I bow to these inquisitive minds - Mentor experience by Meha (Pune camp)

Data Sciences, this word inherently rings a bell in my head because of my love for Data and how we can play with data. When Shashank briefed me about what the final objective of the camp was (to empower kids to think analytically) I was ecstatic and couldn't wait to meet kids the next day. The activity started with  questioning them about their definition of Data, followed by talking about John Snow (I kept on thinking about GoT- "You know nothing John Snow")- the "smart" person without any science background who discovered Cholera around 161 years back. He went to each house collecting data and proposed a reason for the cause of Cholera.

Kids learnt that data Science is used in our day to day lives and started giving examples. The friends you may know option or You bought X, you may want to buy Y are some basic examples of how data is used to analyze further information. Amay suggested you can also use analysis to catch criminals.

There was a survey filled by each kid about his preferences about selecting a friend. Looking at the survey sheets our task was to identify features viz. Name, gender and hobbies and Tally our understanding about how the person selects a friend. The shocker came in the end when Shashank weaved a story to explain kids the concept of data privacy and asked them to provide consent whether they want to share their data? My biggest learning from this event was "Do not underestimate anyone's capability based on their age". Kids are far more capable than any of us, who are we to underestimate them and say, ohh they are just kids?

My pre-framed notion about the camp was- we will teach excel/ analytics, but post camp reality taught me - I know nothing about the vast reach of data and the ripples it can create in an inquisitive mind. 

Once again, thanks for the fun filled productive Sunday. 

Regards,

Meha