World Environment Day is the United Nations principle vehicle for encouraging awareness and action for the protection of our environment. This year Birla Industrial and Technological Museum (BITM) came up with the plan of action to observe the World Environment Day by conducting ‘Sit and Draw Competition with a suitable slogan’ and an Open House Quiz on environment for students of Class IV to X on 6 June.
The programme started with the ‘Sit and Draw Competition with a suitable slogan’. The students were divided into two groups- Junior Group and Senior Group.
The topic for the students of Jr. Group (Class IV to VII) was “You and Your Environment”, whereas the topic for students of Sr. Group (Class VIII to X) was “Save Energy”. The students seemed quite enthralled to participate in the competition and showcase their drawing talents. Some students used water colours and on the other hand some students used crayons, whereas some students used pencil sketch to put forward their views on the environment and the current scenario, as to how our environment is constantly under threat.
It was followed by a sapling distribution programme by Malancha. The director of BITM, Mr. V.S. Ramachandran distributed the saplings to the children and their parents. This initiative by the management encouraged children to plant the saplings at their home, which in turn will be beneficial for the environment.
The sapling distribution ceremony was followed by an Open House Quiz on ‘Environment’ for Jr Group (Class IV to VII) and Sr. Group (Class VIII to X). The children were rewarded with a prize every time they came up with the correct answers.
The interest of the children to answer the questions seemed to be quite high and every time a question was asked there were a handful of raised hands, seeking for an opportunity to answer the question. The programme came to an end with the prize distribution ceremony where the winners were rewarded for their excellence.
(Pratishtha Ghosh is Ex-St Stephens School, Dumdum)