Awarenet anti-littering kids visit Rhodes- Africa Media Matrix
On the 28th of April, Sunday- a group of 7 learners from
Marry Waters High School who are currently doing the "Anti-littering
campaign" went to Rhodes University Journalism Department to record an Anti-littering
campaign awareness audio clip.
All the 7 hip, fresh and enthusiastic Awarenet learners participated in the
recording of the audio clip which will be used for anti-littering awaress.
These learners were so excited and they
jumped around the Africa Media Matrix studio facilities, full of joy as it was
for many of them their first time to be engulfed by microphones in a recording
studio.
With the constant practise of the two page anti-littering campaign drama script, the
learners showed their perfection abilities as they fluently recorded the script
without any hustles, their voices blending very well ending up producing a very
good sound- this is plausible.
"It was very worthwhile to spend an hour with the enthusiastic learners on
a Sunday than maybe sitting in my room watching a movie or something"
The audio clip will be embedded with “anti-littering
awareness campaign” picture that will be taken on Wednesday, 01 May at the
Kowie River by Marry Waters High school where Rhodes students in collaboration
with Awarenet CM Vellem and Marry waters leaners will clean the local river for
awareness to the local Grahamstown community.
By: Sanele Ntshingana on April 30th 2013 01:55 [0 comments]
Meeting with DST Minister Naledi Pandor
This is an article I found online, published in the SAASTA newspaper.
SAIAB Bright Spark, Sanele Ntshingana speaks to DST Minister Naledi Pandor about the Bright Sparks Programme and how it has shaped his academic goals.
SAIAB's flagship programme, the African Coelacanth EcosystemProgramme (ACEP) and its model of the coelacanth never fail toamaze and spark interest in the public. This time around Minister Pandor and the Deputy Minister of Science and Technology, Mr Derek Hanekom who visited the SAIAB exhibition stand, expressed a particular interest in the coelacanth research in which SAIAB is engaged. Ministor Pandor was also pleased to know that learners such as the SAIAB Bright Sparks are showing an interest in science and sharing that interest with others at the exhibition. “It is learners like you that are my favourites and one day you all must be 'Dr Something',” said the Minister upon visiting the Bright Sparks exhibition. “The message that we must continue to spread is that science, engineering and technology are an essential and inescapable part of almost every aspect of modern life,” said Minister Pandor addressing the learners in her keynote speech. “If you find me on Facebook, lets chat. If you find me on Twitter, lets engage on the topic of science and if you find me on mxit… lets mxit about science.”
By: Sanele Ntshingana on February 4th 2013 07:28 [0 comments]
Science Clubs Launch around Grahamstown Schools
“Put your hands in your pockets, take out your keys and build
your future towards science,” says Sivuyile Manxoyi of the South African
Astronomical Observatory (SAAO) in Cape Town. Manxoyi is the champion
of a movement to establish active school science clubs countrywide, to
entice and nurture budding young scientists.
The South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity (SAIAB), in
collaboration with the Grahamstown District Office of the Eastern Cape
Department of Education (DoE), recently invited SAAO’s Sivuyile Manxoyi
and his colleague, Cedric Jacobs, to run a science club workshop for
learners from local schools in the Makana region.
Manxoyi and Jacobs addressed some 40 learners in Grade 11 at Graeme
College, offering encouragement and tips for starting a science club at
their school. They also shared their words of inspiration with grade 10
to 12 learners from five different schools, at two afternoon workshops
at the District Offices of the DoE in Grahamstown.
Their goal is simple: to equip learners with the skills needed to start
science clubs at their schools, which will provide opportunities for
learners to explore science in interactive, fun, informative and
challenging ways.
This initiative is the final activity of the SAIAB’s Bright Sparks
Development Programme, developed in 2005 to identify learners who show
talent and enthusiasm for science. It aims to expose learners to careers
in science and technology, encourage them to continue with science
subjects at school and tertiary level and develop their skills,
knowledge, values and attitudes. In 2010 science kits were donated to
the five schools represented at this year’s workshop as part of National
Science Week. The workshop was a follow-up to ensure that the learners
make maximum use of the kits, and that the whole school derives optimum
benefit.
The workshops yielded some interesting feedback, confirming that many
learners do not take up science careers because “it’s too difficult … we
are not exposed to science”. Manxoyi encouraged them to change their
attitude, saying that “when you start believing that you can master
science, you will”.
