TUESDAY, AGUST 19,2008

Science Week event that's fit for a prince

    APINYA WIPATAYOTIN

   HRH Prince Dhipankara Rasmijoti, the youngest son of HRH Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn, joined hundreds

of his schoolmates in a pioneering science and technology activity programme for kindergarten students.

   Prince Dhipankara Rasmijoti was among 280 pupils aged three to five who participated in the event at Chitralada School

   in Dusit, Bangkok. The project, launched yesterday to honour King Rama IV, the Father of Thai Science, and mark

   National Science Day, was aimed at boosting the youngsters' knowledge of and interest in the sciences.

   The three-year-old prince spent about an hour touring four science stalls at the event so he could gain a basic understanding

   of physics, chemistry and biology. He was particularly interested in the balloon stall, which demonstrated how chemistry

    is involved in inflating balloons. The prince also enjoyed the banana stall, where he learned about how banana trees grow

  and the different stages of their development ''He was very keen to learn and asked many questions,'' said Reutai Chongsrid,

  the project's supervisor from the National Science and Technology Development Agency (NSTDA), which worked with

 the school to design tools and activities for the project. Ms Reutai explained that the various activities on offer provided

  an easy introduction to the sciences for kindergarten students. She added that the focus was on fun, including a variety

 of games, so that the young children could better understand the subject. She said the NSTDA is planning similar

  workshops for other age groups and invited interested schools to contact the agency.

  Ladda Hongladaromp, NSTDA's director of corporate affairs, said the agency was very happy with the project launch.

 She said the children were very interested in the activities and had a lot of fun. Wanvipa Sukanit, school deputy director

 in charge of academic affairs, said the school marked National Science Week every year by offering fun

 science-based activities and events. ''We typically teach the sciences in a classroom environment,'' she said.

 ''But for National Science Week every year, we like to offer something more interactive, so that the children can learn

  by themselves.''