme was assisted by Miss Kala Chhetri, Miss Sangay Chuzem Lepcha and Smt. Babita Chettri of ICAR-NOFRI.
Issued by Joint Director, ICAR-NOFRI
