When was the last time your kid was excited about a science class? Shouted out ?Eureka? at the top of her voice as the litmus paper turned blue? If that isn?t happening too often, maybe it?s time you ask her to take a look at the Science Express visiting your town. Or get her to register at one of the various science camps organised by corporates.

Quite a few technology and manufacturing companies are venturing into this territory, utilising their scientific bases and history to further an interest in science among kids. BASF, the German chemical company, has just inaugurated a high-end science exhibition called Kids? Lab fitted on a train called the Science Express that will travel across the country for a year. Then there are the science camps organised by IBM India to kindle interest in science among girl students. Agilent Technologies has also been training science and mathematics teachers in government schools on innovative ways to impart education.

With India increasingly being touted as a knowledge economy, you may wonder why the need to push science education. Would not a degree in science and maths be top priority for a student? However, while many a child may aspire to become an engineer or an IT professional, not too many are motivated about studying science as a subject, leave alone attending practical classes or spending hours in a laboratory. But with technology innovations coming out of the research lab, companies in India are realising the need to constantly encourage students to take up pure science as a career, and what better way than to show them the right way early, say experts. ?It?s to instill that sense of curiosity and encourage kids to ask ?why? and seek answers to their questions that these initiatives are organised? says a company official.

Says Juergen Hambrecht, chairman of the board of executive directors, BASF AG, ?At BASF we believe that innovations are the backbone of the path to progress. And the Kids? Lab aboard the Science Express is a truly innovative concept!? Through this programme, interested students in 57 Indian cities can, till June 2008, get an experience of the importance of chemistry in daily life, and encourage them to consider careers in the field. The idea was conceived by the Department of Science and Technology, government of Germany and German non-profit research organisation Max Planck Society.

?BASF Kids? Lab demonstrates how a simple chemical formula ensures that our clothes retain their colours for a longer time. It also introduces the young visitors to the concept of super absorbents and how it keeps babies dry, retains soil moisture in dry lands and even stops fire,? explains a demonstrator manning the lab. And the kids are loving it, inundating him with questions. ?It?s much better than our regular chemistry classes where we concentrate more on our syllabus,? says Mani Puri, a class XII student of Saraswati Bal Mandir Senior Secondary School, Delhi, making a round of the seven coaches.

The enthusiasm is contagious. At the Exite (EXploring Interests in Technology and Engineering Camps) camp in Kolkata, Sreemanti Ghosh of Auxilllium Convent School says, ?We learnt about RFID and its applications in daily life. I am now toying with the idea of working in the IT sector when the time comes.?

A few years back, IBM initiated a pilot technology camp staffed by IBM women volunteers with technical backgrounds. The goal was simple: spark the interest of girls entering middle school so that they continue taking the mathematics and science classes that will position them for future careers.

?Traditionally, girls have shied away from taking math, science and technology courses because they thought they could not excel in them, or thought the classes were unrelated to what they wanted to do in their lives. There could even be some societal or cultural mindsets acting as deterrents. EXITE camps attempt to help girls realise that technology is providing opportunities for careers in virtually every field they could hope to pursue,? explains Nabanita Khan, SAP AMS Practice Area Lead, distribution sector, IBM India and one of the project leaders. At EXITE camps, young students join forces with IBM employee volunteers on innovative projects, thereby allowing them to realise their own latent ideas and talent.

Texas Instruments (TI) has been organising the Jack Kilby Science and Technology Quiz for high school students of eighth, ninth and tenth standards in Delhi, Chennai and Bangalore. This initiative aims to encourage young minds to adopt innovation through science as a way of life, says Texas Instruments India Foundation leader Sylvia Subbaiah. ?Named after the inventor of integrated circuits, Jack Kilby who?s also a TI employee, this contest aims to reach out to kids at a time when they are about to make choices regarding their higher education,? she says.

Agilent Technologies, along with SNS Foundation, has commenced Quest ? an attempt to improve the quality of math and science education in government schools to equip students for competition in the higher academic and professional environments. Three International Baccalaureate schools ? Ryan International School in Gurgaon, Oakbridge International in Hyderabad and Indus International School in Bangalore ? send their teachers to train teachers of these less privileged schools in the latest science education. ?These schools do not have the requisite infrastructure ? science labs, scientific instruments, latest computers and Internet connections, which can bring them at par with private schools. Teachers, even if they are motivated, are hampered by the lack of infrastructure. That is where we come in,? says Venkatesh Valluri, president and country general manager, Agilent Technologies.

?We have supported infrastructure for 20 laboratories of general science, maths and computers for four government schools in Gurgaon and two in Bangalore. Our Phase 1 programme has impacted more than 2400 students and 26 teachers trained over 40 hours of workshop,? says an Agilent official.

Again, its ?Science on Wheels? programme uses innovative mobile laboratories, science fairs and teacher education workshops to reach out to the remote corners of a district. Since the launch, the mobile labs have reached out to over 11,000 students and more than 400 teachers. ?There has been an overall improvement in the results from 55% to 75%. We now have a full fledged science lab which was not there earlier and this has resulted in students doing practicals and a better understanding of the subject. In addition to this we also have a math and a computer lab. A total of 1,200 students have benefited from this support,? says SB Krishnamurthy, a teacher at Sardar Vallabhabhai Patel High School in Bangalore.

So for all those who shied away from science lectures or had a fear about numbers, here?s a chance to make friends with Aristotle and Pythogoras. Come, take a ride on the Science Express!