Mathematics: Gateway to all Sciences

Mathematics has been an inseparable part of education since the beginning of formal education.

It has played an important role in the advancement of any civilization. Sadly though, there is a common belief that Mathematics is a dry, boring and a difficult subject. On the contrary, if it is presented in an enjoyable manner, it is one of the easiest and most interesting subjects.

 

 
To further instil interest in the students, teachers at Atmiya Vidya Mandir have made a humble effort to organise an Exhibition on Mathematics. The exhibition presents Games, Activities, Magic and Puzzles, all based on different Mathematical Concepts. There is a section on Amazing Facts and Patterns based on Mathematics to cater to the curiosity of students and teachers. Another section provides several Shortcut Methods for easy calculations.

The exhibit also provides insight into the lives of great Mathematicians and in fact, it was inaugurated on 22nd December 2013, on the birth anniversary of the great Indian Mathematician,  Srinivasa Ramanujan who has inspired millions so far. Interviews of many skilled people of different fields helped students to understand use of Mathematics in every day’s life.

Mathematics + Joy = Effective Learning

When learning is fun, children become interested in the learning process and are motivated to learn even more. The ongoing Math Exhibition aims to further develop that interest and motivation in our wonderful children.

Written by: Swayam Ma’am

Inter House Basketball Competition 2013-14

Over the 10 years since its inception, Atmiya Vidya Mandir has increasingly put in efforts, learnt and got better in many of its celebrations. This time it was the turn of Inter-House Basketball competition. One of the true global sports, Basketball has many admirers and enthusiasts in the school. Popularity of the sport in the school should not come as a surprise due to the presence of healthy number of the students from US and Canada. The competition begun on 4th January, and unfortunately ended on 7th January 2014. But the 4 day event was full of enthusiasm and excitement along with some outstanding performances by the students.

The students were grouped in 3 categories for the competition:

  1. Sub Junior – Class 5 & 6
  2. Junior – Class 7 & 8
  3. Senior – Class 9 to 11

 

 

 
The competition involved two knockout matches for each house. The winners of the first knockout match in each category shook hands in finals, whereas the losers met for a 3rd place match.

After the first set of knockout matches, this is how the teams stacked up against each other for the finals and 3rd place match in respective categories.

Sub Junior category

  • Final: Sundaram vs Shivam
  • 3rd Place match: Satyam vs Suhradam
  • Summary: Satyam and Suhradam houses played each other for a 3rd place match.
    Satyam House won this closely fought match with 6-4. In the finals,
    Shivam House had a comprehensive win with a score of 24 – 8 against
    Sundaram House with Shreemadbhai and Parambhai being the top performers.

Junior category

  • Final: Shivam vs Sundaram
  • 3rd place match: Satyam vs Suhradam 
  • Summary: On the back of some good performances from Rajveerbhai and Rahulbhai,
    Suhradam House won the 3rd place match against Satyam House with a very
    convincing score 38 – 10. After tasting a defeat against the same
    opponent in the junior category, boys from the Sundaram House were
    determined to turn the table. Nimitbhai from Sundaram House showed his
    class and skills as his team demolished Shivam House with a staggering
    score line of 38 – 5.

Senior category

  • Final: Shivam vs Suhradam
  • 3rd Place match: Satyam vs Sundaram 
  • Summary: Satyam House and Sundaram House met for the 3rd place match in the
    category. Vishwajeetbhai and Harshilbhai led Sundaram House to a very
    narrow win with the score of 29 – 26. In the very last match of the
    competition Shivam House played against the Suhradam House. In the early
    exchanges of the play there was nothing to choose between the team. But
    the Suhradam House team stepped up their game in the second half.
    Hardipbhai in particular was very sharp and scored quick points for his
    team. Harshbhai also contributed with many rebounds as Suhradam House
    sealed the match with 29 – 18 points.

After 4 days full of excitement, enthusiasm and matches, this is how the 4 houses stood on the points table:
Position    House      Sub Junior    Junior    Senior    Total Points
     1          Shivam             10                8             8                26
     2        Sundaram           8                 10            6                24
     3        Suhradam           4                  6            10               20
     4          Satyam             6                  4             4                14

In conclusion, on behalf of all the students, I would like to thank all the sports teachers for organizing such a fantastic Basketball competition. A special mention of the School Basketball Coach, respected Bankim Sir for his tireless contributions. His hard work throughout the year helped all the students to improve their skills which only improved the overall performance and level of the Inter House Basketball Competition.

