
CONTENTS13 National Science Week in Pictures

15 National Science Week Contributors FOREWORD

A two hour flight from our Cape Town headquarters and an almost three hour drive ensured we reached Polokwane just in time for the official launch of the National Science Week at the University of Limpopo (UL). When we finally got to the UL campus where the National Science Week was being launched we could feel the excitement in the air. The place was a hive of activity; scientist, students, government of-ficials, and teachers had all converged on the campus. This is a festival that really gets the Science Stars team excited as we know its an opportunity for us to see our passion, science - in action. The Minister of Science and Technology, Derek Hanekom noted that the science sector still had much to do in promoting and working hard in the science field, we silently agreed and felt more encouraged to do our best in bringing you an informative and solid maga-zine. He was however impressed with the high turnout.To some of you who are not so sure of what the National Science week is all about here is a brief ex-planation. It is an initiative of the Department of Science and Technology (DST). And it is a countrywide celebration of science involving various stakeholders and role players conducting science-based activi-ties during the week. The event is run simultaneously in all nine provinces at various sites per province. The South African Agency for Science and Technology Advancement (SAASTA) has been appointed by the DST as the implementing agency and has the role of national project manager for the National Science Week.Each year a different theme and sub-theme is chosen and activities are offered to the target audiences around these themes. This years theme was ‘Celebrating scientific areas in which South Africa has a competitive edge’. And the sub-theme was “International year of water cooperation”. The main objective of the year is to raise awareness of both the potential for increased cooperation and the challenges facing water management in the context of greater demand for water access, allocation, and services.To say the launch event was a huge success would be an understatement. The event was truly amazing, from the electric car on display provided by the ministry of environmental affairs to the speaking robot on stage, the surprises kept coming. And thankfully your friend Science Stars was there to capture every moment. When we finally displayed our magazines we could not keep up because they were flying of the stands and we had a tough time bringing in new boxes as they kept running out. We were happy to answer any questions our young readers had and encouraged them to study hard and dream big!

In this special issue we have given you a brief of the event and outlined some of the events that were taking place in different provinces. The beautiful pictures are really worth looking at. We hope you enjoy this special edition.

FOREWORD

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The Cape Town Science Cen-tre had a variety of activi-ties as part of its National

Science Week 2013 programme. Our main attraction for National Science Week was the WFS Fam-ily Fun Day on Saturday 3 August where entry to the Cape Town Science Centre was only R5. Visi-tors could take part in various hands-on workshops, take a tour of the Camera Obscura, watch a Planetarium Show or a Science Show.

Visitors also had the opportunity

National Science Week 2013 at the Cape Town Science Centre

Visitors could take part in various hands-on workshops, take a tour of the Camera Obscura, watch a Planetarium Show or a Science Show.

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FEATURE

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to go on various excursions during National Science Week. They could explore the cutting edge of computing at the Cen-tre for High Performance Com-puting, take a tour of the Heart of Cape Town Museum and see where the world’s first heart transplant took place or they could visit the Groote Schuur Engineering Works and get a behind the scenes tour of this large hospital built in 1938.

We had a busy day on Saturday 3 August with 634 visitors to the Cape Town Science Centre and a number of other visitors taking part in the various tours and excursions around Cape Town Town.

Dr Lindsay Magnus from the Square Kilometre Array pre-sented a Science Out Loud talk on Wednesday 31 July, the topic was ‘The Square Kilometre Array - A new ruler for the stars’. We had 45 visi-tors braving the cold to attend this talk.

All in all the Cape Town Sci-ence Centre has a good Na-tional Science Week and im-pacted a number of general public who would ordinarily not have been able to visit the Cape Town Science Centre.

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FEATURE


Natio

nal S

cienc

e Wee

k

National Science Week (NSW) is an initiative of the Department of Science and Technology (DST) which aims

to excite our youth with science at an early age and to encourage them to develop an interest in studying mathematics and science subjects. Whilst placing emphasis on our youth, awareness is also created amongst those sectors of society bearing an influence on the subject and career choices of learners.

Key objectives

• To contribute to the development of a society which values and appreciates Science, Engineering & Technology (SET)

• To provide a platform for scientists to engage each other and also to engage with the non-scientific community

• To promote partnership between media and scientists

• To profile the work of the DST and its priorities

• To attract learners to SET

career (including research)

Theme

The National Science Week was celebrated under the theme “The Role of Science in Economic Development”.

