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41% of getS.E.T.go! readers think that the most important benefit of hosting the Square Kilometre Array telescope, would be the boost it gives our international reputation as experts in this field. |
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37% opted for “attracting more young people into science and engineering”; and 22% for “foreign investment for local technology projects”. |
Scientists at Stellenbosch University have developed a high-tech "tea bag" filter that fits into the neck of a bottle and turns polluted water into clean water as you drink from it.
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By Melissa Gopaul, SAASTA
Information resources on specialised subjects - whether it’s a teacher’s fact sheet or a media briefing document - are often all it takes to transform ignorance into insight. But no matter how well researched and reviewed these documents are, educators and learners often fail to make full use of them in the classroom. Many struggle to use these resources as interactive learning tools, and therefore often discard the material once it is read.
But this could soon change.
The Public Understanding of Biotechnology programme (PUB) at SAASTA has enlisted the help of Learning to the Max - a husband and wife education team who will review all of PUB’s existing information resources, align them to the national curriculum, and match each resource to the most appropriate grade. They will also produce a set of classroom activities to assist educators who teach biotechnology-related topics.
Biotechnology is prevalent in the life sciences curricula of grades 9, 11 and 12. The grade 9 section of the classroom activities resources will be restricted to information on careers in biotechnology, while resources for grades 11 and 12 will include 18 short stories on biotechnology and complementary data response activities.
Each story will delve into the various aspects of biotechnology, like genetically modified organisms, forensics and others. Not only will these stories provide relevant background information that feeds directly into the curriculum, but the pre-planned activities will also help to minimise the teacher’s workload.
PUB is also creating educator resource packs to help teachers make better use of their existing resources. Each pack, which takes the form of an expandable file, has compartments to help teachers easily sort and access resources according to grade. The neat, compact packaging makes it practical to carry from class to class.