How to teach Science & Math

EMRS Jhargram Lecture

JBNSTS Science Teachers Training Program

at
Ramakrishna Mission Vidyamandira (Ekalavya Model Residential School), Jhargram
Revered Swami Shantimayanandaji Maharaj, Revered Swami Shubhakaranandaji
Maharaj, distinguished guests on the stage and learned colleagues: it is a pleasure to be present
here amongst you all today and to deliver the keynote address at the JBNSTC Science Teachers
Training Program. I came to this school exactly one year ago, just a day before Ramakrishna
Mission took over this school from the Government. Today, when I entered the campus, I was
wonderstruck at how much it had changed. Indeed, the efforts of Shantanu Maharaj are paying
off, and in an incredible manner. Who would have ever imagined seeing this kind of
development in this remote school! And that too in so short a time! It will not be an exaggeration
to say that Bhagawan Sri Ramakrishna is using Shantanu Maharaj and his team to work up a
revolution here in this Ekalavya School at Jhargram.
Today onwards, JBNSTC will be conducting a workshop for the Science and Math
teachers. I am given to understand that there are teachers from various schools of Jhargram.
I too have been in this education area for the last decade. I know what problems areas
exist for us. I am also aware of how ill-prepared we are for handling those problems. It is a tough
job we are doing. In fact, our job is also very dangerous. You know, once George Bernard Shaw
was asked about the most dangerous profession in the world. He replied that it was teaching.
His humorous argument was like this: if a lawyer makes a mistake, it hangs six feet above the
ground, and then the whole world forgets about it. If a doctor makes a mistake, it is buried six
feet underground, then everyone forgets about it and the world moves on. But if a teacher makes
a mistake, six hundred years of the countrys history gets damaged!
When I was asked to look after a school in Arunachal Pradesh, I made a special study of
the Jesuit philosophy of Education. One particular saying of the Jesuit Father Ignatius Loyala
seemed to sum up the entire philosophy of teaching, for me. He said, If you wish to teach Math
to John, you should know Math and you should know John. Just look at this statement!
We must know our subject very well. After some years of teaching the syllabus, we
become experts, so to speak. We develop the habit of going to classes without any preparation.
We are confident of winging it! I remember seeing some books in our Bangalore Ashrama. There
was a very revered Swamiji there long back called Swami Yatishwaranandaji. He was a great
scholar and a highly venerated monk. Yet, till the last, he would prepare notes for his lectures!
Those books had those notes; painstakingly he would write down all the points he would deal
with in the class. He naturally had no need to such notes. It was all at his fingertips. Yet

Page 1 of 8

How to teach Science & Math

EMRS Jhargram Lecture

We should know our student. What is meant by this? Is it that we should know about
his family background? The problems he faces at home? Those things too matter. But what is
more important is that the boy is not a blank slate. He comes with some fund of information in
his young mind. Can we understand that? Unless we know that, we can never really teach him
effectively. The problem is this we too were students once upon a time, and we too had
struggled with ideas; for a long time, the concepts and principles made no sense for us too. Then,
the constant effort we put in bore fruit and connections were made with pre-existing ideas in our
brain! And we have forgotten how exactly those connections were made. If only we can recall
those moments, we will be able to really know our student!
I am sure you all will agree with me that teaching Science and Math is especially
challenging. Teaching any subject, for that matter, is a tough job. But more so with these two
subjects. Why? Because they are very dry. Consider History or Literature. There are stories,
plots, sub-plots, poems, intrigues, heroes and villains; there is always an excitement about what
will happen next! That is completely absent with Science & Math. Just lifeless ideas and
numbers! Have you wondered why there has been no blockbuster Bollywood movie on Science?
Our subjects dont lend themselves to that kind of treatment.
I wish to place two ideas before you today. Actually I will be sharing these two ideas,
which are actually my life-lessons during my stint as a teacher. First, the importance of
remembering facts and principles; second, some techniques I picked up on the way.
We must acknowledge the fact that we need two different approaches while teaching
Science & Math. The approach we adopt for the students up to secondary level is different from
the approach we adopt for teaching the HS students. But, in both cases, we need to emphasize the
habit of learning by-heart a whole lot of facts. I am afraid, we dont do this. Our present
examination system is doing away with this habit. And it is working to the detriment of our boys.
Unless the boy knows a whole lot of things my memory, he wont be able to play with ideas.
Playing with ideas calls for a solid fund of facts in the brain. And what is Science & Math
teaching-learning if its not playing with ideas! Just take a look at the ancient tols in our country.
The first few years of the students life was spent in rote-learning. If the student could learn byheart a certain set of books, he could graduate to the higher education. Then would start the most
interesting play with the ideas which the boy could recall from memory!
For instance, in our Aalo School, I had to teach force analysis in Mechanics in Class-XI. I
found out that the students had no clear understanding of trigonometry. During those days,
trigonometry was taught in Class 9 & 10. So I passed on this feedback to teachers who handled
those classes. The next batches became better!

