We want young people to show us their creativity. Our first winner has been announced, who drew this awesome roboticist and her mech suit and won R250. We’ll have another for February and every month this year. You can draw us a scientist, real or imagined, write a poem or an essay, send a TikTok, or one of our colouring in pages. However you want to express your interest in science and technology. Open to all learners from grade 1-12. Email or WhatsApp or DM us to send your submission.
Thanks to our funder The Sage Foundation and individual donors we have been able to give thousands of SuperScientists activity books, calendars, and trading cards to young people across South Africa in the last month (over 10,000 in total) Partnering with organisations, schools, libraries, and clinics that have deep networks, honed logistics, or are a people and places that young people trust we have shared our materials far and wide. It makes us so happy to see the responses from people when they see what we’ve made and when they think about how the young people they work with will receive them. Even better yet has been to see kids pump their fists and do happy claps when we have gone to schools and shared the materials with them or when we’ve seen kids, after leaving a classroom turned to their neighbor comparing each others cards. It’s so affirming to meet the people and organisations that trying to do their part to improve young people’s lives and to be part of that greater mission.
We’re making our materials easier for young people to enjoy. Translating them into different languages and giving people what they want, a good story to listen to - podcasts are popular for a good reason.
Our 2022 calendar is completed, printed (5,000 copies) and almost completely distributed already. With some really helpful feedback on how to improve the calendar and now with riddles, quotes and a entry page for a creative competition for learners, we’re excited to see how it’s received. A huge thanks to the Sage Foundation for the funding of the creation, printing and postage of these materials. We’ve been lucky to find a variety of organisations that have distributed these to young people they work with or serve among them the Santa Shoebox Project, the Eskom Science Expo (see pic), and the schools, libraries and clinics we have given materials to.
We’ve made masks that kids and adults can colour in or just print out, use and imagine being a palaeoscientist. Inspired by Bones - Dr Keneiloe Molopyane - and Rocktor - Silindokuhle Mavuso - they are free to download and print along with all of our SuperScientists. Go to http://bit.ly/3fv1uzY
It’s been so fantastic to have SuperScientists picked up by local and international news recently and know that more and more people are learning about the scientists that we have profiled and our work to change how young people see science and scientists.
Below are a few of the different articles and interviews. As a scientist, we’re most proud of the article in the premier scientific journal Science but to reach young people and parents, mass media is where it’s at.
Science - international scientific journal
eNCA - South African national TV
Business Insider - international
Sunday Tribune - South African newspaper
eNORM - German magazine
Our activity book for younger learners is finished! It’s beautifully done and packed with activities to teach kids a thing or two about science while also getting the creative juices flowing.
We will be printing a few thousand copies of it and distributing to organisations and schools and hope to make a version that can be picked up at your local supermarket. You can download a big chunk of the book at our activities page
A huge thanks to Hero in My Hood for art and ideas, Curtis Bonhomme for the character art, and the SuperScientists who host all the activities Nitro, Astrana, and The Eradicator. This project was funded thanks to a grant from The Sage Foundation and ongoing funding provided to CodeMakers.
Very excited to see Kolisa Sinyanya aka Nitro, and Dr Keneiloe Molopyane on CNN Inside Africa this month - here’s their video. They are two scientists that really pushing the boundaries. Kolisa as an oceanography PhD student at the University of Cape Town studying carbon capture in the Agulhas Current. Keneiloe as a post-doctoral fellow and, recently named, National Geographic Explorer working on a variety of palaeoanthropology projects to help understand the origins of humans including the exciting Site 105 in the Cradle of Humankind.
They are definitely two scientists to keep your eye on.
Download activity pages for your kids to learn along with Kolisa
