Machines- making life Easier or Difficult ?

“ We have developed machines to make our lives easier. “ was the central idea of the last unit taken by Grade-3. But, somehow we teachers felt that this unit will make students’ life difficult ! The reason behind it, was that we have to teach our LITTLE ones the HUGE concepts of simple machines, friction and gravity. So, we decided to make it interesting for them and their life easier !
We started the unit with the tuning-in activity of provocation table, where we kept a large number of objects like juicer-mixer, skates, ladder, spoon, bat etc. The students used their thought process to inquire the relation between all the objects that they explored and this activity tuned them for the unit. The students had fun in their learning about the concepts of gravity and friction, with the help of monkey bars and slides in the Jungle gym. The workstation activity for understanding levers, provided them with hands on experience and even helped them in understanding the different classes of lever. Students gave a very enthusiastic and overwhelming response to the cart and winch making activity. The list of learning experiences in this unit was a long one but we would like to mention a few. They were: screw inspectors, work-relay games, interviewing school workers, making 3D-models of simple machines, making lemonade and viewing videos about complex machines.
Overall this unit, made the students and the teachers, THINKERS and this unit was so much enjoyed by the students that even after completion of this unit, whenever they come across any machine, they identify the simple machines in them.
Smriti Arora
Grade 3 - Inspire

Editoral....

Grade – 6 Debated on various issues which included – Do we need a school uniform? Do children need to be censored in the viewing of TV/Computer sites? Do extracurricular activities form an integral part of our education? They penned their perspectives in the form of editorial pieces. Read and enjoy. Do send in your comments to take the discussions further. We should have school uniform in school I feel students should have uniform in school because wearing a uniform has many advantages. Although I feel people should have the right to choose what they want to wear, I also think if students wear uniforms, they will remember that they are students and they will respect their uniform which represents their own school. It will also remind them that they are students and their only only aim is to learn. Uniforms give student’s a sense of order. Uniforms give equality to everyone, because not paying so much attention to your or other student’s clothes will make it easier to concentrate on learning and studying. It also improves school discipline as it discourages students from wearing unsuitable clothes, and bringing fashion into school. Also imagine choosing clothes everyday if you don’t have a uniform it becomes a fashion parade that takes up so much of our time (especially for a girl). Uniform changes the whole personality of the student, students look smart in uniforms. Also it is only in school when one gets to wear uniforms; once you are grownup we don’t get the opportunity to wear uniforms. We also come to know from the uniform which school children belong to. So I think, for the above reasons given school uniforms are important to wear for all students. Anoushka Jariwala


Running with the wind
Wonder if your child is tomorrow’s Einstein or Usain Bolt or somebody great-so for a start, concentrate on his/her extra-curricular activities. A child should have extra-curricular activities in his/her daily routine because if not so a child can become gloomy, he/she can grow fat, they can start feeling lethargic and they can contract to many kinds of illness. After all most of the kids mostly spend their time on television, computer games etc. Instead children should be encouraged by their parents to go and play outside for at least for an hour. In this case many countries have established laws for this cause, such as in Britain children should have 2-3 hours minimal play time, if not the parent/ guardian will have to face consequences. But there may be some schools which only concentrate on a child’s academic performance therefore resulting a child to be a nerd, weakling, etc. There maybe also some schools who provide extra-curricular activities after school hours and then there are schools which focus on both. Despite all this a child should live a balanced life giving equal time to all activities. The child should be enrolled in the activities he/she prefers which may not necessarily be related to sports, it could also be writing. There always should be a choice for the child in selecting his activities otherwise the kid may also, due to lack of practice, weaken in the activity he prefers. Who knows, if the right step is taken now, the child may work wonders in his/her life?
Ayush

Uniformity and dignity
Uniform shows uniformity and also shows respect towards the school. It gives recognition to the student and his school. If the children go anywhere for instance on fieldtrip and get missed they can be easily found by their uniform and the logo of the school which is always stitched on the uniform. More over all children cannot afford wearing new clothes to the school. Sometimes civil dresses are not comfortable because we have extracurricular activities like physical education where in we can’t do skating and exercise properly. I strongly feel that there should be consistency and homogeneity which is provided by wearing uniform.
Deval Ragadwala

