First step towards best practices.

The University of Sussex announces the dates of academic and non academic activities well in advance and accordingly executes them in a very professional manner. The academic terms till 2019-2020 of the University have been announced on the website. The prospectus of the University is available for the academic year 2012-13. Admissions to different degree programmes for the year 2011-2012 are on. E-learning resources along with the list of reading material, web resources and individual time table for students are available before the term starts. The time table is never disturbed in spite of other activities on campus. The website of the University is very resourceful. We need to learn such good practices from leading Universities like Sussex.

Last week, we planned uninterrupted academic programmes for first term of Hr. Secondary Section and semesters I, III and V of College section. These will commence from 6^th June and 15th June respectively for the academic year 2011-12. We will have all other activities in the evening.  

Planning the Work Schedule

It is more than a week since I returned from the University of Sussex. I liked the work culture at Sussex. The people there are expected to take prior appointment if they want to meet somebody. I used to do the same if I had to meet anybody in the University. This helped me as well as the person whom I met in terms of time and planning. Prior appointment helps to plan the work schedule. In fact, all of us should adopt this practice of taking prior appointment. I want to start this practice from my side first. If I wish to meet anyone in the College, I will ask for appointment. I also expect the same from others who want to meet me.

Please send an e-mail for appointment. Shortly, there will be a provision on the College website www.chowgules.ac.in to seek appointments to meet the Principal/ Vice-Principal. 

Returning to Goa

Returning to Goa
The spring term of the academic year of Sussex University ends on 18th March 2011. The students will have  four weeks Easter break from 19th March 2011 to 26th April 2011. After the Ester break the summer term will start from 27th April 2011 to 1st July 2011. But the teaching in summer term is going to be only in first four weeks unlike autumn and spring terms. The students will answer their examinations from 25th May 2011 to end of June 2011.
I have decided to leave Brighton on 19th March 2011 for Goa. Since last two days I am busy packing my things. I feel very happy because I successfully completed the task assigned to me. I kept myself busy  attending lectures, practicals, seminars and tutorials of different courses in Arts as well as Science during these six months of my stay. I also met the faculty and the staff of the Sussex  University . By staying here for two terms I understood the system of higher education in UK in general and of the Sussex University in particular. I liked the system at Sussex University because everything is pre-planned and well organised. The students are given more time to learn and less contact hours. The assessment methods develop different skills of the students. The technology is used to the maximum extent. The courses are revised every year based on the feedback. The University always looks forward to improve the standard of education by providing new and innovative courses to the students.
I am grateful to the University of Sussex for giving me an opportunity to learn their methods of teaching, learning and assessment. We can definitely adopt some of these best practices in our system of higher education.

Museums in London......contd.

                                                   Science Museum



Blue line

                                                                 

                                                        British Museum

Has outstanding collection, which illuminates the story of human culture from its beginnings to the present day.

The British Museum was established in 1753 and is now home to over six million artefacts, ranging from small archaeological fragments to massive objects from past and contemporary cultures. There are one hundred galleries which are organised by geography, history and theme. There is no right or wrong way to visit the British Museum. Every time you visit, you will discover something new.

The great court provides a focal point for any visit to the British Museum.

Africa, Oceania and the Americas-these galleries represent the cultures of people in three major regions, past and present.

Asia-  holds the richest collections of Chinese antiquities in Europe. The Chinese collections range from the 4^th century BC to the 19^th century AD. The sculpture collections from the Indian sub-continent are the most representative. There are some of the finest Islamic pottery, Japanese collections-from prehistory to the present.

Britain and Europe:

There are important collections covering the cultures and long history of Britian and other parts of Europe. Important prehistoric objects are displayed.

Egypt and Sudan:

The British Museum houses one of the greatest ancient Egyptian and Sudanese collections, illustrating every aspect of ancient Nile Valley culture from Neolithic times. The major sculptures and the mummy displays can be found on the ground floor.

Greece and Rome:

The Greek and Roman galleries contain objects from the Greek world, Italy and Rome from the beginning of the Bronze Age, and from the whole of the Roman Empire except for Britain.



Museums in London

 After visiting the Eden Project, while returning from St. Austell, Cornwall to Brighton, I thought of visiting Museums in London. I visited three Museums viz. The Natural History Museum, the Science Museum and the British Museum. I could not visit the Victoria Albert Museum even though it was very close to the Natural History Museum. All these museums are very close to the London underground railway stations. I travelled from St. Austell to Paddington by express train and Paddington to South Kensington by underground circle (yellow line). Around the South Kensington railway station there are three museums - Natural History Museum, Science Museum and Victoria Albert Museum. After visiting the first two museums I left for Tottenham Court Road railway station from South Kensington station to see the British Museum.

From the Tottenham Court Road, I returned to Brighton via London Victoria. Since the train services in UK are excellent it was possible for me to visit three museums in a very short time. All museums in London are very big and each of them require at least half a day to visit.   

Natural History Museum

The Natural History Museum has more than 70 million specimens and these are arranged on specific themes in four galleries/ zone- Orange, Blue, Green and Red.

Blue zone: This is zone depicts the age of Dinosaurs, human biology, Fishes, amphibians and reptiles. Images of nature, marine invertebrates, mammals.