Page 2 of 8

How to teach Science & Math

EMRS Jhargram Lecture

Similarly, once our HS Chemistry had resigned in the middle of a year. So I had to
handle Chemistry for Class XII. While teaching the class, I found that the students had trouble
working numerical problems in Electrochemistry, especially the ones on Nernsts Equation, etc. I
found out why that was so. The students had to have a conception of logarithms for working
these problems. And wonder of wonders, the CBSE in its great wisdom had removed logarithms
from the entire school syllabus. Hence it was never taught! So, I sat with my teachers and
decided that we would give an introductory class on logarithms to our Class XI students. That
too bore great results later on for us.
Remembering facts and numbers must become a passion with students. It must seem
rewarding to the students. We need to encourage students to develop their own memory
development techniques. Mnemonics, for instance, could be very helpful.

To memorize the colors of the rainbow: the phrase Richard Of York Gave Battle In Vain each of the initial letters matches the colors of the rainbow in order (Red, Orange, Yellow,
Green, Blue, Indigo, Violet). Other examples are the phrase Run over your granny because
it's violent or the imaginary name Roy G. Biv.

To memorize the North American Great Lakes: the acronym HOMES - matching the letters
of the five lakes (Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie, and Superior)

To memorize color codes as they are used in electronics: the phrase "Bill Brown Realized
Only Yesterday Good Boys Value Good Work" represents in order the 10 colors and their
numerical order: black (0), brown (1), red (2), orange (3), yellow (4), green (5), blue (6),
violet or purple (7), grey (8), and white (9).

To memorize chemical reactions, such as redox reactions, where it is common to mix up

oxidation and reduction, the short phrase LEO (Lose Electron Oxidation) the lion says GER
(Gain Electron Reduction). An alternate mnemonic is Oil Rig can be used - which is an
acronym for Oxidation is losing, Reduction is gaining.

To memorize the names of the planets, use the planetary mnemonic: Each of the initial letters
matches the name of the planets in our solar system (Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter,
Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, [Pluto]).
Mean Very Evil Men Just Shortened Up Nature
Mary's Virgin Explanation Made Joseph Suspect Upstairs Neighbor
My Very Easy Method Just Speeds Up Naming Planets
Many Very Educated Men Justify Stealing Unique Ninth
My Very Educated Mother Just Served Us Nachos

Mnemonic phrases or poems can be used to encode numeric sequences by various methods.
One common one is to create a new phrase in which the number of letters in each word
represents the according digit of pi. For example, the first 15 digits of the mathematical
constant pi (3.14159265358979) can be encoded as Now I need a drink, alcoholic of course,
after the heavy lectures involving quantum mechanics; Now, having 3 letters, represents
the first number, 3, and so on. Piphilology is the practice dedicated to creating mnemonics
for pi.
Page 3 of 8

How to teach Science & Math

EMRS Jhargram Lecture

To remember the order of taxa in biology

(Domain, Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, Species):
Dear King Philip Come Over For Good Spaghetti/Soup
Do Kings Play Chess On Friday Golf Saturday?
Do Kings Play Chess On Fat Green Stools?
Did King Paul Cry Out For Good Soup?
Do Kings Play Chess On Fine Green Silk?
Dumb Kids Prefer Candy Over Fancy Green Salad
Dumb Kids Playing Catch On Freeway Get Squashed
Do Kids Pass Chemistry Or Flunk General Science?
Does King Phillp Come Over For Grape Soda
Don't Kill Parrot's Carrots Or Face Gruesome Sicknesses

To remember the lifecycle of cells

(Interphase, Prophase, Metaphase, Anaphase, Telophase, Cytokinesis):
Idiotic Penguins Make Antarctica Too Cold
I Pee More After Tea Consumption

To remember the common functional groups

(Hydroxyl, Carbonyl, Carboxyl, Amine, Sulfhydryl, Phosphate, Methyl):
Hair Care Can Always Save People Money

To remember the processes that define living things:

MRS GREN: Movement; Respiration; Sensation; Growth; Reproduction; Excretion;
Nutrition

Metabolism; Response; Homeostasis; Growth; Reproduction; Nutrition:

My Really Hungry Grasshopper Refuses Neglect

To remember the roles of reproductive organs in flowers:

Stamen are male; stigma (as in mother) are female

To remember the number of humps on types of camels:

D in Dromedary has one hump; B in Bactrian has two

To remember the 6 nutrients (Water, Carbohydrates, Proteins, Minerals, Vitamins, Lipids).

