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50% of you think that the South African Government has the potential to make the biggest impact on reducing carbon emissions in South Africa; |
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8% opted for the technology sector; and |
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42% opted for private industry. |
Shuttle Discovery landed for the last time at Florida’s Kennedy Space Centre on 9 March 2011. Discovery has completed 39 space voyages (its first being on 30 August 1984), has spent a total of 365 days in space and travelled more than 238 million kilometres during it’s lifetime.
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Learners with their solar viewers in front |
Stars, asteroids, limitless skies, black holes, planets – learners have enthusiastically given the thumbs up to more information on astronomy and what it has to offer them.
When exploring libraries as sites for science and technology learning, the South African Astronomical Observatory’s (SAAO) science awareness team was met with an unexpectedly enthusiastic response from learners at neighbouring schools.
“Our first step was to supply the Masakhane Library in Khayelitsha with science books and mostly astronomy related texts, thereby creating an astronomy corner,” says Sivuyile Manxoyi of SAAO.
The team presented a number of talks on astronomy, careers in astronomy, the solar system, the birth and death of stars, comets and asteroids, splitting up light (spectroscopy), and organised some popular astronomy games.
“We are now also incorporating physics and chemistry practicals in the programme for Grade 11 and 12 learners in the area, because it has been brought to our attention that there is a dire need for this,” says Manxoyi.