The Science Society

Unfortunately, in many countries education is a priveledge rather than a right. Due to numerous circumstances, students around the world are forced to start earning at a young age rather than attending school. In my country, children at the young age of 7 work as labourers rather than attending school. The Science Society is a platform that allows this section of society to receive quality science education. Our experiment kits allow these students to think outside the box, all while learning and having fun! By scaling our business globally, these kits will not only be accessible to underprivileged students in India but all around the world. 

In my country (India), a lot of students live under the poverty line. Education is overlooked and these young children start earning money by working in households at a young age. However, not only are these students extremely bright-minded, but they also look forward to learning. As a result, The Science Society helps make this possible for all those students in India. Our kits not only do not require a previous understanding, but they allow students to take charge and perform the experiments on their own

The Science Society makes and designs experiment kits to bridge the gap between education and privilege. Our kits help the underprivileged sectors in society learn science through hands-on experiments. Not only do we provide all the material (except water) to carry out the experiments, but we also provide a guide book made by our team. This guide book outlines the directions to perform the experiment and also delves deeper into the science behind the experiment. To ensure that students have understood the concept at hand, we also include a short quiz. This quiz is followed by the answers along with explanations to support why a certain answer is correct or incorrect. This way, the experiments not only allow the students to have fun, but it also gives them a holistic understanding of the concept and how it plays out in real life.

The Science Society targets students between the ages of 5-13. We also target individuals in the underprivileged sectors of society who seek to learn more about science with no previous understanding. Because these individuals are underserved in terms of opportunities and education, it becomes impossible for them to engage in fields of their interests (and many can't explore what they are interested in!). By giving them a platform to learn and have fun, The Science Society introduces bright-minded individuals to the world of science and unleashes the magic it holds!

The challenge that The Science Society is working to solve is for education to be accessible. Not only during these trying times but in general, the underprivileged community is often overlooked and live a life without any educational opportunities. By creating science experiment kits, The Science Society not only makes education accessible to these students but also allows them to learn in fun and engaging ways. Rather than reading from a textbook, students can gain a holistic perspective using our kits. Our kits highlight the real-world applications in which these basic concepts play out, unlocking a new dimension for students.

The Science Society is in the Pilot stage of development because we recently launched our website and are sending our products for testing. We recently sent sample kits to The Doorstep School in Mumbai, India and received great feedback from both the students and teachers. Moreover, we currently have 25 sample orders from various schools (Teach for India, Children's Hope India Girls School in Bhopal, CHI Hope Foundation Nursery & Primary School in Bhuj) around India. We hope to receive orders in bulk post the testing phase. Over 300 students and teachers will be testing our product and giving us feedback.

The Science Society is innovative because all the experiments are designed and created by the team. From the basic concept and experiment ideation to the final design, our team works on creating the kits from scratch and ensuring that students can carry them out with ease.

Currently, our solution is being tested in various schools for the underprivileged in India. Each school has at least 50 students and as many as 350 students. In one year, we hope to receive orders in bulk and expand the number of schools we send our kits to. In 5 years, we hope to continue creating varied kits and expanding the number of schools.

Through frequent check-ins from the schools, we ask for feedback (what went well as well as what can be improved) and gauge the learning experience from the students and teachers. We also look at the quiz answers that teachers provide to determine whether the experiment helped the student learn the concept and apply it correctly to answer the questions.

In our solution team, I (Sama Dalal) am the founder and CEO. Additionally, we have two advisors (Vinay Chowdhry and Sunil Sani) that check all the work created so it is ready to publish on our website.

Sama Dalal is a Junior at the Bombay International School, Mumbai. She is a science enthusiast and especially loves biology. She has undertaken many courses in the field outside of school, worked with several institutions, taught science to underprivileged students, authored a research paper, and has participated in multiple science competitions. Because she has been studying science in school for over 5 years, she is able to create experiment kits to explain certain concepts that she initially could not relate to the real world.

Dr Vinay Chowdhry has been a successful innovator and entrepreneur in the life science industry for over 25 years. He founded biotechnology company QualiconTM, a subsidiary of DuPont that invented and markets DNA-based automated microbial analysis systems for the global food industry, serving as its CEO until his retirement. Because of his innovative and entrepreneurial nature, his contributions are invaluable. 

Sunil Sani serves as a Trustee of the Sani Family Foundation, which focuses its attention on children’s issues and causes in India, sits on the Executive Committee of the Father’s Day/Mother’s Day Council, is an Advisory Board member of Children’s Hope India, and is a Board member of the Harvard Schools Committee on Long Island. Sunil is also a member of the Save the Children Board of Trustees and serves as the Chair of the Head Start Board and is a member of the Executive Committee. Because of his relationship with several schools, his network helps us expand our connections. 

Because all 3 contributors bring different perspectives to the business, we are able to build a product that is checked from different lenses. Sama Dalal and Vinay Chowdhry work on the innovation of the kits, while Sunil Sani brings a group of schools to test it out.

By applying to Solve, I am not only connected to a larger network, but I am also introduced to a population of solvers! Together, we can solve more and impact our community twice as much as before! Along with this, funding from Solve will help our organization expand our impact by providing free kits to schools for the underprivedleged. This way, we can fulfil our mission to make education a right and not a privilege. 

By gaining supporters in all these areas, we will have a successful team to carry out the roles that are currently being carried out by 3 people. 

I would like to partner with organizations such as the UN Major Group for Children and Youth so we can gain a larger clientele base and larger impact. 

We are qualified for this prize because not only do we provide a platform for students to explore basic science through a hands-on approach, but we also aim to bridge the gap between poverty and education. By making education a right and not a privilege, no student is overlooked.

We are qualified for this prize because not only do we provide a platform for students to explore basic science through a hands-on approach, but we also aim to bridge the gap between poverty and education. By making education a right and not a privilege, no student is overlooked.

Being a girl myself, I know what it's like to sometimes be disregarded because of my gender. But by founding The Science Society, I am creating a platform to show other girls that anything is possible in the field of STEM. The Science Society does support any sexism and our kits are catered to children of all genders, castes, and creeds. Our aim is to create a diverse community, regardless of gender.