Freedom in taking their own decisions
I feel that children must wear their own choice of clothes because children take good decisions. They have good knowledge to choose their own clothes. Sometimes they make mistakes but they learn from it. Their choice of clothes could be good. They learn to take decisions at school, at home, from elders and sometimes from books because books have excellent knowledge. In my opinion piercing must be allowed because it looks cool and smart. When the piercing is going on, it pains a lot. But when it is Completed it looks beautiful, cool and smart. Some people who are cowards, in them fear comes faster and some people who are fearless can get piercing done and they don’t do ouch! Ouch! Piercing can be done on ears eyes, nose, tongue, lips etc. Some people who wear gold and diamond ornaments must be responsible, because, some people steal it very quickly and we even don’t realize it. When we wear it-it looks very cool and smart. Some people keep showing off with it. Some people keep playing with it and their mind could be disturbed by this and not allow them to concentrate on their studies. In my opinion permanent tattoo should be allowed because it looks nice on your body and a beautiful design comes on your body. It pains a lot when it is going but when it is completed it looks Beautiful.
Dhrsaj

Parents should not allow their children to watch T.V If parents will give freedom to their children to see T.V or play computer games then they will misuse the freedom. Which can lead to: attention deficit disorder, they will get bored with study, not play outside and upset other family members. That’s all I think.
Dhruv

The changing world I believe that children should not be censored to watch T.V, videogames etc. Parents should not interfere in a child’s life. On video games we can learn to defend ourselves through some games like GTA and road rage. As we all know that reading is the one of the fastest ways to learn, then if we read magazines, what’s wrong in it? We can also get to know what is happening around us. In some books real life situations are also given so a child would understand feelings of others. Internet is the one of the fastest ways to learn so we can search it. After hard work your mind needs refreshment so you can play games on the computer. On T.V there are not only cartoon channels available, we are provided with many good channel like Discovery, Animal Planet. If parents take decisions on behalf of the child about what is wrong and what in right then how will a child learn to take decisions. If parents will not allow children to do internet browsing so a child will wonder what’s there on internet that the parents are not allowing him to see, so he can get wrong information about the internet. One of my friends told that children would get spoilt if they are not censored in the watching of T.V, videogames etc. Excessive T.V can cause children to become lazy and can create problems in eyes also. Children watch T.V because cartoons attract them. A child would be mentally affected if they see some cartoons like Shinchan because he is involved in bad action. Sometimes if there is an exam a student may not study so parents should censor in such cases. Students will get spoilt if they see adult sites so parents should censor them. Freedom is not for everyone but only for those children who can understand it. But with freedom responsibility and trust comes and if you break the trust you will not get that freedom again.
Harshil Dhaniwal

Children should be censored
We had a debate on whether children should be censored in the viewing of TV, computers, reading books, magazines etc. I am also for it and against it. I think that children should be given freedom because they feel proud and they tend to make fewer mistakes. On the computer most of the sites are not good for children. But some like Wikipedia; Wiki source etc are such sites that provide almost all the information they need. On TV most of the channels like Cartoon Network, Pogo are not necessary for children to see. There are many wonderful channels like Discovery, Fox History and National Geographic etc. that are good for children. They can also view channels like NDTV, CNBC, 24 x 7 etc. for daily news. Children can read Non-Fiction books for knowledge and sometimes Fiction books for being imaginative. If the children are censored they will stop taking decisions and leave it to their parents to decide and will not become independent. They will need that person every time for making decisions for them; even in a crisis. Some children go to useless sites and chat, some watch unnecessary channels - at that time they should be censored. If parents censor their children, they should censor themselves first. They should not see excess TV, surf the computer, read books, magazines. It’s true that children should be censored, I agree with that but; first parents should control themselves and be censored. Khushman

The Essence of School Life
How Extra-curricular Activities can affect a child’s life. Education is learning. And to call one educated, one must know something about each and every topic. And extra-curricular activities are one of those topics. They are a necessary part of education. I believe that extra-curricular activities are an integral part of education because they provide great exercise. Dance is good exercise as well as is entertaining. Art is something through which you can enjoy, feel relaxed and express your creativity. There are many extra-curricular activities that help us in our day-to-day lives, like cooking and stitching. We can even choose one as a career or vocation. We can become an interior designer through art; a choreographer through dance or a musician through music. It brings out our hidden talents. We can take a break from studying, do one of these, and learn something all the same. And not everyone is good at academics. One must really try hard to utilize one’s multiple intelligences. And by putting an extra-curricular activity into practice, one will gain a tremendous sense of achievement. One will learn to take pride in one’s work and appreciate other’s work. Children will learn to get along with others. They will gain massive self-confidence. A simple extra-curricular activity can change a child’s personality, attitude and nature.
Pahini

