FIELD TRIP S1, March 31, 2022

INTRODUCTION

As per the B.Ed curriculum Mannam Memorial Training College, Vilakudy B.Ed Students has conducted the field trip on March 31, 2022 to Poovar Island, VSSC Space Museum and Veli Beach. A field trip is a visit to an area outside of the normal classroom where students can try new things, have different experiences and learn valuable life lessons. A field trip to different locations provides hand on opportunities in a wide variety of experiences .Our field trip/visit required a bus ride to a different town. It also provides a new experience to the student .The field trip provides unique opportunities for learning that are not available within the four walls of a classroom .It provides a memorable and positive experience to students.

OBJECTIVES

• To acquire the knowledge about planning and organising a field trip. 
• To get valuable educational opportunities away from the classroom. 
• To enhance the sense of community and help to be an active citizen. 
• To get real world experience. 
• Inorder to get a break up from the routine activities. 
• To get bonding with the classmates.

PLANNING

Planning is an important aspect in all activities. Planning is the process of deciding in advance what to be done, when to be done, how to be done, who to be done, etc. For the field trip we also needed effective planning. We had taken two or three weeks' time for planning. First of all we had to decide the place for the field trip which could be covered in one day. Then we had decided the date and time after considering various factors we decided March 31, 2022 as the adequate time and to start the trip at 6.30 am and expected to reach at 10.00 pm. The planning was done by the student with the guidance of the teachers. After getting sanction from the higher authorities we had arranged the bus and food from the proper place. After fixing the above said activities we had decided the amount to collect from the students is Rs.1200/-. After finishing these activities informed the students and teachers to reach the college at 6.00 am on March 31, 2022.

EXECUTION

On March 31, 2022, all the students and teachers had reached the college at sharp 6.30 am. We had started the journey after completing the routine tour procedures from the MMTC and reached back the college at 09.45 pm and dispersed with a enjoyed and refreshed mind.

POOVAR ISLAND

Poovar is a tourist town in Neyyattinkara in the Thiruvananthapuram district of Kerala. This village beach attracts tourists throughout the year. Poovar was a trading centre of timber, sandalwood, ivory and spices.

    

Poovar Island is a solitude seekers sanctuary. This tiny isle is bordered by backwaters and Neyyar River near its confluence to Arabian Sea. Poovar is located about 30 kilometres south of Trivandrum and is accessible by boat only. Kovalam beach is just 12 kilometres away. What sets Poovar Island aside is its immense natural beauty, which fortunately remains unspoilt. Beach, island, backwater, river and sea – all meeting in a single locale casts a magical charm unique to Poovar. Dense growth of spices and flowering plants amidst coconut and banana groves make the place a pleasing mix of green. Fluttering butterflies and a variety of birds vibrantly complement nature's spectacle. Busy always, they have all the bushes and even floating hyacinths as action zones. Beach here is a stretch of golden sands that separates backwater from the sea. It can be accessed by boat through the calm backwater side. Unfortunately, the beach is not suitable for swimming. Estuarine belt here is an area of strong currents throughout the year. Boat rides through backwaters of the region are popular among tourists. Small canoes to large luxury house boats are available to hire. It is an unwinding experience while getting to know the local life a bit.

    

The origin of the name "Poovar" has a story related to Marthanda Varma. Before that it was called Pokkumoosapuram. During internal riots in Travancore and while escaping from the Ettuveetil Pillamar (Lords of the Eight Houses), the king reached Poovar. It was the spring season and the trees on either side of the Neyyar were full of flowers. These flowers fell into the river making it more attractive. On seeing this pleasant scenery, Marthanda Varma commented that this was poo-var, a conjunction of the Malayalam words for “flower” and “river”.

VSSC SPACE MUSEUM   

VSSC Space Museum is in a majestic church building which was St Mary Magdalene church till the 1960’s. This place is considered as the birthplace of the Indian Space Programme. It was in this church the first rocket systems were assembled and integrated. The building assumed multifaceted roles in the beginning of ISRO by acting as the first lab and as the main office for scientists in the early days. The Bishop House, forming part of the church, functioned at that time as the office of the Director, TERLS. As the scientific activities gathered momentum, new projects came up, which necessitated the construction of new buildings. The first in the line were the Control Centre and then the R&D complex on the Veli Hills, all of which relegated the church building into the background. But the good old church refused to go into oblivion! It sprang back to life with renewed vigour. It was converted into a photographic facility, this time as the official chronicler of the Indian Space Programme. In 1985, the church was converted into VSSC Space Museum, which is now visited by thousands every month. The space museum showcases the history and achievements of the Indian Space Programme.

