Taking science to everyone

This year, Sasol’s longstanding commitment to the objectives of Sasol Techno X has newfound relevance as it joins the celebration of the International Year of Chemistry (IYC), declared by Unesco.

In recognition of the 100th anniversary of Marie Curie receiving the Nobel Prize for her work in radioactivity, The International Year of Chemistry is a celebration of the achievements of chemistry and its contributions to the well-being of humankind.

Under the unifying theme, ‘Chemistry — our life, our future’, IYC 2011 offers a range of interactive, entertaining and educational activities for all ages.
The IYC reaches across the globe, particularly to young people and the general public, with opportunities for public participation at the local, regional and international level.

IYC is a chance to tell the story of chemistry, from the discoveries and inventions that have improved our lives, to new exploratory research opportunities on the horizon. Our lives are filled with chemical reactions that mostly go unnoticed.

Chemistry helps us understand why coffee keeps us awake, how soap cleans and how medicine cures illness. The goals of IYC 2011 are to increase the public appreciation of chemistry in encouraging interest in chemistry among the youth and to generate enthusiasm for the creative future of chemistry.

Chemistry is a critical field in our lives that often goes unnoticed as it continues to be seen within an industrial context. The urgent need for cleaner drinking water is an example of how chemistry is going to become increasingly important in responding to a humanitarian crisis.

Global Water Experiment
Over one billion people don’t have access to clean drinking water; more than two billion lack access to adequate sanitation; and millions die every year due to preventable water-related diseases. Fresh water resources around the globe are coming under rising threat due to increased population, climate change and pollution. But there are solutions: we can provide for people’s basic needs while protecting the environment if we employ a number of sustainable and innovative strategies.

It is these alarming facts that raise the importance of the role that chemistry will play in helping us treat our water for re-use and the need for an integrated educational campaign that will mobilise young people to change their behaviour and begin acting as more responsible water users. With the opportunity to link South African schools to a global issue in what is potentially the largest experiment conducted to date,

Sasol is the largest corporate sponsor of the Global Water Experiment in South Africa, supporting 200 participating schools across five provinces. Sasol has partnered with Radmaste, the research division at Wits University for Maths and Science and the official Unesco partner in South Africa, and have developed a customised chemistry kit to equip learners from under-resourced schools to participate.

The four experiments being rolled out across the world include testing water for pH and salinity and treating water through sand filtration and solar distillation, and will produce a basic yet broad set of water quality results across the world. In addition to supplying the Unesco-approved chemistry kits to its sponsored schools, Sasol has developed educational aids to accompany the kit that will hopefully serve to energise learners in the classroom and bring the subject of chemistry alive.

The collateral includes conversation posters around the Global Water Crisis, The Global Water Experiment and an activity book encouraging schools to complete a School Water Audit. Amid a growing freshwater shortage, Sasol is excited about seizing the opportunity to work with learners and schools in rural communities to showcase chemistry as a solution to one of the biggest humanitarian challenges facing our planet and to link these children with a worldwide campaign to address water sustainability.

Sasol is therefore using the Global Water Experiment as a platform from which to launch a School Water Saving Competition, where schools that succeed inreducing their water usage after implementation of a water action campaign, stand to win vouchers worth up to R50 000 in laboratory equipment. Through its community of schools participating in the Global Water Experiment, Sasol will have reached more than 20 000 learners with the message of conserving water and the valuable role chemistry will play in our everyday lives.

Chemical Industries Resource Pack
Concurrent to the Global Water Experiment this year, Sasol, the DST-NRF Centre of Excellence in Catalysis, the University of Cape Town and PetroSA distributed a Chemical Industries Resource Pack for teachers and learners. This resource has been distributed to more than 6 000 schools throughout the country since March and continues to be rolled out nationally.

The rollout involves training sessions with teachers so that they can get to grips with the material and teach with confidence. This is in support of the changes to the Grade 11 and 12 Physical Science curricula that include a stronger focus on the role of science in industry, technology and the environment. Learners will now be expected to engage with chemistry in a way that helps them understand its applications in the real world.

Over the past two years, UCT has worked extensively with Sasol and other industry leaders on this project by bringing together the scientists and engineers with educators and other academic teams, to document all the chemical processes now included in the national chemistry curriculum.

Having assessed classroom needs through a series of school trials, the resource pack was developed to address those needs and includes:

• A teacher’s guide with classroom activities and accompanying model solutions.
• A DVD with animations, video footage and chemical process simulations
• A school research project with marking rubrics and guidelines on how to use it

A set of exemplar practical investigations
A set of posters of the prescribed chemical industries: the petrochemical industry, the chlor-alkali industry, fertilisers and batteries

A periodic table for classroom display
The Chemical Industries Resource Pack was designed specifically to educate learners on the application of chemistry in the real world in a way that brings equations and theory out of the textbook into reality. Sasol’s strategy is to involve as many high school learners as possible so that more of them seriously consider careers in science, maths and engineering. Projects, such as this resource material, are aimed towards enticing students to enrol in university to study science- and maths-related degrees. This process will ultimately lead to the emergence of our future talent in South Africa. And Sasol’s involvement in science extends into tertiary level.

University Collaboration Programme
Sasol Technology’s University Technology Programme is a 10-year project, currently in its sixth year and has touched and changed the lives of many young South Africans, as they actively engage in programmes that innovate technology. Managed and driven by Sasol Technology’s Research and Development arm, the programme invests R25-million a year in the Departments of Science, Chemistry and Engineering at 11 of the country’s top universities, where Sasol Technology employees also lecture and conduct research.

Fields of study include chemistry (analytical, physical, organic and inorganic and environmental sciences), chemical engineering, physics and statistics. This strategic investment in the universities is to build competency in science and chemical engineering and to improve the quality of research and teaching facilities in the disciplines that are key to the company’s value chain.

The programmes play a significant role in enabling an adequate talent and knowledge pipeline for both South Africa and Sasol by developing the capacity of science and engineering students through investment in infrastructure and teaching competencies, as well as through the provision of financial support to academics, primarily to increase diversity and international exposure.

With Government’s new growth plan to create five million jobs by 2020, the need to develop and maintain intellectual capital in all key business sectors such as manufacturing, mining, engineering, services, tourism, agriculture and environmental management, is critical. This collaboration project is an investment that will see South Africa placed in the top echelon of sophisticated technology.

Moving beyond the classroom
Partnerships for vulnerable children:
South Africa has one of the largest orphan and vulnerable children populations in the world. Supporting the education needs of these children is key to addressing inter-generational poverty. Sasol has partnered with local NGOs, such as the Topsy Foundation, Heartbeat, Salvation Army and Tomorrow Trust, to ensure orphan and vulnerable children in need of academic and psychosocial assistance are supported to complete basic education.

The Tomorrow Trust provides both academic and holistic emotional support over the child’s entire scholastic career and into gainful employment. Sasol-funded programmes through these NGOs focus on extra tuition in subjects such as English, Maths Pure, Life Science and Physical Science, schools fees, uniform supply and day care. Skilled teachers are sourced to participate within the programme, to build and strengthen the literacy and numeracy, and provide a solid platform for the learners to excel once they reach senior phase.

The Last Word
Today technology is used in ways that were undreamt of 10 or 20 years ago, and the possibilities for the future are unlimited. This technology will enable us to push back the frontiers of poverty and advance the South African dream of a better life for all. Sasol hopes that, through all our science, maths and technology initiatives, the South African youth will be inspired to be smarter, more knowledgeable, entrepreneurial and productive.