Rewarding curiosity

Primary and high school learners arrived in their numbers onto the University of Cape Town (UCT) for the institution's Science Week in mid-September. The Faculty of Science, in collaboration with Merck, also brought the Curiosity Cube to campus.

The interactive, pop-up science lab provides hands-on science experiments housed inside a repurposed shipping container. This year's Curiosity Cube theme focused on the trending topic of artificial intelligence (AI).

Twenty-five schools were invited from across the Western Cape. Over 400 learners walked the corridors of UCT, as Grade 7 learners visited four departments within the Faculty of Science and the Merck Curiosity Cube. Departments showcased school curriculum via interactive sessions and lab experiments covering topics like earth-sun-moon relationships, tides, and seasons. They also received lessons on biodiversity and reproduction in plants, as well as separating mixtures, acids and bases; energy sources, heat transfer and insulation.

Thembisa Mgwayi, a natural sciences educator at Joe Slovo Engineering High School, brought her young highschoolers. "I'm encouraged that by bringing young, curious minds here, they will have a lot to gain. That will assist in their studies and enable them to make informed decisions about their futures.

"We're happy as a school to be part of this outreach because as township schools, it is not every day that our learners are exposed to this." She added that she hopes with the AI learning, the learners can use technology responsibly.

"Children are naturally curious, and that curiosity should be encouraged and nurtured."

The students at the Curiosity Cube, divided into three groups, were exposed to a variety of courses which included learning the differences between AI-generated images and real photos to better understand digital authenticity. Secondly, how AI learns through experience and pattern recognition, just like the human brain and finally, the mechanics behind AI-powered self-driving cars through hands-on activities in machine learning.

"Being a scientist requires a passion for exploring the unknown, coupled with skills in finding the answers to our questions. Children are naturally curious, and that curiosity should be encouraged and nurtured. A training in science then provides them with the ability to find answers," said the dean of the Faculty of Science, Professor Hussein Suleman.

He added: "As a child, I wondered how video games work, why perpetual motion was not possible and how some chemicals changed the properties of metals. Learning about science allowed me to explore those childhood questions. Nowadays, as a researcher, I can ask and try to answer more complex questions with important implications for society. This is why we study science."

Dr Samantha Douman, a lecturer in the Department of Chemistry and a coordinator on the Science Week Project, said: "Merck has been a long-standing partner and supplier to our department, so collaborating on this initiative felt like a natural extension of our shared commitment to education. What struck me most was how passion truly brings purpose, especially when we can promote science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) to learners from all walks of life.

"Watching their eyes light up as they explored the Curiosity Cube felt like a small victory against the barriers that too often keep brilliant minds from pursuing STEM. It reminded me why we do this work: not for the accolades, but for those life-changing moments when a child sees their own potential."

Rewarding

Laa-iqa Rylands, a senior scientific officer in the Department of Chemistry and also a coordinator on the Science Week Project, hailed the collaboration from the university and partners.

"We wanted to maximise on the learners' visit for the cube, so we thought let's also plan a science week that incorporates demonstrations based on the school curriculum. The goal was to get students excited about science by making their classwork more hands-on and engaging. It was fantastic to see so many departments get involved and to watch postgraduate students and staff engaging directly with the learners. This was such a rewarding event, especially because the learners came from all backgrounds, including schools from informal settlements and farming areas."

The Curiosity Cube is visiting South Africa, Eswatini, Lesotho, Botswana, and Namibia as more students will be encouraged to soak up scientific possibilities.