A visit to Ruia College

A Visit to Ruia College – Annual Festival ‘KINGDOM PLANTAE’

-Siddharth Mohanty and Parth Tawde (Std. VII B)

On 18th December 2012, the students of Std. VII B were given an opportunity to visit Ruia College for its annual festival ‘KINGDOM PLANTAE’.  Organized by the Department of Botany of this college, the Exhibition and Poster competition at this festival was a tribute to the ‘Oxygen Donors’. 

The students and the two teachers accompanying them were accorded a warm welcome by the college professors.  After the brief preliminaries by the professors, we were introduced to the different exhibits by the students of the college.  The presentations at the exhibits were informative, creative and appealing.  The presentations covered varied topics:

·         Unity in Diversity (Biodiversity)

·         It’s all in the genes (Plant genetics)

·         Playing with the Gene (Genetically modified plants)

·         The Green Cleaners (Phyto remediation, waste management)

·         Green Fuel

·         Environmental Botany ….

Cautioning us about global warming, the students explained that the excessive use of air conditioners, refrigerators, etc.  is harmful since they release harmful ultra violet rays that are harmful to human beings. The gas chloroflurocarbon produced by them spreads diseases of the skin such as skin cancer, rashes on skin, etc. Their slogan was ‘Save Earth by making it green’.  There were various methods to save our earth from becoming a desert. 

We were given a lesson in roots and their types – knee roots, plank root, etc. as well as in ‘bonsai’ plants.  We were quite eager to learn about the natural herbs present in cosmetics, and the difference between natural cosmetics and chemical cosmetics.  On a historical note, they reminded us that mangrove trees were in abundance in Mumbai many years ago. These trees had the power to extract salt from the sea and prevented natural calamities such as Tsunami and floods.  Now-a-days mangroves are becoming scarce due to architectural designs and growing industries.  A demonstration was given to us in the extraction of oil from the plant of Jatropha, and some samples displayed of squashes and pickles of different fruits.  

Young that we were, the explanation of genetic engineering fascinated us. The nucleus contains chromosomes.  Chromosomes bear DNA.  DNA holds the genes.  These genes can be changed according to our characteristics.  Another practical input at this exhibition was that that of ‘Terrerium’ – a desert that could be prepared and kept at home too! It is made up of different layers of soil consisting brick powder, sand, moisture, etc…in that order.  Rangolis prepared with flowers by the students were attractive and added color and variety to the exhibition. 

We returned back to the school having learnt much at the exhibition. We enjoyed the exhibits very much but were sad about the destruction of nature as is happening today.  It’s time for us all to join hands and put together the broken pieces for a better world.