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Kenmere Primary School recently took the top spot in the primary school category at the annual science experiment competition.
The competition took place at Turfhall Primary School in Athlone on Saturday 9 September.
Hundreds of learners from Grades 4 to 11 from 19 primary and high schools around the city participated in this year’s competition which is run by the provincial education department’s Metro Central Education District (MCED).
The competition was conceptualised by Prof Shaheed Hartley of Advancing Knowledge non-profit company (AK NPC).
AK NPC is an outreach, support, training and research organisation for STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) Education.
Learners from Livingstone High School took the first place in the high school category.
Learners had to invent creative and innovative exhibitions, experiments, investigations and demonstrations while at the same time explaining the processes that lead to the outcomes of the activity.
One learner had to present the group and their activities to the judges including scientific explanations of the activities.
They were then scored according to their understanding, handling of equipment, safety, originality, how they present.
Angelique Vergotine, a Grade 7 science teacher at Kenmere, says each group had 10 minutes to demonstrate their science activities to the judges.
She explains as teachers they selected ten Grade 7 learners to represent the school.
Vergotine said: “It was my first time being at the competition, so I didn’t know what to expect. It was amazing to see what the learners came up with and their experiments.”
She believes it was the learner’s unique concept that won them first place.
“The learners drew inspiration from the animation film Avatar: The Last Airbender. Each learner re-enacted a different character from the film and incorporated science into their 10-minute presentation.”
Mogammad Yaaseen Ryklief, Grade 6 teacher, says it took them about three weeks to prepare.
“The scientific part took some time because we changed quite a few experiments, we had to grade how difficult and how dangerous each experiment was. On the day the learners carried it out quite well.
“We are so proud of them. It was priceless to see their faces, because they practised every day. But when they heard that they had won they were shocked.”
Ryklief believes the competition helps build the learners’ confidence.
“I think it’s priceless, especially for public speaking. Having our new science lab helped us prepare. We chose most of the Grade 7’s based on their marks. But all of them are multi-talented. Their drama skills came out.”
The learners explained that they are thrilled with their achievement.
Saaligh Patel says: “This was my first time in the competition. It was quite fun and thrilling. I was doing the presentation, I was nervous. We are proud of ourselves.
Alex Stevens says: “It was a fun experience, practising and being at the competition, but it was nerve-wrecking. I like science because if there is a problem you can always fix it with science.”
Zoey Moses adds that it was a team effort.
“We did four different scenes based on the Airbender film. We had fire nation, earth kingdom, water tribe and air nomads. I liked that we tried some of the experiments and did some creative arts by acting.”
Moses hopes for a career in forensic pathology. “There are so many things that you can do with science that can help you as well as others. I like being in the science lab so I can experiment.”
Ryklief said next year they hope to include more teachers and come up with more original ideas. He explains that a month ago one of their Grade 7 learners also won in the MCED natural science competition.
“During the competition they had to write a test. Thereafter they would progress to the next round which was the presentation. They were given topics to choose from and they had to present in less than 10 minutes.”
Francois Jones, MCED Senior Education Specialist: Intersen Phase, said: “The aim of the competition is to equip learners to further their studies in science, to enable them to work in a science lab and to experiment.”
Jones said by participating, schools become eligible to receive a fully equipped science laboratory worth R1 million.
This is a partnership between the provincial education department, AK NPC and Garden Cities Archway Foundation.
Jones says more than 100 science labs have been established across the province.
He says to date the following schools received laboratories in MCED: Factreton Primary School; Windermere Primary School; Bridgeville Primary School; Vuyani Primary School; Sokhanyo Primary School; Norma Road Primary School; York Road Primary School; Rosmead Central Primary School; Khulani High School; Heideveld High; Spes Bona High; Kenmere Primary School; Maitland High and Groenvlei High School.
