PRASHINA BUDREE

INDIA-SOUTH AFRICA ASTRONOMY WORKSHOP

6-7 AUGUST 2012

“Astronomy has a potential to encourage a greater interest in

scientific careers among the youth.” Minister Naledi Pandor

• The interest in astronomy is growing greatly in South Africa.

• Our aim at ACRU, UKZN is to take astronomy to as many people as

we can.

• By working together we will be able to achieve this at a more rapid

pace.

• The strength in any country are the youth.

• All youth, especially disadvantaged youth need to understand the

opportunities that are available to them in South Africa and

internationally when they choose astronomy and related fields as a

career path.

ASTRONOMY OUTREACH AT UKZN

• The outreach programme at UKZN was

implemented in May 2008.

• Since then the programme has grown

significantly.

• Our aim was to put in place workshops, career

days and programmes that will spread the word

of astronomy at different levels.

• We focus largely on both primary school and

secondary school learners and we also have an

outreach programme that we run for the

university communities and the public.

VISIT TO IUCAAPUNE, INDIA

• In 2009 we visited the Inter-University Centre

for Astronomy and Astrophysics in Pune, India.

• Whilst there we were able to interact with

disadvantaged schools in rural areas.

• We were also able to learn how the astronomy

outreach programme in IUCAA was run.

• From there we set up programmes at ACRU.

• Different workshops and career days were

implemented to introduce astronomy more

widely to learners, teachers, students and the

public.

• During the visit to IUCAA we also understood the

importance of making use of materials around us

to help promote astronomy.

• A lack of resources was not option for us not to

be able to promote astronomy.

• Staff at IUCAA were able to make telescopes for

children using plastic pipes used for plumbing.

• This motivated us to look at ways to get

astronomy resources that did not cost anything.

• By making that initiative we are now able to

leave behind some resources such as

worksheets, posters or games at schools we visit.

VISIT TO IUCAAPUNE, INDIA

• We aimed to recruit students into our undergraduate programme for which

we teamed up with the SKA.

• To recruit these learners we held workshops that targeted learners who

excelled in Mathematics and Physics.

• Our first learner was awarded a bursary in 2009 and she has since graduated

with her undergraduate degree and is currently pursuing her honours.

• The programme started with one learner in 2009 and in 2012 we now have a

total of ten students in our bursary programme.

ACRU CAREER WEEK

• In order for our undergraduates to excel we

put together a programme that’s structured

to assist them with:

-Tutoring (Over and above university

tutoring)

-Examination and test revision

-Vacation projects

-Mentoring

• Students are recruited into this programme

even if they are not awarded a bursary.

• Should they have an interest in pursuing a

career in Astrophysics or related fields they

are also given the opportunity to join the

UIP.

UNDERGRADUATE INTERNSHIPPROGRAMME (UIP)

THIRTEEN STUDENTS IN 2012 OUT OF WHICH 10 ARE BURSARY HOLDERS AND 3 ADDITIONAL STUDENTS HAVE JOINED OUR UIP PROGRAMME

ONE STUDENT IN 2009

• One of our most successful workshops

is the Astro Art workshop that targets

grade 4 to grade 9 learners.

• This workshop was implemented in

order to teach learners, especially in

disadvantaged schools, about basic

astronomy.

• The idea for this workshop came about

after visiting the rural schools in Pune,

India were it was evident that learners,

even at such a young age, were

interested in learning about space.

ASTRO ARTWORKSHOP

• Resources are left behind at

schools for teachers to use

when teaching the astronomy

section of the syllabus.

• This assists teachers when it

comes to explaining simple

facts to learners.

• We also collect resources by

writing to different national and

international research

institutions and companies. We

team up with many of them to

promote astronomy.

ASTRO ARTWORKSHOP

• All these companies and

institutions have assisted us

with sponsorships and material

that has assisted us in

promoting astronomy at ACRU.

• Sponsorships range from

chocolates, t-shirts, caps,

posters etc.

• We look for products within

companies such as Beacon and

Cadburys that can team up

with astronomy. For example,

the Astros chocolate or Mars

bars.

BUILDING ASTRONOMY RESOURCES

Our future objectives include:

• Increasing the area of outreach to include more children especially

from disadvantaged backgrounds.

• Increase the number of graduates of Mathematics and Physics at

UKZN.

• Creating workshops that equip teachers with the necessary skills to

further promote astronomy education at both primary and tertiary

school level.

• Establishing stronger relationships with both local and international

research units and universities.

THANK YOU