Prakruti Media Shala (The Virtual Platform) -
After successful introduction of the Eco Eureka Kit to the learners and practitioners it was felt that apart from the physical form it should also be introduced in the virtual form so that it can reach to a wider audience and can serve useful as facility for learners and practitioners to learn from it and contribute their activities in it. Therefore, Science Centre has designed this virtual edition of Eco Eurek Kit named as ‘Prakruti Media Shala’ to explore, investigate and experiment to know about the five basic components of the nature Water, Soil, Biodiversity, Earth & Atmosphere and Astronomy. It is based on application of science media, gamification and ‘do it yourself’ methods.
Target Group - The target groups of Prakruti Media Shala are children, teachers, youth, common mass, and society at large.
Objectives of the Prakruti Media Shala include –
* Understanding the basic concepts of Environment that cut across different disciplines.
* To know what ecology, nature and its components are.
* To stress on the fact that awareness programmes related to nature and environment must be action oriented.
* Provide a platform for communication and collaboration amongst target groups.
* To enhance creativity for Eco Scientific Exploration and Eco-cultural Traditions
* To develop curiosity for various natural phenomenon taking place and to satisfy the same through hands- on activities.
* Development of aesthetic sense and respect towards Nature.
* To strengthen the relationship of people with nature.
* To create awareness and develop love and compassion for various life forms
Key measures under Prakruti Media Shala are –
* Preparation of the scripts for making videos of the experimental activities that are described in the Eco Eureka Kit.
* Production of the videos.
* Organization of the regional workshops in the country, primarily to teachers and other practitioners of science for skilling them in using the Eco Eureka Kit and further act as trainers and educators to others apart from being practitioners of it.
* Development of games and other playful features to help young learners enjoy this kit in stress free environment.
* Providing additional resources like secondary information, facts, reports, link to key websites etc.
* Creation and development of the website of ‘Prakruti Media Shala’. The website will be further enriched by the contributions (in the form of videos, photographs, reports, news, audios etc) of individual partners including students, teachers, science practitioners and institutional partners.
Benefits of Prakruti Media Shala Virtual Platform –
* It would help in creating better understanding and awareness amongst various public groups about various phenomenon of natural environment and ecological processes by introducing a virtual experiment based approach to learning.
* By performing the activities using Eco Eureka Kit and with the help of ideas demonstrated at this virtual platform people shall be able to understand the ecological processes and identify the natural as well as anthropogenic changes occurring in them.
* In a way it will serve as accessible facility for ‘learn by doing’, ‘do by learning’.
* This virtual platform will also provide opportunity to learners and practitioners to develop their own ideas and innovative means to explore the nature and its components and share their ideas and experiences at this platform, thus serving as facility for ‘share the learnings’.
* The Prakruti Media Shala platform would provide opportunity to people from different sections of the society to understand the method of science, perform activities and share their activities in the form of videos, photographs, news, audios etc.
* This platform will help to own realisation that we all are part of the solution for nature’s problems and individually or collectively we all can play role in it.
Catalytic Support - The development of Prakruti Media Shala is supported by the National Council for Science and Technology Communication, Department of Science & Technology, Government of India.