    

The space museum premises showcase a full-scale model of the Polar satellite launch vehicle (PSLV), its heat shield and the fourth stage solid motor of ASLV. The scaled down models of launch vehicles PSLV, GSLV, GSLV Mk III and ATV are also erected in Space Museum premises.

    

Space Museum in addition provides a tell-tale account of the Indian space program from its infancy. Information about the history, evolution, current scenario and future road map of ISRO is well described using static models, working models and information panels. The introductory area projects the history and working motto of the Indian space program. The evolution of sounding rockets with the original scaled model of RH-200, which is launched from TERLS every month, is portrayed in the next section. The evolution of Indian satellites and its applications starting from Aryabhatta, the first Indian satellite is well described with the help of static and working models. The experimental and operational launch vehicles of India are detailed in the next section. The visitors will get a detailed account of rocket propulsion, aerospace structures along with navigation, guidance and control systems from the next section. One of the chief attractions of VSSC Space Museum is that it houses the original recovered capsule of Space Capsule Recovery Experiment (SRE-1) – the actual module which has returned to earth after a few days in orbit. The models of space science and exploration missions are also there in addition to the future launch vehicles like SSLV, RLV and Human-rated GSLV Mk III in the concluding section. A theatre which projects a video show regarding the successful path of ISRO en-lighten the visitors on the significance of ISRO in their daily activities.

VELI TOURIST VILLAGE

The Veli Tourist Village which lies where the Veli Lake meets the Arabian Sea provides for unique boating and picnicking opportunities. Visitors can hire pedal boats or paddle boats as per their convenience. One can also roam the gardens and have a nice picnic or choose to employ the boats for the entire duration of the trip. The view and feel of the place is extremely unique, considering it is merely 12 kms from the capital city of Thiruvananthapuram. Children are known to have a lot of fun climbing the sculptures here and the speedboat ride across the waters. A separate Children’s Park and Floating Cafe run by Kerala Tourism Development Corporation (KTDC) are added incentives to visit this unique village.

REFLECTION

From the field trip conducted, the students are able to plan and organise a trip program in an effective manner. This field trip helped us to develop a close relationship between students and teachers. As a B.Ed student we are able to develop our management skills like coordinating and planning. This field trip helped us to visit different places and able to understand the scope of tourism and its developmental programs in different places. We are able to conduct a study about different tourist spots. 

    

In Poovar boating, we observed the seating arrangement of each boat as 6 six seats parallel helping in balancing the side weights of the boat which help from drowning and the tip of the boat is triangle shaped which will help the boat to float easily in the water. The shape as well as the speed, arrangements of seats, everything relatable to mathematics. As we can see many questions related to upstream and downstream in competitive exams and it’s a real time observation on the same.

    

The VSSC Space Museum helps us to know more about Indian contributions in aerospace and remains about our history. In this spot, we were able to relate everything we observed with mathematics and its applications. The rocket shapes with cone on top, cylinder on middle and parallelogram on the end and how it parted on each timing in the space, the speed, the distance, the time are relatable to mathematics. A mathematics teacher can easily introduce geometrical shapes through showing a model of rockets. The fuels filled in fixed ratio and proportion on the fuel tanks. ISRO has developed many rockets uch as RH - 200, RH - 300, RH - 560 and they named these rockets on the basis of diameter in mm. Here we can see that the basics of physics is through mathematics.

    

The next destination was Veli Tourist Village. We explored some time on the beach. Children were playing with Kites which are of rhombus shape and its pattern is based on the astrological aspects or angles. Easily relatable to mathematics and most importantly an informatic field trip was this.

CONCLUSION

Poovar Island and Veli Tourist Village is famous for its undisturbed natural beauty. The VSSC Space Museum shows the story of the Indian space programme in six sections consisting of history, education, technology, applications, global, and the future. On the whole the trip was really interesting and informative and contributed a lot to the development of aesthetic sense, imagination and creativity. And after dinner from a hotel in Kilimanoor, Trivandrum we reached the college by 9.45 pm. The trip was informative and enjoyable.

REFERENCES

1. https://www.keralatravelpal.com/poovar_island.html
   
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poovar
   
3. https://spacemuseum.vssc.gov.in/
   
4. https://trivandrum.nic.in/en/tourist-place/veli-tourist-village/
   
5. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poovar