IB LEARNING EXPEDITION TO THE LAND OF ISLANDS-ANDANAM & NICOBAR ISLANDS

IB LEARNING EXPEDITION TO THE LAND OF ISLANDS
ANDANAM & NICOBAR ISLANDS FIELD TRIP
20TH DEC-26TH DEC, 2014
GEOGRAPHY, ESS, EVM & GP STUDENTS
K.GURU CHARAN KUMAR
IB ,IGCSE & MYP Environmental Science
IB ESS Paper 1&2 Assist Examiner
IB ESS IA Examiner
IB World Student Conference-GAT Leader

About our IB Expedition Journey
This December(2014), a few Pathwazians from 9th and 11th
grade, boarded a plane to Port Blair in the Land of Islands,
Andaman’s with eager spirits, anticipating the chance to explore
the exotic group of islands, which number 552 in total!
In a matter of one week, it was unbelievable that we managed to
capture the true essence of an entire Union Territory which is a
tourist hot spot and is well known for its environmental offerings
to the rest of the world.

Group photo-Cellular Jail rooftop

In the Bartang Island-Mangroove Forest

Checking the temperature of the Mangroove field

Interaction with Local Bengali Migrants

Interaction with Bengali Migrants

Ms. Ratna Kanan, Chairperson of RWA of Andaman & Nicobar Islands

Interaction with the Local community-Yeratta

We began our fieldwork with a visit to the monuments with
great historic significance in Andaman – one of which was the
Cellular Jail where we were given a tour of the Gallows and
prison cells which housed Political Prisoners of the late 19th
Century and is more popularly known to the world as ‘Kaala
Pani’ which literally translates into ‘exile’.
We also saw a light and sound show regarding the same,
where the prison ground spectacularly turned into a theatre.
We also visited the Tsunami Memorial which commemorated
the Tsunami that had wreaked havoc in the A & N islands on
26th December 2004, a decade ago.

Interaction with Karen community Migrants

Interaction with Karmen Community

Enroute to Ross & Smith Island

Andaman has several geographical wonders as well which we
were fortunate enough to have an opportunity to see, namely
the limestone caves of Yeratta and the mud volcano of Jol
Tikrey.
The mud volcano and limestone caves contributed greatly to
the coursework and internal assessments that the students
were collecting data for, as we gathered information pertaining
to the mud’s mineral content, the preparedness of village
communities which live in areas of active natural hazards and
the social impact of tourism there.

Students doing Mud Volcano Study

Interaction with Local School students and Teachers

We met several significant people in Andaman’s society such as
Ms. Ratna Kanan, Chairperson of RWA of Andaman & Nicobar
Islands who enlightened us regarding the current social issues
in Andaman, as well as the measures taken to create awareness
about them.
Mr. Sonny Thomas was another person we were glad to have
encountered as he was the head of the Zila Prashad and was
instrumental in setting up some of our surveys in the villages
for Bengali Migrants. Bengali migrants have settled in the
Andaman for the east Bengal early 1975.
He informed us of the difficulties faced by the Bengali Migrant
villagers in their daily life such as the amenities provided by the
government including the health facilities and accessibility of

Group Photo in Dhanni nallah-Largest Mangroove forest walk in India

Turtle nesting grounds, Diglipur

Leather back turtle-Rare chance to see

 Fortunately the Karen community, who settled in the Andaman’s from
Myanmar, proved to be much more interactive and we conducted many
productive surveys in their village.
 We had a special session with a Youth Pastor there from whom it was learnt
that 12 families of their tribe had come settle here in 1925 and has
expanded to 200 ever since.
 The data related to the people and their lives was just as valuable as the
environmental data collected in the river study, a coral study and even tests
of pH and soil temperature in mangrove cultivation were conducted! We
later walked through the Dhani Nallah, the longest mangrove walkway in
India!
 There was a vast variety of mangrove trees to observe and study, such as
Black Mangroves with Red Flowers, Palm Mangroves, and Cedar Mangroves
etc. It was interesting to know that the roots of Mangroves have adaptations
like Pneumatophores and Stilt roots which make them true survivors in this
saline environment.

Christmas Celebration-Port Blair

We also had the tribal groups of Jarawas and Ongis on our list, but
we couldn’t manage to get a glimpse of them!
The rarity of this experience cannot be emphasized enough as the
Jarawas are an elusive tribe which is hidden in the jungles of
North and Middle Andaman, who do not keep contact with other
humans and continue to live as a small tribe of hunter-gatherers,
glad in their isolation.
Perhaps, this is the very definition of a ‘tribe’, someone who is not
in the mainstream. It is very easy and rather disturbing to see
how, Indigenous tribes are being affected by the advances of
urbanisation, in today’s world.

 We celebrated Christmas by praying at the Stella Marie Church and
also paid a visit to the Murugan Temple. We wanted to give back to
society as well, so we spent time with orphans in the Mother Teresa
Home and gifted them school bags which we specially bought from
Delhi.
 Though the trip was extremely in hectic and packed with data
collection, we had some fun trips too where we went to the beach
at Ross & Smith and the Water Complex at Port Blair where we
attempted a ‘sea walk’.
 The sea walk was a guided activity in which we were taken to the
depths of the sea and were able to walk on the sea floor, as we
enjoyed corals, anemones and fish which were teeming all around
us. Later, we went souvenir shopping to Aberdeen Bazaar as well.

Made by
K.Guru Charan kumar,ESS Teacher, India
 MYP Teacher
 IGCSE EVM Teacher
 Graphic Designer
 Photographer
 Quiz Master
 Blogger
 Web Designer
 Adobe Specialist
 Snake Lover
 IAYP School In charge
 Round Square School Member
 School Clicking Club Head
 Graphic Designer and Field Trip Organiser
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For more visit our website:
http://andamannicobarfieldtrip2014.weebly.com
You Tube Link about our trip:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tl9Zm_KbKho

• My Websites : http://gurucharankumar.weebly.com/
• My Wikispace: http://gurumantra.wikispaces.com/
• My IB Articles link :
• http://blogs.ibo.org/alumni/tag/k-guru-charan-kumar/
• My Youtube Channel :
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCsDy4JIHFQ1SMIUcQMXxFFg
• My Slideshare link : http://www.slideshare.net/kingcobra2012
• Gmail- gurucharankumar16gmail.com
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IB LEARNING EXPEDITION TO THE LAND OF ISLANDS-ANDANAM & NICOBAR ISLANDS

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IB LEARNING EXPEDITION TO THE LAND OF ISLANDS-ANDANAM & NICOBAR ISLANDS