Smit K Patel (Class 8)

સંગીત નાદબ્રહ્મ સાધના

नमस्ते शारदे देवि सरस्वती मतिप्रदे।।
वस त्वं मम जिह्वाग्रे सर्वविद्याप्रदा भव ।।

સંગીત એક સાધના છે. જેમ ઋષિમુની તપ, ધ્યાન અને જપ કરી ભગવાનનું મનન ચિંતન કરી ઈશ્વરની પ્રાપ્તિ કરે છે. તેમ સંગીત વિષયમાં હ્લદયથી સાધના કરી ભગવાનની પ્રાપ્તિ કરવાની હોય છે.

સામવેદ ગ્રંથની અંદર સંગીત કલાનો ઉલ્લેખ કરવામાં આવ્યો છે. તથા 64 કલામાંથી સંગીત કલાને સર્વશ્રેષ્ઠ કલા બતાવવામાં આવી છે. આપણી સંસ્કૃતી માં સંગીતના માધ્યમથી ભગવાનને પ્રાપ્ત કરનાર શ્રી નરસિંહ મહેતા, મીરાંબાઈ તથા ભક્ત જલારામ બાપા આવા મહાન સંતો ભક્તિ કરતાં કરતાં ભગવાનમય થઈ ગયા. અને આજે પોતે પણ ભગવાનના અંશ ગણાય છે.

સંગીત એ એક એવું માધ્યમ છે કે જેનાથી સીધી અને સરળતાથી ભગવાન પ્રાપ્તિ થાય છે. આપણે હ્લદયથી ભગવાનનું ભજન કરવા માટે સંગીતનું માધ્યમ લઈ ગાયન અને વાદન સાથે જો ભગવાનનું ભજન કરીએ તો ભગવાનના હ્લદય સુધી એ પહોંચે જ છે અને તેનું ઉચિત ફળ આપે જ છે.

આવી જ રીતે આપણા આત્મીય વિદ્યા મંદિર પરિવારમાં સૌ (વિદ્યાર્થી) સાધક ભૂલકુઓએ સંગીત તથા નાદબ્રહ્મની ઉપાસના (ગાયન અને વાદન) કરી પ્રભુને તથા ગુરૂમહારાજને હ્લદયથી રાજી કર્યા છે. તથા સંગીતના સ્વર અને નાદથી આત્મીય વાતાવરણમાં એક સુંદર સુગંધ વધુ પ્રસરાવી છે.

જેમાં,

કક્ષા 1 થી 3:
1 થી 3 ના ભૂલકુંઓ દ્વારા “Rhyme singing, Solo singing, Group singing” પ્રસ્તુત કરવામાં આવ્યું હતું. જેમાં નાના નાના ભૂલકુંઓએ ગાયનને સ્વર-લય-તાલ તથા હાવ-ભાવ સાથે સુંદર પ્રસ્તુતિ કરી હતી. જેમાં સુંદર તાલ અને લયના આધારે મનમોહક પ્રસ્તુતિ રહી હતી. આ પ્રસ્તુતિને આધારે સ્વરકારી, લયકારી તથા સંગીત શીખવા માટે ઉપયોગી થતી તમામ બાબત સાથે તેમનામાં રહેલી એક સુષુપ્ત કલા બહાર આવીને ઉત્તમ પ્રસ્તુતિ રહી હતી.

કક્ષા 4 થી 6:
4 થી 6 ના ભૂલકુઓને સંગીતની કૃતિ હતી “IDENTIFICATION OF AN INSTRUMENT” એટલે કે કોમ્પ્યુટર અને સાઉન્ડ સીસ્ટમના માધ્યમથી શાસ્ત્રીય વાધ્ય જેમ કે તબલા, હાર્મોનિયમ, જલતરંગ, મોહનવીણા, રબાબ, પખાવજ, સંતુર, વાંસળી, સારંગી, વીણા, શહનાઈ, રુદ્નવીણા, ગીટાર, ઢોલક, ડ્રમસેટ આવા વાધ્યની સંગતી તથા એકાંકી વાદન વગાડવામાં આવ્યું હતું અને તે સાંભળી ભૂલકુઓએ કયું વાધ્યવાદન થાય છે તથા તે વાધ્યને કયા કલાકાર તેની સુંદર પ્રસ્તુતિ કરે છે તે સાંભળીને બતાવવાનું હતું. તેનાથી ભૂલકુનું શાસ્ત્રીય સંગીત પ્રત્યે રુચિ જાગે તથા આવા વાધ્યને સાંભળીને તેમને શીખવાની પ્રેરણા પ્રાપ્ત થાય.

