4 AK Joshi School students part of China's science exhibition

Four students of AK Joshi School in Thane will participate in China Adolescence Science and Technology Innovation Contest (CASTIC), a science exhibition, held at Shanghai in China from Friday.

The students — Varad Lele, Chaitanya Paranjpe, Ashutosh Sharma and Shubham Karampure — from class VIII left for China on Saturday. They are to participate in CASTIC where students from China as well as 15 other countries will also exhibit their science projects.

The students will exhibit two projects — automated wheel chair and peizo electric generation and conservation. "Presented by Varad and Chaitanya, the automated wheel chair can be used by a disabled person who does not have hands. He just has to roll his tongue to the left or right, whichever direction he wants to go," says Purnima Sathe, science teacher and one of the guides on the project. "If you take your tongue inside your mouth the chair will stop," she added.

The second project is by Ashutosh and Shubham and is about generation of electricity using peizo plates. These plates can be laid on the roads and pathways in gardens. "When a car drives on the road or a person walks on the pathways, the plates will generate electricity," says Sathe, adding "We have combined LED lights with LDR (light dependent resistance) circuits and can control glowing of lights in gardens."

Both the projects have been made under the guidance of science teachers Smita Pingale and Purnima Sathe. This is the 10th time that the school is participating in CASTIC. Last year, they won a bronze medal for their synchronized solar clocks which generates solar energy along the movement of the sun and portable mobile charger projects.