Aubrey Mfingwane looks the part: kitted out in a red jersey, white shirt and a pair of grey trousers and wearing safety googles and rubber gloves.
On the table are an assortment of vials, cylinders, bottles of chemicals and other laboratory equipment. He picks one tube from a few neatly stacked on a wooden tray and gingerly pours a few drops of water into it, then adds a pinch of sodium carbonate.
Suddenly the two react with the solution rising up the tube, turning dirty and limey, emitting strong fumes that hang in the air. Providing a riveting and kaleidoscopic context is a big multicoloured chart of the Periodic Table.
Mfingwane is a grade 11 learner at Mandisa Shiceka Secondary School in Kagiso, west of Gauteng. His fellow grade 10 and 11 learners recently descended on the Sci-Bono Discovery Centre in Newtown, Johannesburg, as part of the launch of 2011 as the International Year of Chemistry.
According to Sci-Bono’s spokesperson, Thandi O’Hagan, the centre will host a series of chemistry-related and curriculum-based activities throughout the year to highlight the achievements and contributions of chemistry to humankind. Titled Our Life, Our Future, the celebrations take the form of workshops and experiments for both primary and high school learners in Gauteng.
O’Hagan said the idea was to bring chemistry alive by showing that “everything in the living and technological world is made of chemical elements and compounds and is controlled by chemical reactions”. It was through mastering chemistry that some of the critical global challenges such as food, health, energy and water could be resolved.
South Africa is experiencing a critical shortage of people in maths and science-related careers and this area has been receiving government attention. Minister of Higher Education and Training Dr Blade Nzimande met recently with university deans from faculties within which the scarce skills fields have been identified. The department and the universities will work together to produce graduates in these fields.
Meanwhile, Mfingwane said getting practically involved in the activities reinforced his understanding of how chemical reactions take place and the role of heat in separating elements. “I am sure that, if we were to get exposed to these science tools regularly, we could do well in the examinations,” he said.
Wisdom Mutsago, a grade nine science teacher at Mfingwane’s school, said the practical aspect of the activities is crucial as it helps learners to gain a better understanding of some of the important science concepts. “Most of our schools cannot afford to buy some of the apparatus used in here today. I wish our learners could get exposed to this kind of environment every day. I am sure the pass rate in science would improve dramatically,” he said.
The Global Water Experiment forms a crucial component of the centre’s programme. Also linked to the curriculum, the experiment tackles key concepts such as aeration, coagulation, sedimentation and filtration. Using three water samples: tap, distilled and sea water, the learners assess the water quality through four sets of experiments.
Moshoeshoe Mamabolo, Sci-Bono’s science communicator and team leader, said the Global Water Experiment teaches learners how to check ph level and salinity of water by using specialised chlorine strips. Learners record their results, which are then added to the global database where they can be viewed on the website, he said.
In May, Sasol hosts a live Water Lab, which has been timed to coincide with Sci-Bono’s Health Sciences Week from May 23 to 28.
For more information go to http://water.chemistry2011.org.