He emphasised that science clubs create a platform for the schools to
work together as well as with other institutions such as Rhodes
University and SAIAB, where the learners can find resources,
information, inspiration and role models.
To show just how easy - and how much fun - a science club can be,
workshop participants were taught the basics of starting a club, where
to locate it, how to set objectives and draw up a constitution, and how
to publicise their club through social networking mediums such as
facebook and blogs.
They also solved a few science game challenges, such as how to measure
out four litres of water using a full five-litre bottle and an empty
three-litre bottle. Other games included cutting a cake only three times
to form eight pieces, and combining different coloured balloons to form
atoms.
“Our club is interested in working closely with Rhodes University and
establishing a partnership with the Dean of Sciences,” said Sanele
Ntshingana, president of the science club at Nathaniel Nyaluza High
School. “We will have a monthly newsletter communicating all our
activities.”
Other feedback came from Hendrik Kanise learners in Alicedale, who said
that they would work closely with their teachers to develop “a dynamic
club that will create curiosity about science in other learners”.
By: Sanele Ntshingana on February 4th 2013 07:17 [0 comments]
High School Bright Spark Memories
SAIAB BRIGHT SPARKS TOUR
In 2009, when I was grade 10 at
Nathaniel Nyaluza I entered a bright sparks club competition from the
South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity (SAIAB). This was a
very big competition as it consisted of over one hundred participants
from 5 different schools- Nathaniel Nyaluza,Nombulelo, Marry Waters,
Ntsika Secondary and Hendrick Kanise.
Our task was to write a
Climate Change essay 800-1200 words. The following step 2- only 10
essays were shortlisted in each school. Step 3- shortlisted essays were
shorlisted again by SAIAB and DoE represantatives. Step 4- the
shorlisted candidates made a presantation of their essays to SAIAB and
DoE representatives. Last step- finalists wrote a Science knowledge test
that consisted of Mathematics, Physical Science and Life Sciences.
Then, top ten leaners were selected for a Grand prise- A National Tour
to Gauteng Province.
The tour was so full of fun and lots of learning.
This was my report after the tour:
Day1
In the
first day when we went to Gauteng
was like a dream coming true to me. The journey was very long but some of us
made it very short because all the way we were debating. We finally arrived at Pretoria at National Zoological
Gardens (NZG) where we were warmly welcomed by Pharks our host for that weekend
to the cable cage ride. It was very scarring and also very fun. He showed us
some overview of Pretoria
and told us a little bit a brief history of the Zoo.
We went to
the night tour and our guide was Willem. We saw animals like Elephants, Lions,
Rhino, Seals, Kudu, Bears, etc.
After that
we discussed about the advantages and disadvantages of the animals being kept
in the Zoo.
Day2
We went to
the Tswaing crater Museum and our guide was Mr. Simon a real environmentalist,
when he saw a paper he just pick it up and that really taught us that picking
up a paper begins with you. We learnt more about meteorites and Tswaing was hit
by meteorite impact.
The crater is 100 meters high. These hills are the walls of
an impact crater left by an asteroid which hit there some 200 000 years ago.
The Tswaing crater is similar in size to the well-known Barringer meteor crater
in Arizona.
The crater walls at Tswaing were originally about twice as high as they are
today.
Drilling in the crater has shown that the rocks forming it
have been shocked by an explosion, and are not volcanic in origin. In the
explosion that formed the crater the incoming object would have been largely
vaporised - there is no large buried object in or under the crater. The absence
of such a buried object at the Barringer crater in Arizona caused confusion as to its origins
for many years, although in that case traces of the original iron asteroid have
been found.
We went to the union buildings after we came from Tswaing
crater Museum. We took photos there and we were so happy to see Union
buildings.
Day3
We went to South African Nuclear Corporations (NECSA). At NECSA they do use
the radiation for the Medical purposes, Therapeutic and diagnoses purposes. The
presentation was done by Mr. G and Ms. Zamazizi Dlamini. We learnt that radio
activity is all around us and this means that everything around us is
radioactive to a greater or lesser degree. Plants, water, rocks, even the air
we breathe - everything contains radioactive substances. This has been so since
the creation of the universe. Radiation even reaches us from outer space.