કક્ષા ૭ થી ૮:
૭ થી ૮ ના ભૂલકુને સંગીતની કૃતિમાં સુંદર ચાર લાઈનના આધ્યાત્મિક શબ્દો આપવામાં આવ્યા હતા જેમાં આ ભૂલકુઓએ તેમની આવડત પ્રમાણે ગ્રુપમાં તે ચાર લાઈનના શબ્દોને સુંદર કમ્પોઝ કરી જેમાં કોઈ ગીત ગઝલ કે ભજનના શબ્દોનો ઉપયોગ કર્યા વગર તેમને તેમની જાતે શબ્દોની સ્વર-રચના બનાવીને સુંદર પ્રસ્તુતિ કરી વાતાવરણમાં સંગીતના સુરો લહેરાવ્યા હતા.

કક્ષા ૯ થી ૧૦:
૯ થી ૧૦ ના ભૂલકુ સંગીત કૃતિ માં તેમની સંગીત સાધના તથા તેમનો લગાવ ખૂબજ આનંદીત અને સર્વ આત્મીય પરિવારને પોતાની તરફ આકર્ષે તેવો હતો.

આ કક્ષાના ભૂલકુ માટે સૌપ્રથમ ૫ મિનીટ સુધી ૨ વાધ્ય પર ૪ માત્રાની લય ને ધ્યાનમાં રાખી નાદ બ્રહ્મની ઉપાસના દ્વારા વાદન કરવાનું હતું. મુખ્ય ૪ માત્રાને ધ્યાનમાં રાખી તેમાં તેના પ્રકાર ઉમેરીને વાદનને આગળ વધારવાનું હતું. આ વાદનમાં તેમની લયને સાથે સંગતિ કરતા તેમના સાથી ભૂલકુની લય અને માત્રા એક સાથે આવે છે કે નહી તે ધ્યાનમાં રાખવાનું અને તેના પ્રકાર એક પછી એક સાથે વાદન કરવાના હતા. બીજા ભાગમાં તેમના ગુરુ દ્વારા મુખથી બોલવામાં આવેલા “બોલ” ને તે જ લયમાં તથા જુદી જુદી લયકારી દ્વારા વાદન કરવામાં આવ્યું. જેમ તેમના ગુરુ બોલ બોલે તે જ સમયમાં લય સાથે બીજા આવર્તનમાં તે જ લય અને લયકારી સાથે વાદન પ્રસ્તુત કર્યું હતું.

ત્યારબાદ ગુરુજી કોઈ એક વાદ્ય પર ૪ માત્રા ની લય સાથે લયકારી અને જુદી જુદી તિહાઈ સાથે વાદન કરે અને તે જ સમયમાં ભૂલકુએ બીજા આવર્તનમાં તેની નકલ કરી સુંદર જુગલબંદી પ્રસ્તુત કરી હતી.

આ ભાગમાં ભુલકુની આવડત, તેની સંગીત પ્રત્યેની લાગણી, તેની સાધના તથા ગુરુ શિષ્યની સુંદર જુગલબંદી (સાથ-સંગત) જોવા મળી હતી.