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FEATURE

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apply

Want to study at UJ? Be CLEAR about it. Choose your subjects wisely in Grade 9. Learn well in Grade 10. Earn the good marks you need to go to university in Grade 11. Apply early with those marks in Grade 12; and Register at UJ for your first year if you are accepted. So if you want to continue studying once you finish school, then you need to put in the ground work while you’re still there. It all adds up to being CLEAR. Reach your goal of studying at UJ. Be anything you want to be. Be CLEAR about your future.

Apply before the end of September of your Grade 12 year. Visit www.uj.ac.za or call 0861 00 00 UJ

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National Science Week

The National Science Week was officially launched at the

University of Limpopo. A number of young students were

invited to the event and different schools were represented.

Teachers, students, government officials, scientists, exhibitors

and facilitators were all part o

f the vibrant event.

The Minister of Science and Technology Derek Hanekom was

at the event and highlighted how proud he was at the high

attendance. He also emphasised the need for students to take

their studies seriously especially in the science sector. Hanekom

expressed his disappointment at the low rate of passes in the

science fraternity at Matric level. However he noted that the

future looked promising as he believed the ministry and the

Department of Science and Technology were making strong

strides in improving the sector..

Various scientific gadgets were on display showcasing the

innovation and intelligence of our very own home-grown

scientists. One of the crowds favourite

was the talking robot,

which spoke to Minister Hanekom. The hydrogen car was also

another revelation as people got th

e opportunity to sit in the car

and ask about the way it o

perates. Overall the launch event was

a success and showcased the scientific talent of South Africa.


TEChNOlOgy INNOvaTION agENCyTHE TECHNOLOGy INNOVATION AGENCIE’S (TIA) CORE buSINESS ObJECTIVE IS TO SuPPORT THE DEVELOPMENT AND COMMERCIALISATION OF COMPETITIVE Technology-based SERVICES AND PRODuCTS.

SaaSTaTHE SOuTH AFRICAN AGENCy FOR SCIENCE ANDTECHNOLOGy ADVANCEMENT AIMS TO ADVANCE PubLIC AWARENESS, APPRECIATION AND ENGAGEMENT OF SCIENCE, ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGy IN SOuTH AFRICA.

SOuTh aFRICaN NaTIONal SpaCE agENCyTHE SOuTH AFRICAN NATIONAL SPACE AGENCy (SANSA) IS SOuTH AFRICA’S GOVERNMENT bODy FOR THE PROMOTION AND uSE OF SPACE.

uNISaTHE uNISA COLLEGE OF SCIENCE, ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGy OFFERS ExCITING AND REWARDING CAREERS IN bASIC OR APPLIED RESEARCH, EDuCATION OR INDuSTRy.

SOME OF ThE NaTIONal SCIENCE WEEK CONTRIBuTORS FOR ThE 2013 EDITION

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CONTRIBUTORS

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CSIRTHIS IS A SHOWCASE OF THE WORK DONE AT THE CSIR ON LASERS AND OTHER AREAS. IT IS ALSO A PLATFORM TO LEARN AbOuT OPPORTuNITIES AT THE CSIR.

STaNDaRD BaNKWE SERVE OuR CLIENTS REquIREMENTS FOR bANKING, FINANCE, TRADING, INVESTMENT, RISK MANAGEMENT AND ADVISORy SERVICES. AND PROVIDE SERVICES IN bANKING ACCROSS ALL SECTORS.

uNIvERSITy OF vENDaTHE uNIVERSITy OF VENDA, SITuATED IN THOHOyANDOu IN THE SCENIC VHEMbE DISTRICT OF THE LIMPOPO PROVINCE OF SOuTH AFRICA WAS ESTAbLISHED IN 1982.

SOuTh aFRICaN WEaThER SERvICETHE SOuTH AFRICAN WEATHER SERVICE (SAWS) IS A SECTION 3(A) PubLIC ENTITy uNDER THE MINISTRy OF WATER AND ENVIRONMENTAL AFFAIRS AND IS GOVERNED by A bOARD OF DIRECTORS.

SyDNEy

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CONTRIBUTORS

Science Stars - Special Edition 2

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Transcript of Science Stars - Special Edition 2