Wednesday, August 14, 2013

To Boldy Go....to the Cape Town Science Centre!

The Cape Town Science Centre

Exciting times were had again here at TKW with synapses firing on all fronts. Teachers and students welcomed new arrival, Nina Deggeller, from Switzerland, to our wintry shores with a trip to the all-new Cape Town Science Centre in Observatory. (Incidentally, the eclectic and bustling suburb of Observatory will soon become the new home of TKW…so watch this space for news of our re-launch).

Previously located in Canal walk, where it had a successful run for 10 years, the Science Centre is now centrally located on Main Road, Observatory and close to all forms of public transport. And so, on the mini-bus from Rosebank to Observatory our excited science enthusiasts went. What some may find interesting is that the building which now houses the Science Centre is a heritage building designed by avant-garde architect Max Polincansky, who contributed much to Modernist architecture in our city in the 1930s and 1940s. With some of the original design elements still perfectly intact,  the Cape Town Science Centre promises to stimulate the senses on more than just a scientific level.

Paupette on 'Mindball'
Our group visited the centre with high expectations and left completely impressed and inspired. A vibrant, brightly coloured corridor which opened onto an expansive room filled with all sorts of interactive and sometimes mind-boggling exhibitions drew our group right in. There was something for everyone – a beautifully detailed train set, complete with little people; a giant chess set; a Lego room filled with Lego structures built by previous visitors; a life-size replica of Africa’s first astronaut, Mark Shuttleworth’s Soyuz space capsule, which surprisingly fits 3; an aerotrim machine which, if you did not already know, is a gyroscope large enough to hold a human; and Mindball, a game of mind over matter, where nothing but brain waves are used to move a ball across a table. Amazing, right? Well, our group certainly thought so. A few hours were needed to fully experience everything the Science Centre had to offer, though everyone unanimously agreed that it is well worth a second visit!
Patrick on 'Mindball'


             
Star Trek, a Sci-fi series first popularised in the 1960s made famous the following words: To boldy go where no man has gone before... For the 'Trekkies' out there, these words resonate with notions of exploration, and discovery. So, visit the Science Centre and it  may well get you all fired up and ready to explore your own uncharted territories!

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