An East Coast radio DJ presents fun and educational science shows
EVERY day at 9am East Coast Radio disc jockey Daryl Ilbury says goodbye to his one million Breakfast Show listeners, and goes off to what he considers his real job — presenting zany science shows to schoolchildren all over KwaZulu-Natal.
”I’ve always loved science — my father was one of Europe’s top scientists, specialising in avionics and early warning systems,” says Ilbury. ”For as long as I can remember I’ve had science all around me. I still remember the first book he ever bought me — Science for Your Needs.”
When he was a child Ilbury’s parents divorced, and the young Englishman came to South Africa with his mother. But he brought his love of science with him. ”I did science all the way through school, and then went to university where I did a bachelor of arts.” Why not a bachelor of science? Blame it on maths! ”My father was very maths oriented but I was useless at it, so I did a BA with subjects that were science related.”
Ilbury says that he was a quiet child, but in his second year at the University of Natal he studied speech and drama. That brought him out of his shell, and before long he found himself doing a voice test for campus radio. He turned out to be a natural. By the time he graduated and applied for a job at East Coast Radio the young man had three years’ on-air experience.
Daryl Ilbury: Mad scientist at play with Scienceworks kits
But although he’d never used his degree in earnest, Ilbury still considered himself an educator, so it seemed natural for him to marry a brilliant young science teacher, Chantell, who was one of the founding committee members of the Young ScientistsExpo, and a committee member of the Natal Science Teachers Association.
”We decided to marry our two fields of expertise — her science instruction and my history of presentation, with its over-the-top style,” says Ilbury. Scienceworks was born. ”In 1996 we opened a place called The Lab, where schools could bring kids to see this sort of wacky mad scientist’s laboratory. But after a while it was too small, and some of the schools said that it worked out rather expensive to bus kids down to see us. We said, ‘OK — we’ll come to you, then.’ We redesigned our shows and started visiting schools.”
Shortly afterwards came an unexpected money-spinner — the Scienceworks range of novelty kits. ”Kids started asking us where they could get the materials to do our experiments, and we realised there was a market out there; we could sell our concept of fun science in kit form. So we started designing our science kits.” The team needed to stick to their fun approach, but it was equally important to remain faithful to scientific techniques. Mutant ooze, disappearing ink stains, and a range of pocket-lab experiments soon became part of the product line, and Scienceworks, with a turnover in excess of R1-million per annum, now has a permanent staff of seven people supplying kits to chain stores.
But as creative director of Scienceworks Ilbury’s role is primarily that of an actor. After putting on shows for tens of thousands of children the Scienceworks team reckons they have a pretty good idea of just what makes kids tick. ”We play on things like the ‘gross’ factor, and build in an air of danger, some anticipation,” says Ilbury. ”A lot of it looks like magic, but we explain the scientific principles behind what’s happening.” The kids are encouraged to observe and ask questions. ”We play a lot with materials the kids can use — balloons, soft-drink cans — so that they can repeat the experiments at home.
The Scienceworks roadshow is for kids from pre-primary right through to matric, but the main focus is on grades 3 to 9, because the intention is to get scholars to enjoy science before they’ve selected their subjects for matric. The show lasts about 40 minutes, with extra time for questions, and costs between R6,50 and R9,50 per child, depending upon the size of the audience.
How does Ilbury’s radio fame affect his educational career, bearing in mind that he dislikes being recognised in public and goes to considerable lengths to avoid having his photograph taken? ”Unfortunately I can’t disassociate the two. But right at the beginning of the show I point out that I’m a scientist and I know what I’m talking about. Otherwise I’d be seen as a clown. I play down the name but I suppose it helps — if I’m a bit over the top they understand, and give me a little extra leeway.”
Ilbury earns three to four times from his radio work what he would have earned had he taken up teaching. Why then does he put all this effort into working with kids? ”Radio’s like a hobby for me,” he says. ”I love it, and it pays very well, but nothing beats the direct feedback you get from kids. That’s why I’ll always be an educator at heart.”
Visit the Scienceworks website at www.sciworks.com
— The Teacher/Mail & Guardian, July 28, 2000.
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