What Car Protects My Vital Lips?

Order of mathematical operations

PEMDAS- Parenthesis, Exponents, Multiplication & Division, Addition & Subtraction can be
remembered by the phrase: Please excuse my dear Aunt Sally.
BEDMAS - Brackets (parenthesis), Exponents, Division & Multiplication, Addition &
Subtraction
BIDMAS - Brackets, Indices (exponents), Division, Multiplication, Addition, Subtraction
Page 4 of 8

How to teach Science & Math

EMRS Jhargram Lecture

Trigonometry
ASTC stands for All Students Take Calculus, as well as the more simplified mnemonic
Add Sugar To Coffee, which represents the trigonometric functions that are positive in each
quadrant, beginning with the top right and continuing counterclockwise: All, sine, tangent,
cosine - All Science Teachers Are Crazy - All Silver Tea Cups - Annie Spewed Terrible Curses
Remembering the definitions of sine, cosine, and tangent can be done by memorizing
SOHCAHTOA, which helps to encode Sine = Opposite over Hypotenuse, Cosine = Adjacent
over Hypotenuse, and Tangent = Opposite over Adjacent. These mnemonics are more useful if
they can be recited in three groups of three words.
Other ways to remember SOHCAHTOA are:
Some Old Horses Can Always Hear Their Owner Approaching
Some Old Horse Came A-Hoppin' Through Our Alley
Silly Old Henry Can't Add Hundreds, Tens Or Anything
Some Old Hags Can't Always Hide Their Old Age
Some Old Hippie Caught Another Hippie Tripping On Acid
SPH-CBH-TPB (sine = perpendicular/hypotenuse, cosine = base/hypotenuse, tangent =
perpendicular/base)
Some People Have Curly Brown Hair Through Proper Brushing
Some People Have Curly Brown Hair Turned Permanently Black
Another odd permutation:
Oranges Have Segments, Apples Have Cores, Oranges Are Tangy
In Hindi, there is a funny mnemonic Sona Chandi Tole Pandit Badri Prasad Har Har
Bole, where:
Sona = Pandit / Har (sine = perpendicular/hypotenuse)
Chandi = Badri / Har (cosine = base/hypotenuse)
Tole = Prasad / Bole (tangent = perpendicular/base)
Let us remember that if we initiate our students into this interesting game of forming
mnemonics, they will later on formulate creative ways by themselves. And that will go a long
way in enabling effective teaching-learning in the higher classes. It is like building a large
vocabulary when it comes to speaking a language. If you dont have a good fat fund of words,
what will you speak?
So, this is the first idea I wanted to share with you. The second idea I want to share with
you all is I have picked up some important techniques which I have used to great advantage
with my students. I will explain them one by one.

Page 5 of 8

How to teach Science & Math

EMRS Jhargram Lecture

We must try to provide a physical manifestation of the concepts we teach. For instance,
while teaching fractions; consider we have to teach the concept of 2/7. Take a long stick and
divide it into 7 parts. Place all the parts on the table and show how it can be called 7/7. If you
take away 2 parts away, then the arrangement would be called 2/7. A child who sees this
demonstration will develop a new insight into numbers, which will blossom into something
wonderful in the higher classes.
Why cant we provide a rationale for the concept that is being taught? What do we do?
We take up some idea like differential calculus. We open a standard text book, start dealing with
the rules and then proceed to working out the numerical problems. Of course, our Indian boys
and girls are really good at picking up unrelated bits of ideas and living their entire lives with
those bits of nonsense running riot in their brains! I once read in a book how to introduce the
students to the concept of Limits that forms the basis of differential calculus.
We all know the famous story of the hare and the tortoise. Let us assume that the tortoise
is given a head start. After the tortoise runs for 1 hour, let us allow the hare to start running. Let
us assume that in 1 hour, the tortoise has covered 100 meters. Let us assume that the hare covers
this distance in 1 minute. Did the hare catch up with the tortoise? No. Why? Because in that 1
minute, the tortoise would have moved 1 inch more. Let the hare cover that 1 inch in say 1
second. Did the hare now catch up with the tortoise? No. Why? Because in that 1 second, the
tortoise would have moved 1mm. Let the hare cover that distance in 1/100th of a second. Again,
our linear logic tells us that the hare will never catch up with the tortoise. So, the four operations
on numbers addition, subtraction, multiplication & division are incapable of analyzing this
problem for us. We need a new operation now. And that is Calculus. When the time and distance
divisions become smaller and smaller so that they approach the limit of zero, the hare will finally
overtake the tortoise! Thus, in this case, the real world and mathematics will match only if we
adopt this new tool called calculus.
We teachers have to provide a perspective for the concept we teach. We seldom do
that. The ideas we teach are obvious to us. They need not be so obvious to our students. I recall; I
was once teaching the concept of coefficient of thermal efficiency to Class IX students in Aalo. I
used the standard example of the railway track, as given in the NCERT textbook. At the end of
the class, I saw blank expressions in the eyes of my students. I delved inside their minds to find
out where the disconnect had happened. Why hadnt they understood what was to me a very
simple concept? Do you know what I found out? Those students hadnt ever seen a real railway
track! The only tracks they had seen were in TV and movies. You never get to see the gap in the
tracks in the movies or TV, you see.
How about making the students aware of multiple approaches to same problem?
Many of us have the habit of teaching according to the syllabuses. Then there are the five-year
or ten-year question papers. A lot of todays education is governed by these two syllabus &
past question papers. I once overheard one of my teachers; a boy had asked him something; this
sage replied, Hey, that is not in your syllabus; they will never ask that in the Exam; dont
bother! And, we all worry why dont the students of the present generation respect us
anymore?! Anyway, we need to make students aware of more than one method of approaching
the same problem. Take the example of Factorization. Let us say, we need to find the factors of
(x2+5x+6). This is exactly of the [x2+(a+b)x+ab] = (x+a)(x+b) form. With a=2 and b=3, we can
Page 6 of 8

