ಆವಿಷ್ಕಾರ VVS-Avishkara Kendra

VVS-Avishkara Kendra, a physics, chemistry and mathematics centre for school students outside Bangalore

01 / 06

Physics, chemistry and mathematics on five acres outside Bangalore, for school students from standard 7.

Plan a school programme Weekend and holiday programmes

Five acres

200 m
of clear run, for timing sound end to end
Open sky
for anything that flies, or falls far enough to stop speeding up
Sightlines
for surveying, and for trees nobody may climb
Soil
that nobody has prepared or analysed
1 lab
for what comes back from the field

Problems set here

10 of 51 in the problem bank. Each rules out the obvious method.

  1. Three methods in parallel: shadow ratio, clinometer against a baseline, parallax from two stations.

    AttackThe answers disagree. Decide which one to trust, and show why.

  2. A manometer at depth, refraction with a correction, and a weighted line to check both.

    AttackThe tank is not a neat shape. Find out what that does to the volume.

  3. Nitrogen by colorimetry, organic carbon by titration, pH and conductivity by meter.

    AttackTake a second sample ten metres away and see how far the numbers move.

  4. Change wingspan, dihedral, nose weight or camber, and measure range, peak height and roll for every version.

    AttackPredict what the next change will do before making it.

  5. A chained baseline, a clap and a stopwatch, then the echo off the building wall.

    AttackDesign the method so reaction time cancels out, then prove it did.

  6. Chain a baseline, take angles, and triangulate across the site.

    AttackClose the traverse. The size of the closure error grades the survey.

  7. Girth at fixed heights turns the trunk into a stack of frustums. Density comes from a fallen limb of the same species.

    AttackThe branch allowance is the weakest number. Weigh one whole limb and see how far the total moves.

  8. A laser pointer through one barbule onto a wall several metres away. Spot spacing and throw distance give the lattice period.

    AttackRepeat it on a CD, whose track pitch is published, to find out whether to believe the rest.

  9. Float two hundred seeds, then germinate every one, keeping the sinkers and floaters apart.

    AttackCount how many good seeds the test throws away, and decide whether the time it saves is worth them.

  10. A gnomon's shadow at local noon, measured here and at a partner school several hundred kilometres away on the same day.

    AttackSplit the error between the shadow, the timing of noon and the distance between the towns.

  11. ?? Your question Teachers can bring one. If it needs space, we probably have it. Any subject

The method

  1. 01Measure

    Design the method before anyone has an opinion about the answer.

  2. 02Record

    At the time, in units, with the conditions noted.

  3. 03Analyse

    Is the difference bigger than the scatter in your own repeats?

  4. 04Hypothesise

    The explanation comes after the numbers.

  5. 05Attack

    Design the experiment most likely to prove you wrong, and run that one.

  6. 06Model

    Whatever survives is written up and tested again next season.

06 returns to 01 for as long as a student keeps coming back.

One tree, four answers

6 groups per method · 3 August 2026 · whiskers show one standard deviation

Placeholder data

Tree height in metres by method. Mean and one standard deviation for each.

The tree has one height. Deciding which method to believe is the lesson.

Programmes

  • Std 9–12Research termOne problem, six visits, ending in a paper and a defence.
  • Std 7–10Measurement blockFour visits, four problems.
  • Std 7–12Single-day problemMethod to conclusion in one day.
  • AnyYour own problemYou bring the question. We supply the ground and the instruments.