Science Rocks! Engaging through music

Science Spaza, an initiative of Jive Media Africa, recently celebrated National Science Week with learners from the Science Spaza club at Zibukezulu Technical High School. The theme for this year was “Science Rocks!”, a response to the National Science Week theme of Science for Sustainable Tourism. There are numerous tourism sites in South Africa related to rocks – because they can tell us such wonderful stories. So we we explored three aspects of science relating to rocks: palaeontology, archaeology and geology.

Learners were introduced to these science field,  by three South African experts on a trip to the Kamberg Rock Art Centre. Dr Nonhle Vilakazi is a palaeo-herpetologist from the University of South Africa. Dr Thakane Ntoli, is a geologist with the Council for Geosciences and Dr Ndukuyakhe Ndlovu is an archaeologist at the University of Pretoria. Science Spaza also hosted several interactive workshops with the learners that included fun activities and a chance for them to write and record their own songs about rock art, fossils and geology. You can hear these special-feature tracks on the Science Spaza Soundcloud channel along with interviews with the scientists.  The series was recorded for television and broadcast on Hectic Nine-9 during National Science Week. To end the celebrations with a bang, the learners performed their unique songs in a concert for their families and community.

Find out more about Science Rocks! and check out the latest edition of Spaza Space, the official Newspaper of the Science Spaza programme. You can also do the fun activities on the accompanying worksheets exclusively themed for National Science Week 2017.

National Science Week is an initiative of the Department of Science and Technology, managed through the South African Agency for Science and Technology Advancement (SAASTA). For more information, visit www.saasta.ac.za