We also learnt about Ionising radiation, that is the rays
of the sun transfer energy in the form of heat. Radioactive rays also transfer
energy. When these energetic rays pass through matter, they collide with atoms
or molecules and transfer part of their energy to them: an electron is knocked
off an atom, or an atom or a molecule absorbs an electron. In this way an
electrically charged atom or molecule, an ion, comes into being. This
phenomenon is called ionisation.
We also learnt about fission that is nuclear reaction in which a massive
nucleus splits into smaller nuclei with the simultaneous release of energy.
We went to the SAFARI side where we saw the reactor and where there are
Physicists working there, Operators and Technicians. The nuclear reactor is an
apparatus that maintain and control a nuclear reaction for the production of
energy or artificial elements.
The reactor temperature of the reactor is about 200 °C inside and the water is blue. We were given careers and
opportunities at NECSA. You can be a Scientist, Engineer, Technician and
Medical Physicists.
Afterwards we went to see the Zoo director Dr Nxomani. He is a very down to
earth guy and he is coming from the Eastern
Cape in Peddie. He did a Micro-Biology and
biochemistry and did a micro-Biology at Rhodes University.
He worked for 3 years at SAIAB and moved to Pretoria and worked for the NRF research
company and in 1998 he became a managing director of the NZG Zoo.
We went to the Transvaal
Museum and unfortunately
person who was suppose to be our guide was already left then. We looked around
and we took photos and left.
Day4
We went to Wits Origin Centre and our guide was Jordan. When we went inside at Wits
Origin Centre Ms. Jordan
showed us the Yellow-wood tree which is a National tree of South Africa.
There is also a Podia tree which is very special because when you are hungry you
can just chew it and you won’t be hungry. We learnt more about the cradle of
human kind and where people originated. We also learned about the stone ages.
We learned about history of the art. The discovery of the skulls,
Australopithecus and the San people was the most things we learnt about.
We went to the planetarium where we learnt about the Stars, Moons, Our
galaxy and birth and death of the stars. We leant things that we didn’t know
about our solar system like there are Asteroids moving around our solar system.
We also learnt about Dwarf planets and what the Astronomers use to observe the
planets and how that is important to do so. They also predict when is a star
going to die.
We went to HartRAO and our guide was Mr. Sam Rametse. At HartRAO the do a
radio astronomy and what they do is very similar at what we learnt at Planetarium.
Sam showed us the sun dial. The sun dial simply tells a clock. They designed
the sun dial for the Southern African Countries in order to know what the time
is. We then went inside and watched a video which was telling us about the
Universe, when sun is going to die and what will happen to earth when the
Asteroids fall into the planet Earth. We then played a Rocket game which was
very challenging and interesting. We played again a whispering dish, where you
whisper to someone who is at the other dish and what you say is transferred by
waves and when people stand in-between the dished they can hear all the
conversation.
Day5
We went to South African Agency for Science and Technology Advancement
(SAASTA). Our guide was Thembi. We also did a bit of Astronomy and we learnt
about our milky way and we live in the Orion Spur Arm. We also learned about
the principle of Mirror that you see things in the opposite direction. We
played few games and Sis’ Thembi was motivating us to keep studying and don’t
chase after girls/boys. She really put
sense in our minds and she changed the ways we saw things in life and in
general.
After SAASTA we went to the NRF and we had a lunch with the communications
manager of NRF Mr. Kiru Naidoo and a Media co-ordinator Tracey Miller. Tracy brought up a topic
of Mxit. We discussed the Advantages and disadvantages of having Mxit. One of
the advantages of having Mxit in your phone is you talks with you friends for
less and it’s informative. The disadvantage of having Mxit is you might get
addicted and people will ask for your photo and afterwards that person do
something bad to you. We even discussed about climate change and its effects.
The lunch was very nice and everyone enjoyed their selves.
We went to the Zoo afterwards and had a braai. We had a fabulous evening and
we enjoyed ourselves. Our host of the whole tour Mr. Ureg came to say farewell
to us.
Day6
We went to Sterkfontain
Caves where we went 64m
under ground. We learnt more about Rocks and cradle of human kind. We learnt
about dolerites, Anthropoids. It was very scary to be inside the cave, it was
very dark but fun anyway.
We went to Maropeng where we had fun as well. We leant more about extinct animals
like Kuaga, Dodo etc. we played many games and we went to the boat ride where
we saw Ice inside the cave, Volcanoes eruptions, lightning and rain as well.
That was a great experience and was a life time experience.
By: Sanele Ntshingana on February 4th 2013 06:22 [0 comments]
