Science City is a wonderful place for creating interest in science for the young
and old. This is the place where scientific principles are demonstrated with the
help of simple experiments. The Science City is a large area with toy train,
picnic area, food stalls, space odyssey, rope way, mono rail, maritime center,
and evolution park.
As you enter the science city, it is encompassed by a large garden with
beautiful flowers. At the end of it is a large gate, which is divided into rows.
The entry fee is Rs. 20. Many school children, families with children are
visiting this beautiful place.
I took a bus and went to Shyambazar in the afternoon of 28th December. Then I
changed a bus and took a bus of route 202. This bus took me straight to Science
City. It is a one hour distance from my home. I took 202 from Shyambazar in
Kolkata. Science City is located in Eastern Metropolitan Bypass.
Science City can be divided into the following regions:
Food Plaza.
Space Odyssey.
Butterfly Garden.
Maritime Center.
Science Park.
Evolution Park.
Birds.
Caterpillar.
Picnic area.
Musical Fountain.
Public Toilet.
Ticket Plaza.
Telephone booth.
Toy train.
Monorail.
Rope way.
Food Plaza is a place where a large variety of foods are found. There are pizza,
fried chips, cold drinks, etc. The foods are costly compared to the outside
stalls. Outside the gate, there are also food stalls but most people are taking
from inside the campus.
Space Odyssey is a building whose ground floor has wonderful scientific
demonstrations in the form of games, which both parents and their children can
enjoy. In the space odyssey, there are crazy ball, changing colors, parabolic
reflector of heat, deceptive reality, pin screen, virtual music station,
floating dish, liquid storm, chaotic chair, Is Light Visible, spinning eraser,
rising arc, walk on piano, jumping disk, illusions, colored shadows, fun mirror,
Geneva wheel, polygon generator, belt and pulleys, blowing off roof, worm and
worm wheel, express route, lazy channel, impossible mixture, quick sand, etc.
Changing colors: The visitor observes a blank screen but as one looks through
the ring and rotates it, one watches wonderful paintings on the screen with
colors.
Blowing off roof: During hurricane, the roof gets blown off. Through model it
has been demonstrated how the top of houses blows off.
Fun mirror: Concave and convex mirrors create funny images of visitors as they
come in front making them laugh!! J
Walking on Piano: From a small child to an adult, whoever walks over the
platform, beautiful tunes are created and this is due to the keys they are
pressing with their foot as they are stepping in.
Is Light Visible: As one puts his hand on the column, a greenish light is seen
on the hand, this is due to the light that is being passed gets obstructed.
Impossible Mixture: Three mixtures of different specific gravities are put in a
container, as the container is stirred they are mixed but as it settles down the
three liquids gets separated in different layers.
Cyclone: With the help of smoke generated by machine, it shows how the cyclone
moves in the atmosphere.
I came to know of various types of fishes from the photos and also from the
fishes that are displayed in the aquariums of the museum. There are fishes of
various colors from small aquarium fish to medium sized fishes. The fishes
displayed the museum are as follows:
1. Mono angel.
2. Veil tail goldfish (China).
3. Oranda.
4. Firemouth (Mexico and Guetamala).
5. Argus (Eastern Africa, southeast Asia, northern Australia).
6. Angel fish (Amazon).
7. Oscar (northern south America).
8. Discus (Northern south America).
9. Featherback fish.
10. Chitala (Africa, India, Malaysia, India).
11. Tiger shark (Thailand, Laos, Cambodia).
12. Albino shark.
13. Bristol shubankin.
14. Plecostomus (south America).
15. Kissing Gourami (Malaysia, Borneo).
16. Dark banded piranha (northern south America).
17. Spotten Piranha (Amazon and Orinoco basin).
18. Koi Carp (Japan).
19. Silver Shark (Thailand, Borneo).
20. Severam ( Central Amazon basin, south central America).
21. Parrot fish (Caribbean sea, Indopacific region).
22. Tetra (south America).
I visited a marine museum where the statues of reputed sailors like Vasco Da
Gama, Napoleon, Magellan were displayed. The ancient routes were shown in the
maps. The instruments the sailors use are displayed in this museum. Indus valley
and other civilizations along the sea side are displayed there. With the help of
a ship model and a dock, it has been shown how a ship enters and leaves a dock.
The mono rail runs from one end of Science city to another end. It is a long
rail supported by pillars. The people are riding this rail with a lot of
enthusiasm.
In the Evolution Park, I saw a lot of prehistoric animals. It is situated near
the entrance of Science City. At the main gate, there is a large dinosaur
replica standing with a gaping mouth. The prehistoric animals I saw in the
Evolution Park are as follows:
Trilobites.
Dimetredon.
Giant Deer.
Diplodocus.
Scleidosaurus.
Brachiosaurus.
Tuosiangosaurus.
Spinosaurus.
Psittacosaurus.
Corythosaurus.
Anatosaurus.
Oviraptor.
Pteranodon.
Pachycephosaurus.
Diatryma.
Megatherium.
Science city is a nice place to visit for the young as well as the old. It
creates science awareness through different experiments. One gets to know one's
past and also the advanced developments of science with the help of simple
demonstrations. It gives a birds eye view of the different animals that lived
long ago. It gives us an understanding of different species of fish displayed in
aquarium. A visit to the science city will enrich the minds of the visitors.