Environmental education at schools

EXPOSURE VISIT TO NADUKUPPAM GHSS AND PITCHANDIKULAM FOREST- 22nd May 2018

School level projects are an important component in the teaching of EVS. An exposure visit was planned for teachers to Nadukuppam GHSS and Pitchandikulam Forest to discuss the same as well as the importance of forest conservation. The visit was guided by a team from the Pitchandikulam Forest, a unit of the Auroville Foundation – Lourde Nadin Epinal, Ramu, Sadasivam, Damodaran and Kamala.

School as an Environmental Education Centre

In 2003, the Nadukuppam village community had invited Pitchandikulam Forest to work with them and the school. With the support of the community, they started developing infrastructure in the area, which included  digging bore wells, assisting in planting trees etc. The major work of Pitchandikulam Forest involves mapping the watershed of Kaluveli lake, which receives fresh water from upper altitude areas around Marakkanam, Tindivanam and Thiruvannamalai. The region receives sea water during high tide from Kadapakkam, hence it is a brackish water ecosystem. It was explained by one of the field staff, Sadasivam, who also said that similar watershed mapping processes can be carried out in our locality/schools as well. For example, Ousteri watershed drains into Puducherry and it is three times bigger than Kaluveli. The route of Ousteri water flow can be mapped for its entire stretch from the catchment area to where it opens into the sea.

After we reached the school, Lourdes explained to us the changes that have taken place there over the past 15 years, since the involvement of the Pitchandikulam Forest.  Back in 2003, the school had just 3 trees.  Now the school premise has 600 trees belonging to 187 different species. The school has been developed into an Environmental Education Centre and currently 4 members of Pitchandikulam Forest work with around forty schools in the surroundings. Even students from other districts and states come to the school for exposure visits. These improvements in the school are through the continuous work with the community, education department and the school teachers.

As part of the Green School Program, initiatives such as farming unit, nursery etc. were introduced. The school also has built-in structures of solar system and water cycle. These initiatives enable the students to improve their skills of observation, investigation and data collection. The outputs of the learning are presented in the form of stories, drama, reports and presentations.

Streetplays on environmental education is used as an efficient tool to involve local communities and village members with the school. It is the school students who perform these ‘street plays’.

Other projects carried out are school water audit and electricity audit, through which students are able to map patterns in the usage of water and electricity. There is an Eco-club in the school where small teams of students take up various responsibilities such as maintaining a nursery and vegetable/medicinal plants garden, campus cleaning, maintaining water treatment system, calculating water wastage and guiding visitors. The students even maintain herbal gardens or vegetable gardens in their homes. The students are trained to produce organic fertilizers/pesticides like five leaves mixture - ‘ainthilai karaisal’ (adathodai, nochi, erukkan, vembu and nunayilai). Such activities motivate students with different learning styles to be involved in the learning process. There is another programme called ‘campus ambassador’, where a student volunteer guides the visitors on a tour around the school campus to help them understand it better.

The school even has a ‘Bala Grama Sabha’ or ‘children’s panchayat’ through which the students are given exposure to governance. They discuss genuine issues and even take actions in certain situations that call for it. For example, vegetables grown in the school garden used to disappear, but after the start of ‘Bala Grama Sabha’, they are kept better and are given to the school kitchen to be used for mid-day meals.

The school has two charts, one for bird observation and the other for tree observation, in which the students are to fill data weekly. The charts list common trees and birds that are observable in the campus. Through this activity the students gain the skill of observation, understand the seasonal variation in the presence of birds and in the process, learn about these trees and birds. It was asked how many of us knew when a Poovarsan (Indian tulip) tree flowers, and only some knew that the tree flowers all through the year. It was noted that this kind of learning can happen effectively through the observation charts. The school campus also has a display of traditional materials – both made in school and collected from elsewhere, project outcomes, and a GIS (Geographical Information System) map through which the students map the social, traditional and ecological details (old water structures like wells and ponds, old trees, houses, families’ count, etc.) of their own villages.

The school has an integrated water treatment system in which all the waste water is organically treated within the school. The toilets are cleaned using probiotic effective microorganisms which digest the sludge and convert it into a liquid. This liquid waste then reaches a snake shaped tank where it is biologically treated with the help of algae, grass straws and oxidation. The treated water is used for the school vegetable garden.             

We then visited a nearby forest of 35 acres in the Nadukuppam village which was developed and maintained by the Pitchandikulam Forest. It was planted with native tropical dry evergreen trees. The forest had a vibrant population of birds and certain animals like civet, jackal, etc. The forest also had rain water harvesting ponds. The water needs are met by pumping groundwater using a windmill. Similarly, energy from solar panels was used to power the buildings. A small building was being constructed within the forest area using waste materials like old coolers, deep freezers and unused computer parts.

After spending some quality time at Nadukuppam, the team left for Pitchandikulam Forest, which is a one hour drive from there.

Pitchandikulam Forest

Pitchandikulam Forest is a community in Auroville that develops forest since 1970. The name of the forest comes from a previous resident of the locality, a beggar who used to sit beside a pond – (பிச்சாண்டிகுளம் - பிச்சை (begging)+ ஆண்டி (beggar)+ குளம் (pond)) –  and give traditional medical tips to all those passing by. The forest is developed by planting tropical dry evergreen trees and other exotic species. Close to 150 people work on landscape research, eco-education, agriculture, forestry, etc.

