S3E11 Cube chatShaala: Exploring new ways of Learning

Meeting URL

webinar.hbcse.tifr.res.in

HBCSE Webinar

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Please click on the HBCSE Webinar above to join the CUBE ChatShaala
Timing:5.30 pm to 9.30 pm
Webinar will be recorded and recording link will be post in the same thread after the webinar.

Looking forward to your participation.
Thanks


19th Nov ChatShaala was all about mangoes!
We started with defining the actual research question behind collecting such huge amount of data/photos of mango trees from different parts of India.
The question was defined using a rough map of India.
From 10’N in Thrissur, Kerala to 15’N in various parts of Goa to 19’N in Nerul, Navi Mumbai, the flowering percentage of mango trees is 22%, 15% and 9% respectively and at the same time, at 22’N in Kolkata, 24’N in Silchar, Assam and 27’N in Sapekhati, Assam, none of the mango trees were flowering. (THIS DATA IS FROM THE LAST WEEK OF OCTOBER, many other places have been surveyed but as of now, only a few have been listed).
The pattern observed here is;
i) as we go up north from the south, the percentage of flowering is decreasing,
ii) is this related to change in latitude (S to N)? (well, it seems so!)
A layman (indeed a Citizen Scientist) would wonder that why is there such behaviour although all the trees are mango trees!?
(This is one of the first questions, more to come)

There are factors such as i) daylength ii) photoperiodism iii) type of soil iv) temperature v) location of the tree vi) latitude and longitude; that affect the flowering/behavioural pattern of mangoes throughout the year.
All these factors won’t be the same throughout the year or at a particular time in a year in a given geographical area.
If mango flowering starts in the month of Sept-Oct in the south of India (northern hemisphere 8-10’N), when does the mango flowering start in the places lying on the equator at 0’?
And what about Australia at 20’S (in the southern hemisphere)?
“In Australia, the mango season spreads southward from September through February. The mango season begins near Darwin and Katherine late September and ends by early December…”

This means, there is a shift/gap of nearly six months in the mango seasons of India and Australia!
Why is there a shift of flowering, etc. if we talk about trees within the country?

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An interesting discussion happened upon inputs from, CUBists shared that roadside mango trees flower earlier than mango trees that are there in rural farms.*
Why?
Because the levels of carbon dioxide support flowering in mango trees (this may look like an absurd statement unless given some references!).
A story that farmers in the mango city of Palakkad give hormones to the mango trees so that it will flowering multiple times!
I had never heard of this, looks interesting!
We have been talking about the mango species of Mangifera indica.
Are there any other species of mango? What are they?
There are many varieties of mangoes that we talk about (some of them mentioned in this whiteboard) and we all of different names in the regional dialect.
How do mangoes differ in variety? Are they of different species?
What is the relation between variety and species? Any taxonomic relation!?

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On the whiteboard, there is a circle drawn with month-wise markings on it that represent a whole year starting from January at the top. March, June, September and December have been circled with different colours.
Do we have something special in these months? 3 of them have already passed😅!
March-Equinox: the day and night length is equal on this day,
June-Solstice: the longest day of the year,
September-Equinox: another day in the month of where the length of day and night are equal,
December-Solstice: the shortest day of the year.

Four phenomena, equally distant from each other marking significant changes throughout the year. The months lying in between these major months experience some changes. Let us DECODE them and understand their effects (obvious) on MangoTrees.

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A Context2Curriculum map of Mango Trees that was designed and presented in the CUBE STEM National Meet2020.
Who would’ve wondered that the mango trees in our backyard/neighbourhood that get ignored by us, would give such a diverse context to relate it with our curriculum?
I, as a high school student didn’t understand what were the latitudes and longitudes that were represented as lines in the geography/science textbook!
But now, as there is a practical example infront of us, we can understand that those lines aren’t simply lines but have some significance! Is it not?

If we look at the first slide, there are some % of flowering.
In Thrissur district of Kerala, 103 trees were surveyed by ~15 people including,
from different places/suburbs and the percentage of flowering was found to be 22%.
In the state of Goa, 52 trees were surveyed by 13 CUBists from MHS School including
At different places and the percentage of flowering was found out to be 15%.
In Nerul, Navi Mumbai, I had surveyed trees 11 trees out of which 1 was flowering (9%).

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103trees=22%, 52trees=15%, 11trees=9%
Can we say/would it be right to say that mango trees have started flowering Nerul? Earlier, Nerul was being represented as Mumbai in the rough map😬.
After comparing with Thrissur district and Goa state, both have a large geographical area that is being covered as compared to Nerul.
Alongwith large geographical area, the sample size (trees surveyed) is also more (52 and 103).
Attributing 9% flowering in 11trees in a small geographical area (later being represented as Mumbai) would be misdirection to a newcomer! Is it not?
Is there not a sampling error here?
How do we correct this sampling error?

A CUBist from Ernakulam, Kerala was asking whether we only have to look for mango trees that are flowering? A good question indeed!
Why/why not?
Would that not be a biased sample?
The other day, we were discussing the design of the olfactometer (for performing the olfactory assay/experiment) for Snails and came across a point where the sampling was seen to be biased.
The experimenters were ruling out the run when the snail wasn’t heading to the direction that it was expected to!

Now, you must’ve got an idea of what we are discussing here; words like sampling error, sample size, biased sample, etc. are nothing but a part of RESEARCH METHODOLOGY!
Another branch of science connected via Context2Curriculum.

CUBE Chatshaala on 19th November 2020
56 CUBists from 38 centres joined the webinar.
Map

ASSAM
Narsing HS, Silchar: Hasina Begam
Sonari: Susanta Tanti

BIHAR:
Sitamarhi: Anamika Singh
Patna: DK Nirmal, Kshipra

DELHI:
Dyal Singh College: P. Chitralekha

GOA:
Kalyani
Nidhi Kapileshwari

JHARKHAND:
Ranchi: Manjuel Jojo, Sweta Rani
Kanke, Ranchi: Ram Deepak

KARNATAKA:
Bangalore: Shama Sayyed

KERALA:
Ernakulam: Aarcha Soman, Aishwarya Elizabeth, Ashikha Farzana K.M., Asna Sherin, Devika Devanath, Manju V Subramanian, Nikitha T.N., Pooja Baiju, Rexeena, Sifuvan, Sahla Sherin, Yami George
Kottarakkara, Kollam: Annapoorna
Kozhikode: Arunima
Kochi: Bhavya
Palakkad: Dr Binumol. M, Dr Nisy Prasad, Shrudhiga
Malappuram: Gopee Krishna
Mullasery: Krishna
Kandanssankadavu: Lakshmy
Aluva, Kochi: Dr Revathy S
Thanniam: Sidhy PP
Thrithallur, Thrissur: Sreelakshmi VS
Perambavoor: Theres Hemin

MADHYA PRADESH:
Gwalior: Komal Singh

MAHARASHTRA:
South Bombay: Arunan MC
Nerul, Navi Mumbai: DK
Powai, Mumbai: Lydia Mathew
Andheri: Mandar Chavan
Belapur, Navi Mumbai: Mrunmayee More
Mulund: Omkar Badnale, Priti Kanade
Thane: Prashant Palane
Bandra: Saida Sayyed
Panvel, Navi Mumbai: Shraddha Sonavane
Prabhadevi: Yash Sheregare

UTTAR PRADESH:
Kanpur: Hina Mudgal
Moradabad: Kiran Yadav

WEST BENGAL:
GHS, Kolkata: Aranyak Sarma, Sneha Pal
Kolkata: Batul Pipewala

Aratrika Ghosh
Omesh