આમ કરવાથી દરેક ભૂલકુમાં રહેલ સંગીતની ઉપયોગી એવી તાલ લય અને સ્વરનું જ્ઞાન બહાર આવ્યું અને આત્મીય પરિવારમાં નાદ-બ્રહ્મની ઉપાસના કરનાર ભૂલકુમાં વધારો થયો અને શિક્ષક, ભૂલકુ, અને સમસ્ત આત્મીય પરિવાર સ્વામીજીના ભૂલકુ રાજી થયા ને આ જોઈ અમને થયું કે જરૂર આ સંગીત નાદ બ્રહ્મ ઉપાસના ગુરુ મહારાજ સુધી પહોચીને ગુરુ મહરાજને ભગવાન રાજી રાજી થયા …

         આ સંગીત નાદ બ્રહ્મ ઉપાસનામાં વિજયસર, સ્વયમ મેડમ, આશિષસર તથા આત્મીય પરિવારના શિક્ષક ગણ આને સમસ્ત આત્મીય પરિવારનો ખૂબ ખૂબ સહકાર રહ્યો ને આ બધો શ્રેય સ્વામીજી અને આત્મીય પરિવારના તમામ સભ્યોને હું આપું છું. હું હ્રદય પૂર્વક સર્વ આત્મીય પરિવારનો આભાર માંનુ છું.

-જૈમીન સર

Interpersonal Intelligence Competition 2013-14

With the evolution of science and society the methods and tools for teaching and learning have also evolved in past many years. Education and knowledge has increased many folds and the competition in various fields is fierce. But the main goal of education is still the same and all educators want to help their students to succeed in school, college, career and social life. In today’s fast pacing world it is very important to know what our children are good at and to find out which innate talent they possess. As we all look different and have unique personalities and temperaments, we also have different profiles of intelligences. Each one of us is born with a unique talent and intelligence and one cannot compare and say that one’s talent or intelligence is better than the other. To nurture this intelligence and transform it into a skill which will benefit the child to face life’s ordeals is very important.

To cater to the individual needs of student and to nurture the unique intelligence they possess, teachers at Atmiya Vidya Mandir have made a humble effort to design and organize many inter-house competitions throughout the year based on the theory of Multiple Intelligence given by Howard Gardner of Harvard University (USA).

 

 
On 23rd November, 2013 AVM had organized one such inter-house competition based on ‘Interpersonal Intelligence’. Few key aspects of interpersonal intelligence are: those who have strong interpersonal intelligence are good in understanding and interacting with other people verbally as well as non-verbally. They are good in working as a team and can positively resolve the conflict in the group.

Considering above mentioned realities this competition was organized grade wise and house wise. All the participants had been given different themes/tasks as per their grades. They had to work as a team and unleash their creativity to finish the given task in limited time.

The grade wise themes/competitions were as follows:

For Grade 1 to 3: Making Animals with Clay

In this competition all the participants were given the task to prepare their favorite animal from clay. 24 students from grades 1 to 3 had participated (2 students per Grade from each house). All the participants made the clay model of different animals like Elephant, Giraffe, Mickey Mouse, Tortoise, Dinosaur, Donald duck etc.

For Grade 4: Model making from Lego blocks
In this competition there were total 8 participants (2 students from each house). All the participants were given the task to make a model from the given Lego blocks in the given time. For this task they had to work as a team and come up with the idea to design the model and ultimately create that model. All the participants gave wings to their imagination and made varieties of models like Model of a Town, Model of Castle, and Model of Garden etc. It was exciting to note that the children were able to put in small little details in their models.

For Grade 5 and 6: Card Castle Making
In this competition there were total 16 participants (2 students per Grade from each house). For this competition participants had to make a castle from a given deck of cards and the castle with longest height will win. All the participants enjoyed making castle from the playing cards as a team. Their team work, patience and accuracy were tested here.

For Grade 7 and 8: Poster Making
In this competition there were total 16 participants (2 students per Grade from each house). The theme for this poster making competition was “Recipe of Success: Hard work + Earnest Prayer + Company of Good Friends”. Participant had to brainstorm and come up with the flow about how they can project this theme on a given chart paper. They were given time limit of one and half hour. All the teams came up with very creative ways to represent their ideas.

Throughout this competition participants from each grade levels worked as a team and learned to respect other’s ideas. It was a good experience for them to learn how to resolve their conflicts in a constructive way. For teachers it was a delightful treat to see their budding stars in action. Overall the competition was successful in providing the platform to students to unleash their creativity and practice their interpersonal skills. Both the students and teachers had thoroughly enjoyed it.

