City students extend a rousing welcome to Science Express

The ‘Science Express’, which chugged into  platform number two of Cantonment Station here, has been attracting thousands of students in the city.

The exhibition organised onboard the fully air-conditioned 16-car train, focuses  on climate change and its impact on the earth, a topic in tune with the Copenhagen Climate Summit.

More than 4,000 students from various city-based educational institutions visited the train on Thursday, the first day of the exhibition here. The exhibits were created by Max Plank Society, a Germany-based non-profit organisation, said acting-project manager and science educator of Vikram E Sarabhai Community Science Centre, Ahmedabad, Raghav Pandya.

“The aim of the ‘Science Express’ is to motivate and encourage students to chose a career in science, and heighten the intellectual abilities of children,” he added.
The giant strides India has made are also showcased. Students, who visited the exhibition, got a ringside view of the country’s achievements in the fields of IT, biotechnology and space research.

Children also got a first-hand experience of scientific experiments in the coach aptly named, the ‘joy of science’. Each rail car focused on specific topics, thereby avoiding the cluttered mayhem normally found in similar exhibitions. The train reached Bangalore in its third phase of travel across the country. During this phase, the Science Express will travel 18,000 km in seven months, covering 56 Indian cities. The train will be stationed at the Cantonment Railway Station till December 14, before it starts its journey to Mysore. The exhibition is open between 10 am to 5 pm, and entry is free of cost.