Extra Curricular Activities
I believe that extracurricular activities are an integral part of education. I know that every child is creative in his own way. If children do not play, they will not be body smart and if they will go out and not play with other children they will be bored. The children will stop enjoying their lives. As in Taare Zameen Par, the child was not well educated but was very creative in his own way and his parents were proud of him. Imagination is important because if you will not imagine what you would like to be in your life you will not be able to do future planning. Children’s creativities and imagination will increase a lot with extra-curricular activities. As you know, that if every time children come to school for studying and if their minds will not be refreshed then the children will not be creative and imaginative at all. They will not gain knowledge about sports, dance, drama, art, music etc.
Parth Reshamwala

Censorship
Children should not be censored in the watching of TV in terms of content & time. I support children because it’s their own life and it’s make them the perfect people to decide what to do with it. If they are only studying their mental health will suffer and in mental health playing is important. In some schools what is done, is that whatever the teacher does, students have to do the same thing and that is wrong because children have their own thoughts and children’s thoughts are very interesting and very creative. If we will only make them study, they will not concentrate on social activities like skating, swimming, karate, football, cricket and Jungle Gym. If they will do activities on their own then they will perfect it. If we will only make them study and parents tell them not to play or watch TV their mind goes into that only, and they wonder “Why are they telling me no, or today is the series Ben 10”. The children should watch TV but within limits and they should also watch the Discovery channel or the news. This can also help them in their studies. Parents and teachers make studying a burden so that children undergo stress and feel overburdened and they are unable to do any work. Burden is that which makes a child uncomfortable and if the parents will give too much of burden then the child will become destructive. Instead of that parents should take the child to the garden to refresh their minds. So, I am requesting parents and teachers to not give lots of burden otherwise what I have told would happen.
Rrutvik Modi


Editorial:
children should not be censored in the watching of T.V and play games of their own choice. Children should watch TV and play games of their own choice because by playing games and watching TV they can forget their problems. There is a limit in playing games and watching TV they should play for 1 or half hour because if they will see for more than 1 hour their eyes would get damaged. Children should play good games and not bad games because they will be affected by it when they will grow up. Children should not watch cartoon channels they should watch reference channels like Discovery, National Geographic etc. If they will watch cartoon channels children can’t get knowledge. Children should not always play they should do sometimes research say on any band or any author or famous person. They should not watch TV all the time even though they are watching cartoon channels or any reference channels; they should go out and play with their friends. TV could make them idle so they should go out and play. Children should play cricket, football etc. to keep their body fit. Children could play indoor games also, like table tennis, chess, carom and many more games. Children should play chess because we need to run our mind in chess. We should do cycling, skating and swimming to increase our height. Sometimes children make good choices of reading activities like reading books on any subject and playing games like cricket, football etc. or any other sport. If they are determined they will do the work well. If they don’t make choices their parents will have to make choices for them. It means that when they will grow up they will have to take advice from other people. If children will not make choices they will not learn by themselves.
Krunal Gajera

Parental decisions?
I believe children should buy clothes and accessories which their parents tell them. We all know that they are a little old fashioned but they want you to be comfortable with your clothing. You sometimes wear very tight pants but you are not comfortable with it when you are walking and sitting or you wear very loose pants and it keeps sliding down. It sometimes reaches the ground and you can trip over it and hurt yourself. You sometimes also wear torn Jeans and people think you are wearing an old jean which is torn apart. That gives a bad impression to the people, but parents bring us perfect clothes. But sometimes we ought to take our own decisions like when we are going to a birthday party we should wear clothes of our own choice according to dress code. But one shouldn’t wear fashionable clothes and wear simple clothes when going to a devotional place or wedding ceremony. But we are more fashionable in clothing than our parents and we know what we should wear, it’s our choice and parents should let us take our decisions so that when we grow up and we have to take or make a choice, say about haircolour or making tattoos we should be allowed, because it’s our style and fashion. So I strongly believe both parents and children should decide what types of clothes children should wear.
Shaan

Sayings
I feel that extra curricular activities should be an integral part of education because education means to come up with new things; we need to get motivated and then we will come up with different ideas. Education can be more joyful when we can do it in the form of activities. There should activities like art because children come to school to study but during the whole day they write, read etc. and they get bored and they will not pay attention to studies. They enjoy drawing, coloring, etc. By including these activities they will enjoy coming to school. In music also they will make their own rhythms and will learn to play new instruments. This, they will enjoy very much because most of the children like to dance and make new steps and all their imagination and creativity will develop. They will make these dance steps with their thoughts, and will combine and attach it to their brains. In drama they will learn how to make scripts, how to act and with this their grammar will be develop. Sports will make them flexible, and they will gain knowledge of sports. They will make their own games. That’s why I believe that extra curricular activities should be there in school.
Sneh

