The schedule of dynamic workshops at Scifest Africa this year caters for all tastes and a multitude of interests. Learning and participation have never been this diversely exciting before!
The schedule of dynamic workshops at Scifest Africa this year caters for all tastes and a multitude of interests. Learning and participation have never been this diversely exciting before!
What do origami, micro-rockets, volcanoes, renewable energy, prehistoric paints, LED electronics, fossils, bubbles, brainteasers, maths, continental drifts, electricity and magnetism, light, colour and illusion, weather, satellites, ancient jewellery making, the mathematics of Zulu design and the acoustics of African instruments have in common? More than you’d think, if you gazed at them through a scientific eye. And at Scifest Africa 2011 you can do more than gaze. You can actually participate, because each is an individual workshop topic in the massive workshop programme at Scifest this year!
Now if this was an infomercial, this would be the time when you’d hear, “and that’s not all!” Because indeed it isn’t! In celebration of its 15th anniversary, Scifest Africa has put together a mammoth workshop programme, which apart from the topics already mentioned, also includes everything from the wonder of light and lasers, to CSI:DNA forensic evidence, capturing culture on film through photography, the science of measurement, knapping – the art of making prehistoric-style stone tools, growing trees, systematic as the process by which organisms are classified, GPS techniques, marine pollution, the chemistry of everyday phenomena, the science of sweets, the science culture and beauty of stars, organic vegetable growing, tectonic plates, mechanics, the biology of ants, coping with invasive alien plants, space engineering and a whole lot more!
Whatever your interest and regardless of your scientific proficiency, these workshops are sure to enthuse and delight with their participative style and relaxed, often hilarious, approach. More than anything though, they are geared at demystifying supposed high-browed pursuits and casting new light on what we encounter every day! So how do those ants always find your jam sandwich? How did prehistoric man make tools and paints? How can a simple piece of paper be folded into an elegant swan? How does the eye work? What are LEDs exactly? How do you make your own ice cream while learning about water cycles? How do the CSI teams on TV work in real life? These and so many other questions are answered, while you take part, learn, have fun and acquire new insights and skills!
And at an average price of only R10 for most workshops, the cost of a cooldrink will give you knowledge for life!
Places are limited, so in infomercial terms, “go online, or pick up the phone NOW!”
Scifest Africa 2011 runs from the 4th to the 10th of May in Grahamstown.
Go to www.scifest.org.za to explore the full workshop programme, or phone (046)603 1106 for bookings. Know more while having fun at Scifest!