Green zone: Giant sequoia, Primates, birds, creepy crawlies, ecology, fossil Marine reptiles, minerals, evolution Fossils are arranged.

Red zone: Earth today and tomorrow, Earth’s treasury, Earth and natural forces/ disasters shape the planet. We can experience the earthquake and impact of volcanic eruptions.



Please visit my next blog to see the pictures of Science Museum and British Museum.

Eden Project- A Reclaimed Mine

The Eden Project is constructed in a 160-year-old exhausted china clay- Kaolinite (Kaolinite is a clay mineral with the chemical composition Al₂ Si₂ O₅(OH)₄) quarry at Bodelva, near St. Austell, in Cornwall, UK. It was established as one of the Landmark Millennium Projects to mark the year 2000 in the UK.

The project was conceived by Tim Smit and designed by architect Nicholas Grimshaw and engineering firm Anthony Hunt and Associates (now part of Sinclair Knight Merz). Davis Langdon carried out the project management, Sir Robert McAlpine and Alfred McAlpine did the construction and MERO designed and built the biomes. Land Use Consultants led the masterplan and landscape design. The project started in 1999 and it took 2½ years to construct and it was opened to the public on 17 March 2001.

The complex is dominated by two gigantic enclosures consisting of adjoining domes (biomes) that house plant species from around the world. Each enclosure emulates a natural biome. The domes consist of hundreds of hexagonal and pentagonal, inflated, plastic cells supported by steel frames. The first dome emulates a tropical environment, and the second a Mediterranean environment.

At the bottom of the pit are two covered biomes: Tropical Biome and The Mediterranean Biome.

The Tropical Biome, covers 1.56 hectares (3.9 acres) and measures 55 metres (180 ft) high, 100 metres (328 ft) wide and 200 metres (656 ft) long. It is used for tropical plants, such as fruiting banana trees, coffee, rubber and giant bamboo, and is kept at a tropical temperature and moisture level.

Inside the artificial biomes are plants that are collected from all around the world. With help from Reading University  over 83,000 tonnes of soil was prepared. The mineral component came from local mine wastes: sand from IMERYS china clay works and clay from WBB Devon Clays Ltd. In the Biomes, composted bark provided the organic matter component because it needed to be long lived.
The rapid growers in the Rainforest Biome needed a rich organic soil capable of holding lots of water and nutrients while the slower growers in the drier Mediterranean Biome used a sandy mix which held less of both. A specialist nutrient-free mix was used in the South African Fynbos, where fertile soil is toxic to some of the plants.

For outdoors, composted domestic green wastes was used. The ingredients were mixed with a JCB in a nearby clay pit, and Wiggly Wigglers worms helped dig and fertilise the new earth. This showed the  regeneration of soil is possible.

In the first two months of construction  since it rained every day; 43 million gallons of rainwater drained into the pit. This prompted the engineers to come up with a magnificent subterranean drainage system that now collects all the water coming on to the site. it used to irrigate the plants and flush loos, while rainwater that falls on the Biomes is used to maintain the humidity inside the Rainforest Biome. The only main pipe (tap) water used is for hand washing and for cooking. Water needs are met from water harvested on site.

The complex also uses Green Tariff Electricity — the energy comes from one of the many wind turbines in Cornwall, which were among the first in Europe.

The covered Biome climates are constantly monitored and are controlled automatically. In the Rainforest Biome automated misters moisten the air (90% relative humidity at night, and down to 60% in the day) and ground-level pipes irrigate the soil so you don’t have to put up with the rainforest’s 1,500 mm (60 inches) of rain a year. The huge waterfall uses recycled water and keeps humidity high. In the Mediterranean it is keept drier. Vents are often open, even during cool periods, to reduce humidity and therefore fungal problems. The main heating source for both Biomes is the sun. The back wall acts as a heat bank, releasing warmth at night. The two layers of air in the triple-glazed windows provide insulation. Extra heating comes from the big grey air-handling units which also help circulate the air on hot days.

 Around 1 million plants of just under 4,000 taxa (species and cultivars) have been planted. Most are not rare, except for the few that  need for conservation, neither were they taken from the wild. Many were grown from seed in the nursery, others are from botanic gardens, research stations and supporters, mostly in Europe and the UK.

The Mediterranean Biome covers 0.654 hectares (1.6 acres) and measures 35 metres (115 ft) high, 65 metres (213 ft) wide and 135 metres (443 ft) long. It houses familiar warm temperate and arid plants such as olives and grape vines and various sculptures.

The Core is the latest addition to the site and opened in September 2005. It provides the Eden Project with an education facility, incorporating classrooms and exhibition spaces designed to help communicate Eden's central message about the relationship between people and plants. Accordingly, the building has taken its inspiration from plants, most noticeable in the form of the soaring timber roof, which gives the building its distinctive shape.



Sculptures include a giant bee, cow, driftwood sculpture of a horse by Heather Jansch, at the main entrance of Eden and towering robot called RSA WEEE Man created from oldelectrical appliances.



The Land trains are used to reach the Biome site.

The domes provide diverse growing conditions. The computer-controlled environmental control system that regulates the temperature and humidity in each dome was designed and installed by HortiMaX Ltd.  who are also responsible for ongoing maintenance of the environmental control and monitoring systems on both the Biomes and Glasshouses at their production site.