Students should take part in other activities Students should take part in activities which they like and want to do apart from studies. Many of the students should participate in activities like art, dance, sports, music, drama etc. so that they can enjoy and show their talent. They can learn also. It is an exercise. They can become famous people and they can earn more money, name & get love from all over the world. So parents encourage your kids to take part in activities.
Sumit

School uniforms should be compulsory
The word uniform itself indicates uniformity which a school should always strive to maintain among its students. One of the foremost reasons of having uniforms is that all children are not rich to buy lots of clothes and the children who can afford to do so might show off and also get a false sense of superiority. Having uniforms reduces wastage of time by the children who don’t have to spend time before deciding what they have to wear to school. Another important reason for us to have uniform is that when the school takes the children for field trips or on a camp the people can easily identify from which school the child is. It also helps in case of any emergency e.g.-if a child is lost the child can be easily brought back to school if he/she is wearing uniform. However schools should ensure that uniforms are comfortable at all times even when children play games. The prices also should be affordable as all students are part of a school and as a family we must have a sense of unity and bonding and wearing a common outfit strengthens that sense of belonging and oneness.
Vedanshi

Against extra curricular activities
I did not feel strongly about extra circular activities. All the parents want that their children to study and be educated. If sometimes they are bored they can solve puzzles, play scrabble, read funny books. They can also search for information on science and math. If children are given lots of freedom they can get spoilt and will not have an educated life and because of that they can also become beggars and he or she will not be able to support their parents and by watching excessive television they can also have spectacles. They will not get money and have to take money from others; they cannot make their own house. Children can also go to the garden or somewhere to study. If they are bored they can have a break and then study again and then, when they do not study parents should explain why is studying important in their lives and if they like to go to a library take them and by this, children can also read their own chosen book. Again I am telling, if you will not explain the reason for studying, your children can get spoilt by the freedom given to them by you.
Shivani Ghantiwala

Student should wear uniform
Students should wear uniform because if they are lost they can be found by the Badge of the school. They should wear uniform so if some peoples are poor and can not bring new clothes the rich students who can bring new clothes will make fun of the poor children, and the poor student will force his parents to bring new clothes, in order to show off. Some parents may not be able to buy and some poor children will be so angry that they will leave their homes, and will be in trouble. Children should wear uniform because if there will be an exam and there will not be any uniform they will waste time thinking about what to wear and will be late for exams. If they have to go and comeback from the school walking and if there is an accident and they are unconscious somebody can take them to hospital and from there they will contact be able to contact their school and the school can call their parents. If they go to a picnic all will know that, from which school they have come. If we will wear uniform we will be part of a very –very big family. If students will wear uniform they will feel proud about the school they are part of. They should treasure their uniform so that when they will be very old and their grandson or granddaughter asks them their school’s name they can see their uniform and tell them their school’s name. Grandparents can remember their school by seeing their uniform.
Shail


EDITORIALS GRADE - 6 EXCELLENCE

Come..See..Get conquered.. said the invite.

It was an invitation to a “Creative Mela” held at Fountainhead School. It sure was a mela, but with a difference. Various artists from the city had been invited to share their talent with the students & guests and they also had a fabulous display of their creations. Tejas Danecha’s pencil sketches were awesome and so were the water colours by Naisargi Dave. Ankur Desai and Jwalant Patel with their sculptures and Maharshee with his clay modelling were very inspiring. Praveen brown’s caricature drawing was enjoyed by all. Stela Patel and Swati Vachhani encouraged the students to be part of their Kutch art display. Kekul Patel & her team also involved kids for their Mono Painting. Ms. Mona displayed many of the craft items. Noble, Vairagi and Raguveer had organized a splash painting activity for the students where they would use leaves, spoons and brushes to splash paints onto a plain surface. It truly was an activity that students thoroughly enjoyed. Kinjal Shah with her rangoli designs gave a lot of ideas for the coming festive season. Embroidery artists also gave a brilliant display of their work for which Surat is known for. Apart from these artists from outside, Fountainhead School had some great artists among its staff who displayed their creative side with demonstrations of warli painting, origami, nail art, tattooing, mehendi, rangoli, etc. Works of the visiting artists and the creative works of the students were on display. There was also a display of paintings on Gandhiji from the private collection of an art collector in the city. There was a talent corner where parents, visitors and their guests could try their hand at sketching and painting. More than 500 people visited this event and the response from them was overwhelming. “Such events give a great exposure to our children and bring out the creativity in them” commented one parent. Kudos to the organizing team for organizing such an inspirational event.