Later that same day, we were brainstorming creative ways to recycle and somehow we got onto making airships from of old cereal boxes and what not. Our leader even built a wind-tunnel around our fan so our inventions could be tested. Not showing any signs whatsoever of burning out, Julia built a piece of re-enforced cardboard (as our leader described it), which earned her second place in both practicality and design. I submitted two entries, one getting first prize and one getting last prize, both for practicality. Our leader built a hot-air balloon type with a plastic bag, winning in appearance but lacking practicality. It just spun around in the wind-tunnel like clothes in a dryer. The result of this merrymaking? Issue 2 of Supernova presents a fantastic idea of how to recycle this festive season -not by building airships though.
Some time after this fun afternoon, Julia and Andy scooted over to a press event which launched the Dow Chemistry Lab at Sci-Bono. Here is what Andy had to say: 'Len Davids, the Deputy Director General of the Gauteng Department of Education; Sazi Lutseke, the Managing Director of Dow Southern Africa and Michael Peter, Chief Operations Officer of Sci-Bono Discovery Centre emphasised the importance of the laboratory for both school pupils and teachers alike. The aim of the laboratory is improve the quality of science in Gauteng with a learner education programme that allows hands-on experience. By acquiring skills through experiments, Davids sees the lab as a unique space that will “turn science in Gauteng around and contribute to scarce skills that are much needed”'. They had a blast.
Speaking of a blast, last week Julia and I went to the Ann van Dyk Cheetah Center. It's a really wonderful haven for these endangered animals. The most striking aspect was their option of adoption (there is a photo on the previous page). The gist of it is that you pay a sum to the center and then, depending on the package you bought, you metaphorically adopt a cheetah. They assign your donation to a specific creature, and you can then phone in to check up on your adoptive pet, or visit it. The center also hosts some other animals, like honey badgers and blue cranes, making it an even more impressive initiative! My favourite moment of the day was stroking the ambassador cheetah, Byron - words cannot describe what that felt like.
This, dear readers, is why its fun to work at a kids magazine!
And finally, Supernova issue 2 came out! It's great, featuring all sorts of articles; Scuba Diving, Cuisine Culture Shock, Saving Chimpanzees and Fifty Years of Fashion Fads. Email mari@bkpublishing.co.za if you'd like to buy a copy (R32) or subscribe for a year at only R185 - a great idea for a christmas gift!
Well now. Today we hope to do more airship building with some of the new interns; they are pretty creative, so the outcome will be interesting.
Watch this space!
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