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Free State school wins 2013 national astronomy quiz
In second place was the team from Kimberley Junior School, and in third place the Dr Yusuf Dadoo team from Krugersdorp. Ten teams of four learners each from all nine provinces in South Africa battled it out in the Astronomy Quiz 2013 finals, organised and sponsored by SAASTA. The winning team scored the highest marks in the quiz that consisted of 30 tough questions on astronomy, with a limited time for coming up with each answer. Questions the learners had to face in the quiz ranged from one about the most accurately measured location on the African continent (Hartebeesthoek Radio Astronomy Observatory near Krugersdorp in Gauteng); which of Mercury or Venus is the hottest, and why (Venus, because of the hothouse effect on the planet); the colour of the hottest stars in the universe (blue); to why you would weigh more on Saturn than on Earth (because of the greater gravity on Saturn). The quiz is open to Grade six and seven learners and consists of four eliminating rounds at 10 centres across the country. Fabulous prizes Kagisho Motale, Boitumelo Mokoena, Mbotywase Mafereka and Mphakalasi Thabiso were rewarded with a telescope for their school; and a tablet computer, trophy and gold medal each. Susan Usher, their educator, is very proud of her team. “They put in such a lot of hard work and were very committed, forgoing their breaks to study for the Quiz finals. They do not live close to the school, so coaching had to take place in every free minute during school hours. I believe they deserved to win, especially after beating very strong teams in the knockout rounds at Boyden Observatory,” she says. The winning team and their educator were invited by Boyden Observatory to the new Naval Hill digital planetarium in Mangaung for its official opening on Friday, 1 November by Derek Hanekom, Minister of Science and Technology. Their achievement was celebrated by all present and so impressed was Dr Clarence Tshitereke of the Old Mutual Foundation that he offered to sponsor a visit for the team and their educator to the South African Astronomical Observatory’s facilities near Sutherland. Since the first-ever Astronomy Quiz in 2005 at the Sci-Bono Discovery Centre in Johannesburg, the annual SAASTA Astronomy Quiz has become a favourite on the school science calendar, with 3 300 learners from 825 schools participating in 2013. The participating centres are the Hartebeesthoek Radio Astronomy Observatory (HartRAO) and Sci-Bono Discovery Centre in Gauteng; Boyden Observatory in the Free State; the South African Astronomical Observatory (SAAO) in the Western Cape and the Southern African Large Telescope (SALT) in the Northern Cape, Unizul Science Centre in KwaZulu-Natal, Mondi Science Centre in Mpumalanga, North West University (Potch and Mahikeng Campuses) Science Centres in North West, the University of Limpopo Science Centre in Limpopo Province and Scifest Africa in the Eastern Cape. The finalists in the AstroQuiz 2013 competition were: HartRAO: Dr Yusuf Dadoo Primary School (Gauteng) |
