Class 11-12

In the very hearts of galaxies, like our Milky Way, lurk giant black holes that sometimes evolve into monstrous powerhouses of light. How do we know that they exist? How are they born? How do they grow? Are they important in the ‘big picture’?

During my interaction with the primary, elementary and secondary classes of my internship school, I found that children (majority of them) deemed themselves as unable to express their thoughts in writing. During the initial days, it came to them as a surprise when they were asked to write without having anything to ‘copy’ from. This is the reality of majority of our state-run and privately-run schools. Writing to them is nothing but ‘copying down’ whatever the teacher has to say.

We live in an era of data and information. Right from deciding what to read, what to wear, which restaurant to go to, which city to visit, whom to vote for, we consider ourselves rational human beings who rely on data to make all our decisions. How much of this data is based on facts rather than opinions and/or perceptions? This review looks at two websites, Gapminder and Our World in Data, which attempt to provide reliable global statistics and promote a fact-based worldview.

In this edition of ‘Adventures’ we study a few miscellaneous problems.