Grade wise winners of the Interpersonal Intelligence Competition are as follows:


For Grade 1 to 3: Making Animals with Clay: Shivam House

  • Rishil Savaliya (Std.1)
  • Veer Modi (Std.1)
  • Harinaman Gandhi (Std.2)
  • Harsh Patel (Std.2)
  • Jagrat Patel (Std. 3A)
  • Devan Patel (Std.3B)

For Grade 4: Model making from  blocks: Satyam House

  • Parth K. Patel (4A)
  • Parth N. Patel (4B)

For Grade 5 and 6: Card Castle Making: Shivam House

  • Shiv Patel (5A)
  • Manthan Patel (5B)
  • Vasav Shukla (6A)
  • Tarak Jadvani (6B)

For Grade 7 and 8: Poster Making

Satyam House

  • Smit Lad (7A)
  • Dharmin Patel (7B)
  • Jagrat Gada (8A)
  • Joy Patel (8B)

Sundaram House

  • Rutvik Fudhanawala (7A)
  • Parth Jasoliya (7B)
  • Dev K. Patel (8A)
  • Mantavya Ambaliya (8B)

Overall Result
1st Position    Shivam House
2nd Position    Satyam House
3rd Position    Sundaram House
4th Position    Suhradam House

Compiled by: Priyavadan Sir

Kinaesthetic Intelligence Competition 2013-14

To provide an opportunity to all those students who possess a dominant, innate kinaesthetic ability, a team of teachers at AVM planned for an Interhouse Kinaesthetic Intelligence Competition to be conducted in October ’13. Different activities were designed for different age groups of students.

 

Group A: Std 1, 2, 3

  • Activity: Dance Competition (planned and executed by Suhradam Sir)
  • Number of students per House:- 09
  • Significance:- A kinaesthetically intelligent child would thrive in an opportunity to learn by acting things out and through movements (using their motor skills). A dance competition turns out to be one such opportunity for the little kids. Dancers exhibit highly developed bodily/kinaesthetic intelligence. So a dance competition gives the students an opportunity to use their body in a variety of skilled ways for expressive purposes.
  • Skills tested: – Motor movement of hands, fingers and legs; Sense of rhythm, Facial expression, Team work.
  • Result:- 1st Satyam & Suhradam (78 Points); 2nd Shivam (74 Points); 3rd Sundaram (73 Points)

Group B: Std 4, 5, 6

  • Activities: (planned and executed by Sarvajit Sir, Mrugesh Sir and Pujeetbhai)
    • Hula hoops” for Std 4
      • 2 students per house
      • Skills tested:- Speed, Flexibility, Team work
    • Satodiyu” for Std 5
      • 4 students per house
      • Skills tested:- Focus, Hand-eye coordination
    • Juggling” for Std 6
      • 2 students per house
      • Skills tested:- Accuracy, Concentration, Team work
  • Result:- 1st Satyam (118 Points); 2nd Suhradam (110 Points); 3rd Sundaram (105 Points)

Group C: Std 7, 8

  • Activity: “30 seconds Field Goal” and “Bounce and Shoot” (planned and executed by the school basketball coach Bankim Sir)
  • Number of students per House:- 4
  • Skills tested:- Agility, Perfection, Hand-eye coordination, Judgement, Balancing body
  • Result:- 1st Sundaram (48 Points); 2nd Shivam (46 Points); 3rd Satyam & Suhradam (26 Points)

Group D: Std 9, 10

  • Activity: Improvisation (planned and executed by Suhradam Sir)
  • Number of students per House:- 6
  • Significance:-
    • Drama is one such art form which can convey human emotions at their best.
    • Improvisation gives an opportunity to the students to express their views on different topics like current social issues very effectively through their acting skills.
  • Skills tested: – Gestures & postures, Facial expressions, Dialogue delivery and Justification of given topic.
  • Topics for Improvisation:-
    • Education In India (Satyam House)
    • Corruption & Politics (Suhradam House)
    • Every Drop Counts (Water crisis) (Shivam House)
    • Idea of India or Ideal India (What can we do???) (Sundaram House)
  • Result:- 1st Sundaram (88 Points); 2nd Suhradam (84 Points); 3rd Shivam (83 Points) 

Overall Result:
First:      Sundaram House 84 points
Second:  Shivam House     80 points
Third:     Satyam House     78 points
Fourth:   Suhradam House 77 points