How to teach Science & Math

EMRS Jhargram Lecture

factorize this expression as (x+2)(x+3). Well, that is one way of doing it. If we make the students
work out many problems of this type,
Then there is another way too. Suppose we need to factorize (x2+5x+7). The students
cannot do this with the technique we taught them. They will need another technique for this.
2 4

Hence we will teach them about roots of the quadratic equation. :

. Now, the original
2
2
expression itself will be seen in a different form, not the [x +(a+b)x+ab] form, but as (ax2+bx+c).
Then we teach the students that these two forms of the quadratic equation are indeed one and the
same, interchangeable.
Another important technique I learnt about teaching Science to students is to explain the
historical background for those concepts. Take for instance thermodynamics. We know that
there is the Zeroth Law of Thermodynamics. Now, how can someone name a law as the Zeroth
Law? It is unimaginable. Listen to a story.
There was a numismatic exhibition. Many famous coin-collectors had put up their
collections on exhibition. There was a prize for the rarest coin. The prize went to a person who
had exhibited a coin which mentioned 53 BC! Now, how can someone print BC on a coin? BC
means before Christ. How the hell did the people at that time know that they were 53 years
before the birth of Christ?! That coin was fake!
Similarly, with this Zeroth Law! How could anyone know that this was the Zeroth Law?
Any sane person would have named it the First Law of Thermodynamics. What actually
happened was this: the 1st, 2nd & 3rd Laws of Thermodynamics were enunciated long ago. Then,
sometime in the 1930s, there was a British Science teacher called Fowler who was teaching
Thermodynamics from a book written by two Indians Saha & Srivastava. In this book, on the 1st
page itself, the two authors have mentioned the principle of equivalence of temperatures was
mentioned. Fowler realized that if the three known laws of thermodynamics have to stand, then
this equivalence principle was fundamental. Hence, he couldnt name it as the fourth law of
thermodynamics and was constrained to name it the Zeroth Law! That is how it happened.
Lastly, I wish to emphasize the idea of teaching students to imagine vividly, in
pictures. We have to understand this world around us. We need a language to do that.
Mathematics evolved as that language. However, we can still think quite clearly about
everything in this world without resorting to Math. This habit has to develop. After sufficient
failure in dealing with this world purely in pictures, we will be forced to resort to Math; not
before! The mistake we do is to introduce Math to students without allowing them to struggle
with the situation purely armed with their imagination. For instance, take this problem1:
A boat carrying a large stone is floating on a lake. The stone is thrown overboard and
sinks. The water in the lake, with respect to the shore
1. Rises.
2. Drops.
3. Remains the same.

These problems are called Mazurs Concept tests.

Page 7 of 8

How to teach Science & Math

EMRS Jhargram Lecture

It is possible to imagine what happens here. The answer can be arrived at by purely
imagination. Math is not required to answer this question. However, if we need to find out how
much the boat will rise after the stone is thrown, we will need to use numbers, not until then.
So, I have shared some of my ideas about teaching Science & Math with you all. I
believe I have set the tenor for the workshop. I hope the next three days will be profitable to all
of you. I pray to Bhagawan Sri Ramakrishna to shower His blessings on you all and on this
EMRS Jhargram School.
***************

Page 8 of 8