Students outshine in prominent state exams

Siddhant Tonapi, Dhruv Aggarwal and Lalit Jayanti from Std 6th have made us really proud by winning the silver medal each at the Dr. Homi Bhabha young scientist exam. The Mumbai Science Teachers’ Association (MSTA) conducts Dr. Homi Bhabha Balvaidnyanik competition since 1981 to encourage students to take interest in science, to inculcate scientific attitude & search science talent in students.

This competition is conducted for students of std. VI and IX.
The exam consists of 4 levels and the students have to face elimination at each level. After the written exam in September, only 7.5% students go to the 2nd level which is a practical exam in Physics, Chemistry and Biology. Only 10% students from this level move to the next round. This consists of an action research project and then an interview on the project and also a general science interview conducted in Mumbai.

According to the MSTA, around 45000 students from 6th and 9th standards appeared for the 1st level from all over Maharashtra this year. Finally it was only 350 students left at the very end who received either a gold, silver or bronze medal.

The research topic for this year’s project was ‘Nature study of your area’.
Siddhant’s topic was ‘Native vs Exotic trees – Which are better for the environment’. He studied trees in his neighborhood, observed bird and insect activity and made some very interesting observations and conclusions on why it is important to plant more native trees.

Dhruv’s topic was ‘Animal Mortality on Pune roads’. In the project, he researched the causes of animal mortality, its impact on our society and environment and found out the necessary remedial measures.
Lalit’s topic was ‘Study of spread of feral pigeons’. Lalit studied the feral pigeons, the problems because of their increasing number and measures needed to lessen their impact on our environment.

Copies of all the three project reports are kept in our school library for student reference. All 3 students will get a wonderful opportunity to attend a residential camp at the Dr. Homi Bhabha Center for Science inside the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) campus in Mumbai during their summer vacation.

Along with this, Siddhant Tonapi and Dhruv Aggarwal also excelled in the Maharashtra Olympiad Movement (MOM) exam taken by Maharashtra Knowledge Corporation Limited (MKCL).

This is a state level exam with 2 rounds of multiple choice questions on Maths, Science and Intelligence. Both students have aced the 2 level exam. Siddhant is placed 2nd (Silver Medal) and Dhruv is ranked 16 in the Pune district. Siddhant is ranked 17th at the state level and will get to attend a district level Science nurturance camp.

Kudos to our scholars!!