iThemba LABS: Advancing knowledge and transforming lives

Tuning into Radio Helderberg (93.6 FM) whilst driving in your car or sitting at home in Cape Town during the month of August, you may have heard the following "live read":

Have you ever wondered what goes on behind the mysterious walls of iThemba LABS? Saturday 18 August is your chance to find out, when iThemba LABS will open its doors for families, students and professionals to experience the wonder of nuclear physics on an adventure trail through "A day in the life of a proton" with guided tours and interesting talks. Don't miss the opportunity to explore this amazing nuclear physics facility!

A total of 257 visitors attended iThemba LABS’s open day on August 18, which was officially opened by Dr Kobus Lawrie, Deputy-Director of iThemba LABS. Visitors to our facility were treated to guided tours of the experimental nuclear physics vaults, the particle radiotherapy facilities (planning, treatment), the radionuclide production facilities (bombardment, separation, quality management), and the materials research division which utilises particle beams delivered by the oldest accelerator on-site - a 6 MV Van de Graaff.

A day in the life of a PROTON

The open day was themed "A day in the life of a PROTON" and visitors were "treated as protons"; basically following the development from the ion-source to the injector and finally to the Separated Sector Cyclotron.

The programme was further complemented by contributions from David Muller who presented his stunning play "Imaging Einstein", Matthew Ross (Mr Magic) who presented a magic show to the younger members of the audience, and Dr Trevor Vickey (Wits) who presented a non-specialist lecture on the physics at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), with specific reference to the Higgs-boson.

Dr Kobus Lawrie had the following to say about the open day: "Particularly encouraging was the good percentage of young people. A visitor commented that had he seen something like this when he was young, he would have gone into science."

We are looking forward to an even bigger event next year!

iThemba LABS: Creating opportunities for growth and development

The iThemba LABS division for Community Interaction and Training, under the leadership of Mr Ambrose Yaga and Akhona Mali, organised a one-day intervention where learners (entered as teams) from eight local primary schools were given an opportunity to showcase their science skills and knowledge.

The participating schools were Siyazingisa, Luzuko, Zanemfundo, Sivile, Isikhokelo, Isiphiwo, Mfuleni and Kayamandi. The event, themed "Science for ALL", aimed to promote learning as a "PHUN" activity.

The teams had the opportunity to present science demonstrations to an audience comprising peers, teachers and parents. The enthusiasm, creativity, excitement and energy with which the learners took to the stage were amazing! One team used their knowledge of acids and bases to simulate the spread of HIV. Some of the other activities included were a science quiz and bridge-building.

The highlight for me was the "drag-race". The teams had to construct a self-propelled car out of household materials. The designs incorporated the use of balloons and elastic bands, as they were instructed NOT to enter battery-operated cars. The teams had to explain the propulsion mechanism and the distance covered was measured for each team. The adjudication panel assessed the teams on their presentation skills, their understanding of the underlying concepts, their general knowledge, and their ability to follow instructions.

The top three schools received awards of R 5000 (Isiphiwo), R 3000 (Luzuko) and R 2000 (Zanemfundo) respectively. The money is intended to improve the teaching and learning of natural science within these schools. The team members in these categories each received a shopping voucher to the value of R 500, R 300 and R 200 respectively.

Ms Nwabisa Gloria Mbana, the natural science teacher at Isiphiwo had the following to say: "We are very humbled by the results because we did not expect to win. It is good to see that our hard work is paying off."

Additional prizes were awarded to the three runners-up. These schools, Siyazingisa, Sivile and Kayamandi, were offered an opportunity during National Science Week to visit the Two Oceans Aquarium in Cape Town. The learners were each issued with a T-shirt that stated "Future Scientist".

I'm confident that our country is in good hands; those of learners who are committed and passionate to become agents of change through education. THEY truly are the scientists of the future!

By Gillian Arendse, Head: Community Interaction & Training Division, iThemba Labs