KOCHI: As is the norm every four years, the football world cup has got everyone excited in Kerala, with fans celebrating the beautiful game in innovative ways. While some fan clubs are putting up huge cutouts of their favourite players, others are bringing out World Cup-themed clothing.
However, the teachers of Ramamangalam High School in Ernakulam district have decided to use the world cup fever to help students brush up on their knowledge of geography. “Football is the one major topic of discussion among the students now.
During free periods, boys and girls can be seen discussing the performances of their favourite teams and players. Hence, we thought, why not make use of this enthusiasm to help students understand the world map and the position of the participating countries?” said Anoob John, a teacher and student police coordinator of the school.
The project -- being spearheaded by the school’s Social Science Club -- is quite simple.
“Teams from 48 countries are playing in the World Cup. Each student will have a favourite team. The students are asked to identify the particular country and then try to locate it on the globe or the world map,” said Devadutt Gautham, a student and member of the Social Science Club.
According to Anoob, in the normal scenario, it becomes very difficult to get the students interested in locating or marking countries on the map.
“But when it is about their favourite football team, things change. They become interested in even learning about the things associated with the country,” he added.
According to Sindhu Peter, the principal of the school, the students are now eager to learn about the climate, land pattern, rivers, culture and traditions of their favourite footballing nations.
“The learning doesn’t end with just the country that is playing in the world cup, but extends to the neighbouring countries as well. Students are showing interest in learning about the countries that share borders with Brazil or Argentina.
They even got curious about finding out where nations like Cabo Verde, Cote d’Ivoire, Curacao and Senegal are located. The project is an ongoing one, and rewards are also given to students,” Sindhu added.
Class 9 students Devadatt Gautham, P Sumesh, Abhinav P S, Maria Siju and Vedha Manoj are leading the project.