Sunday, June 22
    EDUCATION

    Scifest will be live as it goes ‘back to basics’

    Zimkita LinyanaBy Updated:No Comments3 Mins Read
    Scifest Africa has partnered with the Split Second Science Education Foundation, which will be bringing the J&J CanDo Robotics Workshop to Scifest Africa. This is a hands-on workshop that will provide the basic skills needed to use the CanDo Cube (a state-of-the-art robotics platform) and challenge the learners with a real-world problem by asking them to create a possible solution that would work. The focus would not be on the viability of the solution but rather on the creative process followed. Photo: supplied

    By ZIMKITA LINYANA

    Scifest Africa returns to its live format in Makhanda from 7-13 September 2022. This year’s theme is ‘Back to the Basics’, inspired by UNESCO’s ‘International Year of Basic Sciences for Sustainable Development 2022’.

    Scifest will highlight the crucial role of basic sciences (physics, chemistry, biology, and mathematics) in sustainable development and emphasise their contributions to the implementation of the 2030 Agenda and achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. Stripping it ‘Back to the Basics” will allow Scifest to refocus its goal of making science accessible to all.

    On Friday, 9 September, Dr Graham Walker will present the esteemed Brian Wilmot Lecture on “Emotions as a Key Aspect of Effective Science Communication” with a performance that fuses a science show with insights from emotional and educational psychology.

    Festival favourite Dr Graham Walker from The Australian National University explodes his way through the chemistry and physics of things that go bubble, boom, bang and occasionally catch on fire in “Dr Graham’s Blow-Up Science Show”, part of this year’s Scifest lineup Photo: supplied

    A sneak peek into the 2022 programme

    • Combining art and science, Thandiwe Sekhibane from Nna Le Bokamoso Science and Arts Academy will bring an engaging, interactive workshop, ‘Hail Queen Modjadji!’, which will teach African and modern science concepts through dance and water. Queen Modjadji, in African lore, is believed to have special powers, including the ability to control the clouds and rainfall.
    Thandiwe Photo: Supplied
    • Founder and President of the Fun and Education Global Network, Kenneth Monjero, better known as Dr Fun, will be coming in from the Children’s Science Centre Kenya with a workshop about vaccines and the fight against Covid using balloons and liquid nitrogen! He will also give a lecture on the Covid-19 Pandemic as an opportunity for change through the Virtual Global Network that it developed.
    Kenneth Monjero Photo: Supplied
    • The Kitchen Chemist, Dr Stephen Ashworth from the University of East Anglia, UK, will present two exciting workshops – one on the importance of plastic and polymers with SLIME! and the other on forensic science, where learners will be challenged to find out whether the lab they have discovered is making fake tablets. Dr Ashworth will also host an original show that offers an entertaining window to chemistry, in particular chemistry that goes on all around us. Using readily available materials and simple equipment, he will give a look at chemistry you can do at home.
    Photo: Supplied
    • Regular festival contributors will also be back, including SANSA, Amathole Museum, Professor Jean Greyling, Cape Town Science Centre, FOSST Discovery Centre, as well as some exciting new contributors to be announced next month! And of course, the famous LASER SHOW will be back!
    The Famous Laser Show Photo: Supplied

    Want to present at Scifest Africa 2022?

    Scifest is accepting applications for its workshop programme, events and exhibitions. The deadline for final submissions is Monday, 8 August. More information can be found at https://www.scifest.org.za/presenter-information/

    The complete programme will be released electronically at https://www.scifest.org.za/presenter-information/ in mid-August.

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