National Science Week

Hey guys!

I can’t believe they flew by so fast.

Almost as fast as that fancy fast car I was telling you about last week.

Much as I am sad that the holidays have ended, I’m always pleased to go back to school.

I found out that it is National Science Week in the first week of August (1-7).

This is an initiative of the Department of Science and Technology and there will be all sorts of exciting activities going on around the country during this week.

Obviously, at places like Sci-Bono Discovery Centre they have whole programmes organised.

Maybe you should ask your teacher to check out what is going on – or you can go to their website and see for yourself.

There will also be lots of events and expos at shopping malls and other interesting places.

Keep an eye out.

This year the theme is International Year of Light and light-based technologies.

I know we spoke a bit about light several blogs ago.

We always tend to think that dear old Eskom is responsible for the light – those you turn on and off – but there is just so much more to light than the electricity stuff.

Have you ever thought about natural light – for example light in nature?

Just think about one of the most frequent visual displays of light in nature… sunsets!

Sunsets are a result of refraction.

In astronomy, sunset is the point when the trailing edge of the sun’s sphere disappears below the horizon.

The brilliant array of colours that appear in the sky during sunset are created by scattered airborne particles passing through rays of white sunlight travelling through the atmosphere.

Because the evening air contains more particles than morning air (okay – this is pollution we are talking about), sunsets are typically more radiantly coloured than sunrises.

Then there are rainbows… a rainbow is a beautiful natural phenomenon that occurs when drops of rainwater meet sunlight.

The multi-coloured arch is produced by a major process called refraction, or the “bending” of light.

And let’s face it – all our food grows because of light.

Without it the cupboards would be bare.

If you can think of other sources of light… let me know.

Sibo

Cool word for the week: Array

Meaning: selection, collection, display, range

Example: My dad has a wonderful array of books – I think he has a book on just about every topic one could think of.