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42% of getS.E.T.go! readers think that the development of a 3D touch screen is a great idea and an exciting development for science. |
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17% are indifferent. |
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40% think it’s a waste of money and a gimmick. |
It is estimated that South Africa’s new Science & Technology Train, which is currently under development, will reach 14 000 learners each year.
Transnet Rail Engineering at Koedoespoort will complete the train’s renovations.
Special feature
All aboard the Science and Technology Train
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These coaches form part of the actual old rolling stock that are earmarked for the Science and Technology Train initiative. |
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Picture the future … This photo shows learners conducting an experiment inside an S&T train in Germany. |
A new and exciting Science and Technology (S&T) Train could, in the near future, be pulling into a station near you. You can expect to find laboratories, exhibitions, demonstrations, and classes onboard. Who said science had to be taught in a classroom?
Thirteen passenger train coaches and 10 freight wagons are ready and waiting at Koedoespoort in Pretoria, to be refurbished as the new South African Science and Technology (S&T) Train initiative - a completely self-sustainable research and science awareness facility on wheels.
The S&T Train will be kitted out primarily to do research of a geoscientific nature, but it will also be used to engage South Africans from all walks of life with science, engineering, mathematics and innovation. Wherever the train goes special attention will be invested in creating awareness about the importance of science in the everyday lives of rural school children and communities.
SAASTA will coordinate the science awareness and education team that will develop the outreach component of the S&T Train. This will include, among other things, developing educational programmes and demonstrations; conceptualising and manufacturing of exhibits, science concepts and displays in the train; and facilitating its link to the Department of Science and Technology’s (DST) network.
The train will support the DST’s network of science centres with on-board science exhibitions that will travel with the train from town to town, reaching large numbers of children and adults who would not otherwise have had the means or opportunity to view and attend science exhibitions and lectures.
It will make a very valuable contribution towards science education, and learners will benefit from the special mathematics and science classes that will be presented on board. It will also act as a vehicle of excellence by producing high-level training and research, for example mapping the geology of South Africa.
Since the train is made up of “modules” (the coaches and wagons will each be individually equipped for a specific function) the planned outcomes of each individual mission at any particular time will determine the specific composition of the train. This could include specially equipped coaches for other scientific disciplines, such as chemistry, botany, or zoology.
The train will have living quarters, laboratories and working areas and all of the required equipment, laboratories and vehicles. It will be fully sustainable in terms of water and electricity and 100% environmentally friendly, for example with a closed sewerage system, stirling power generation unit and solar panels.
The S&T Train is a partnership between universities, science councils, private and public sectors, with the Tshwane University of Technology (TUT) and the Africa Earth Observation Network (AEON) as the senior partners. The Tshwane Institute of Advanced Studies (TIAS) at TUT will manage the train. TIAS is an AEON hub called Earthtech.
Participating institutions signed a memorandum of agreement on 28 March 2011 at Matjiesfontein in the Karoo.
“Day-to-day problems in rural communities and municipalities, such as the availability of clean drinking water, sources of suitable building material and the placement of cemeteries will be addressed from this train wherever it travels,” says Dr Stoffel Fourie from TUT. The train will also provide access to a post box for the Department of Home Affairs, to enable people from the rural areas that the train visits to submit their application documents. The train will deliver these forms to the department on their behalf.
The train’s main purpose is to facilitate research and the results will be measured in terms of outputs such as publications, Masters and PhD degrees. Other forecasted results are economic development, mostly in rural areas; social upliftment, especially in rural disadvantaged areas; training and education at all levels; and deliverables such as maps and geological information which will benefit industry and the whole SADC region.
The Science & Technology Train’s vision is to provide a mobile facility for:
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