The teachers were asked to identify a particular tree. Some guessed it as Kalyana murungai (கல்யாண முருங்கை). Others contested this by saying, ‘No, it has similar leaves but the stem is different and not green’. ‘Pungam (புங்கம்)?’ was the next response which was again challenged, ‘No, it is not flowering and doesn’t resemble that structure’. When a clue of ‘it being related to Vellore and Thirupathi’ was given, the teachers easily identified the tree as Red sandalwood (செம்மரம்). This is one way in which we can develop a healthy discussion among a group ensuring knowledge sharing and new learning. We went into the Interpretation Centre. Before entering, we noticed a small canal around the boundary of the building. All the buildings inside the forest had a similar structure. It is to prevent ants from entering the building. However, ants enter the building through leaves, branches, etc. that fall into the premises. Some way or the other, they seem to have found ways to enter the building.

There was a seed bank in the building which also houses traditional tools like winnower, storage vessels, etc. collected from the locality as well as places like Ethiopia. Besides, animal models, old photos of the Pitchandikulam site, and project detailing posters were also displayed there. Among the many interesting collections, one is the African Tamarind (யானைப் பிடுக்கன்) which is used like tamarind in Africa. These trees can be found in Seliamedu where the fallen tamarinds never get picked up to be used by  anyone. The same trees can also be spotted near Indira Gandhi signal and Ajantha signal. There were posters on estuarine ecosystem, fresh water ecosystem and mangroves which show all the animal species in these ecosystems. It was also discussed how such a poster can be developed for our surrounding ecosystems as well, for example a pond can be taken up for a study. The poster can be used to teach various aspects of the ecosystem like water, plants and animals.

Following this, there was a walk through the forest. There were animals like civet, jungle cat, jackal, spotted deer, many species of birds and snakes (venomous and non-venomous) here. All the species of  butterflies in Tamil Nadu had been spotted here. The forest had medicinal trees and a medicinal garden containing 72 species of plants. It was discussed whether medicinal gardens could also be made in schools as students’ projects. Plants like Thulasi, Karpooravalli can be used by students while also warning that other treatments should be done only after consultation with professional healers or doctors. Then there was a discussion on indigenous trees, whose characteristics include thick, dark coloured leaves with maximum height of 15 m. Within the forest, trees like Arjun (மருத மரம்) and White Gulmohur (வாத நாராயணன் மரம்) were observed closely. Other trees included the ‘divi divi’ which attracts butterflies and the Sacred Fig (அரச மரம்) that appeared very different as it had shed all its leaves with only the fresh red leaves present on it. There was also animal art inscribed on stones displayed throughout.

Later all of us climbed up and observed the surroundings from a tree house. It was built using the wood of trees which had fallen during a cyclone. We had a good view of the forest from the tree house.

After an informative and adventurous day with nature, we headed back to Puducherry.

Teacher Reflections

நடுக்குப்பம் பள்ளி: இப்பள்ளியில் பல செயல்திட்டங்கள் செயல்பாட்டில் இருப்பது மிகவும் சிறப்பாக உள்ளது. மாணவக் குழுக்களாகவே அனைத்து செயல்திட்டங்களும் தடையில்லாமல் நடந்து வருவது வியப்பாக உள்ளது. மாணவர்களுக்கு இடப்படும் பொறுப்புகளின் வாயிலாகவே அவர்களின் ஆளுமைத் தன்மையை வளர்க்கும் விதத்தைப் பார்க்க முடிந்தது. பெற்றோர்களின் உதவியினை எவ்வாறு பள்ளியில் பயன்படுத்திக் கொள்ள வேண்டும் என்பதை அறிந்து கொண்டேன். எவ்வாறு அவ்வூர் பகுதியில் இருக்கும் சூழ்நிலை மற்றும் நில அமைப்பு மூலம் கற்பித்தல் நடக்க வேண்டும் என்பைதை அங்கு உள்ள செயல்திட்டம் மூலம் புரிந்துகொள்ளும் வாய்ப்பாக இருந்தது. அங்கு செயல்படுத்தி வரும் செயல்திட்டத்தில் கழிவுநீரை நல்ல நீராக மாற்றி அதனை வேளாண்மைக்கு பயன்படுத்திய முறை மிகவும் வியக்க வைத்தது. அப்பள்ளி மாணவர்கள் செடிகள் வளர்த்து பராமரிப்பது போல எம்பள்ளியிலும் நடைமுறைப்படுத்த ஆரவம் ஏற்பட்டுள்ளது.

பிச்சாண்டிகுளம் காடு: வெறும் நிலத்தை காடாக மாற்ற முடியும் என்பதை அறியவும், காடுகள் பற்றிய பல புதிய விசயங்களை தெரிந்து கொள்ளவும், காடுகள் இவ்வாறு தான் இருக்கும் என்ற கற்பனை உடையவும், நம் பகுதியில் உள்ள கட்டினை பிச்சாண்டிகுளம் காட்டின் பயணம் மிகவும் உதவியாது.

- Raghuvaran, GPS Maducaraipet