Mumbai kids learn science through stories

Narrating a tale or story is actually a crucial form of communication and helps convey meaning so effectively. It also prompted a bunch of young kids to pick up the basics of learning through storytelling in a workshop conducted by professional storyteller Usha Venkatraman, at the Times of India Kala Ghoda Arts Festival, recently. Says Usha, “My session at Kala Ghoda Dream Steam Festival was about teaching Primary Science through stories targeting children from the ages eight to 12.We covered in all the subjects of physics, chemistry, biology, maths and environmental science. There is so much you can learn through stories.”
‘Stories are the gateway to learning science and they help develop critical thinking skills’

Usha holds aloft a puppet used in one of the storytelling workshops
On day 1, students learnt physics and chemistry. Says Usha, “In Physics, the kids learnt about the phases of the moon and its path through a 10-minute story of the ‘Moon and his Two Wives’. This explained the waxing, waning phases of the Moon. Some kids had already studied about the phases of the moon, the first quarter and blue moon, so they were pretty much on board. My duty is not to teach science, but to give them a little window into learning it. The kids got intrigued with the story and I’m sure they will never forget it.”

Having fun while learning
Another story was about a chemistry lesson. “In this, I did the story the true story of 'The Three Little Pigs', the Wolves version. In it, the wolf – named Alexander T. Wolf - went to fetch a cup a of sugar and that ended into a series of accidents as the houses were not sturdily built. Here, children learnt about the comparative strength of materials, their composition, durability and strength. They also learnt about lung capacity and wind velocity.”
Another simple story Usha told them was of them was of the version of the little bun who runs away and goes to a milkmaid whose churning buttermilk into butter, so it was about how the material changes form.
She adds, “I am not a science teacher. Stories are the gateway to learning science. They help develop critical thinking skills, caress the logical mind and teach how systems are related. The children learnt the science around a natural phenomenon, animal, environment that is part of the story I was telling. They ultimately learn to be divergent thinkers and come to their conclusion.”