The DP-1 Collaborative Science Project (CSP) this year at Apeejay’s IB School, Apeejay School International, Panchsheel Park, was centred on the White Revolution through the lens of Mother Dairy. As part of the CSP core component of the Diploma Programme, the initiative brought together Physics, Chemistry, Biology, ESS and Technology into a single collaborative inquiry.
Dr Richa Tiwari, Chemistry facilitator and HoD, Science, explained the vision behind the project. The CSP is one of the main core components of DP. It collaborates with basically different sciences like physics, Group 4 subjects, physics, chemistry, biology, ESS, and Computer Science as well.
“We took the White Revolution as the theme because dairy products, milk, are one of the essential components of our food. The idea was to introduce the students to how it is processed, what the different nutrients present in milk are, how important it is, and what the processing is,” the facilitator explained.
Reflecting on the challenges students faced, she stated that the main challenges were time management, because along with the classes, their weekly tests, and assessments, they had to do the research project, their RQ, and the investigation. The authenticity of the resources was also a hurdle.
“The best part was that despite all the challenges, the students managed everything; their curiosity came out. They researched themselves, and the project opened new perspectives,” she shared.
Sumanyu Sethi, a DP-1 student, reflected on the broader scientific integration and said that the significance of this project was to basically show how various elements of science are combined into something which we use in our daily lives.
“For example, the White Revolution has completely revolutionised and changed the way India consumes dairy products. There are quite a lot of scientific concepts involved in that. One challenge that we faced was trying to actually grasp how to grasp the concepts and how to present them,” he shared.
Yishika Gupta, who focused on Biology, explained the historical context. The White Revolution was a time when milk was not widespread in India. It is a staple product, but because of its short shelf life, it was not able to reach the people who needed it.
“The White Revolution began when state governments took the initiative to work cooperatively. Milk was collected from farmers, brought together for centralised storage, and then distributed to different outlets so that people could access it at the same time. This system ensured that farmers were paid fairly and no longer had to worry about their milk spoiling before it could be sold,” she explained.
She described the experience as inspiring. Earlier, she saw milk as just a daily drink, but research and the plant visit revealed its complex journey. From clarification and homogenisation to pasteurisation and safety checks, milk undergoes multiple scientific processes. She realised that even essential products require careful, time-intensive processing before reaching consumers.
Aibota, another DP-1 student, shared that the project was interesting and engaging, and she ended up gaining knowledge that she found unique.
Sahejveer Singh described his CAS integration and shared that he looked thoroughly through the processes, how they process their milk from the raw form to the actual milk that is transported and given to people. A model representing the entire process, starting from the cow itself to its distribution, was informative.
What he found interesting was that it was the fat content in milk that determined how the milk was categorised. “One of the key factors that I did not know about was the fat even in adulterated milk, where the fat content might be less than the normal one. The normal one should be around four per cent, and it is the fat content that determines the price,” he stated.
Utkarsha Shankar focused on Physics for his CSP investigation. “I examed how temperature influences viscosity and flow behaviour during pasteurisation and homogenisation. Flow can be laminar, meaning smooth, or turbulent, meaning chaotic. I hypothesised that as temperature increases, viscosity decreases. This reduction in viscosity increases the Reynolds number, which makes the flow more likely to become turbulent. Temperature is my independent variable, while dynamic viscosity and density are dependent variables that I predict will decrease with rising temperature,” he opined.
Pasteurisation is where they raise the temperature to 72 degrees Celsius for 15 seconds and then drop it instantly to 4 degrees Celsius to kill bad bacteria. Homogenisation is where they use pressure from 2000 to 2500 pounds per square inch, so the fat is compressed into smaller parts and spread evenly into the fluid. “In my data, temperature increases while viscosity and density decrease, and the Reynolds number increases, which supports my hypothesis,” he said.
While Utkarsha focused on Physics, Adein Chawla focused on Chemistry. Farmers, he said, add specific adulterants to increase the volume because of economic incentives. “Mother Dairy tests every batch of incoming milk with a series of tests to ensure uniform quality. We took five such tests, and I tested them myself. I tested for starch, neutraliser, sugar, salt and urea using different reagent-based chemical tests. For instance, I used iodine solution, which turns blue-black.
Aaditya Nath Mathur focused on ESS. His research question was: To what extent does consumer preference for poly-pack milk over token milk at Mother Dairy booths in Delhi-NCR contribute to local plastic? He took into account some variables and hypotheses.
Kanya Johari, on the other hand, focused on Computer Science, and the RQ was: How does Mother Dairy’s packaging design planning process integrate graphic design principles with functional and logistical requirements?
The exhibition also left a strong impression on parents. Ms Arpita Chawla, mother of Adein, shared, “The exhibition was good. For DP-1, it was a collaborative science project including all of the subjects. I liked how they focused on each and every aspect of it, starting from Physics, then Chemistry, then Biology. They also integrated the technology, which was interesting. Kudos to them!”