The Departments of Zoology and Botany of RKSD (PG) College, Kaithal organized an educational tour to the Zoology Department Museum, Anthropology Department Museum and Botanical Garden of Panjab University, Chandigarh. Under the supervision of Dr. Gagan Mittal, Head Department of Zoology and Dr. Sushil Gupta, Head, Department of Botany., the educational trip was organized for the B.Sc. (Medical) students on the occasion of Earth Day i.e., 22.04.2022, Ms. Ritu and Ms Sarita, Assistant Professors in Zoology and Botany, respectively, were also present alongside 42 students. The students began their visit by exploring the PN Mehra Botanical Garden, where the Technical Assistant and Research Scholars from Panjab University’s Botany Department described the different types of plants that are protected at the Botanical Gardens. During their visit, the students were also shown several uncommon flora. The students then went on a tour of the Museum of Anthropology Department, which included the Pre-Historic Life Gallery., which included a history of the evolution of earth millions of years ago. The Gallery has showcased the life size models o various stages of evolution of man, early birds, dinosaurs, and tools used by early man. The students valued this gallery since it addressed many aspects of the Evolutionary Biology curriculum, such as the genesis of the planet and atmosphere, and the origin of life. After this, the students visited the Museums of Zoology Department where they saw preserved Vertebrates and Invertebrates specimen. The students were excited to see the wonderful collection of well-preserved specimens of vertebrae of whale, skeletons of camel, leopard, etc, human embryos, some rare and extinct birds, mammals, reptiles, amphibians, and fishes. They were delighted to see the collection of enormous specimens from Invertebrates. The visit ended with an informal discussion among the students, teachers and Dr. Yogesh Rawal, Chairman, Department of Zoology, PU, Chandigarh about the department and its museums, followed by clicking a group photograph. After the academic visits, the students also visited Sukhna Lake, Mata Mansa Devi Temple and Gurudwara Nada Sahib. The visit thus turned out to be successful by fulfilling its aim of imparting scientific knowledge in an interesting way to the students which will remain fresh in their memories for long. students learnt and understood the process and importance of conservation and preservation and about the evolutionary process that gradually changes the environment around us. Sh. Saket Mangal, Advocate, President appreciated the efforts of the Department and said that such educational tours should be organized in future to fulfill academic requirement and enrich the teaching-learning experience of the student. Dr. Sanjay Goyal, Principal of the College said that the educational trips have a lasting effect on the minds of the students, and they are inspired with the fun-filled and informal way of learning, which not only involves beyond the classroom activities but also a location-based learning.
