Science2Go is once again teaming up with East Coast Radio Breakfast to bring you a morning of fun maths and science.

On Friday 30 September the team will be heading out to Ogwini Comprehensive Technical High School in Umlazi for a morning of exciting activities.

We will be sharing some exam tips for the Matrics as they head off for their last break before they sit down to write the all important exams. We are also joined by the MAHLE Engineers, the Science2Go dancers, Dr T from UKZN and the Ethekwini Municipality.

​Also listen out for news of our new Grade 7 Science Olympiad. Find out more on our website under Projects or tune in to the show.

CASME's #wonderwomen Thami Mahlobo, Dawn Harrison and Philisiwe Myeza were joined by Biblionef's Nastassja Benjamin and Nokuthula Mbenyane to distribute over 3400 new IsiZulu and English storybooks to our 17 FNB project schools. 

The teachers have been part of a two year support programme focusing on Mathematics and Language training and mentorship. Schools have also spearheaded the establishment of reading corners under the guidance of the CASME language team.

We are thrilled to have partnered with Biblionef and FNB to ensure that reading is a part of the daily lives of the learners at these schools.

For the second in our series of #BackToSchool live broadcasts with East Coast Radio the CASME team is heading to Pinetown Girls' High School for a fun Maths Morning.

NOMINATE YOUR MATHS TEACHER, TELL US WHY THEY ARE THE BEST AND STAND THE CHANCE TO WIN A TABLET FOR YOURSELF AND A LAPTOP FOR YOUR MATHS TEACHER. CLICK HERE

We decided to focus on maths as this is a particularly important time of the year for learners, especially those in Grade 9. They will be choosing their subjects for Grade 10 and this critical decision impacts their options down the line, especially relating to university study options.

We invited the Central Applications Office to talk about the application process so all your questions will be answered. We also wanted to hear from universities about what they think and so we got in touch with our colleague Prof Msomi over at the Mangosuthu University of Technology. Prof is the head of Maths but also the head of the KZN branch of the Maths Teachers Association AMESA. 

Since its Women's month we also wanted to hear from some inspirational women so we lined up a pilot and the newly elected Chair of the International Commission on Mathematical Instruction Prof Jill Adler.

All that sounds serious and yes, while it is, we are making sure there will be some fun maths activities too. We have lined up a Calculator Chase, we will be building a Giant Soma Cube and there will be some curious Geometry. We also called in our friends at MAHLE the engineers and they will be exploring some real life mathematics.

If you haven't already heard we are also giving away some great prizes. Check out the Events page over at East Coast Radio to enter your maths teacher and stand the chance of winning a tablet for yourself and laptop for your teacher.

Tune in to East Coast Radio form 06h00 to 09h00 on Friday 26 August 2016.

On Friday 22 July the CASME Science2Go, MAHLE Behr SA and East Coast Radio Breakfast Teams headed out in the early hours to Sithokozile Secondary School in KwaDabeka for a fun morning of Science and Engineering.

The campaign is part of a drive by CASME and MAHLE to promote Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. The visit to Sithokozile is the first of three East Coast Breakfast Show broadcasts with this one focusing in particular on increasing the participation of girls in these fields.

An enthusiastic group of learners were at the school from 6am to join in the activities which included building radiators, launching rockets, UKZN's Dr T's famous Science Show and a special science themes Grand Challenge. Andile from Sithokozile aced the test and walked away with R2000.

Learners at the school and listeners heard from scientists such as Dr Adriana Marais and Bathabile Mpofu who shared their passion for the subjects.

Stay tuned for our next broadcast to learn more about subject choice and post-school study opportunities in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics.

The annual SABC Education African EduWeek exhibition takes place during the July school holidays. CASME has participated in the exhibition for the past 3 years as a means to share our work with the education community, to network with other providers, and to learn lessons from others working in the mathematics and science education space.

This year we were excited to be able to share our Science2Go Mobile Science Resource Centre with the EduWeek delegates. Logistically this meant that part of the team left Durban on Sunday 26 June to make the 550km journey to Gallagher Convention Centre as the vehicle needed to be parked before the rest of the exhibition could be set up.
The rest of the team joining them made the journey on Tuesday 28 June to be ready for the opening of the exhibition on Wednesday at 09h30.

Science2Go really made an impression at this year's exhibition and we were pleased to be able to share the impact this innovative solution to practical, hands on science learning is having in the Clermont, KwaDabeka and Molweni communities in KZN. We were also able to proudly wear our t-shirts informing the delegates of our achievement in February 2016 of breaking the Guinness World Record for the Largest Practical Science Lesson.
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In total we had over 270 logged visitors to our stand. Thank you to everyone who stopped by. We hope that you were able to learn something. If you want to support the work that we do please do consider making a donation.

We were also able to connect with some really interesting and useful projects which we will be sharing with the teachers, learners and schools we work with.

• Syafunda: www.syafunda.co.za
• LevelUp by the Reach trust: http://www.thereachtrust.org/levelup/
• ClickMaths: http://www.clickmaths.org/

Current and ongoing research in the field of neuroscience and cognitive science, and in particular how these fields broaden our understanding of education and learning, have shown positive links between regular exercise and educational attainment.

That's the science bit and we love that research is supporting our intrinsic understanding that exercise is good for us generally and vindicates CASME staffer Thami Mahlobo who is forever importuning us to walk walk walk.

So after some cajoling, 22 CASME staff members and some family members set off on Sunday 22 May to join 30,000 energetic Durbanites to participate in the East Coast Radio Big Walk. Being novices we thought it was important to start with what we knew we could achieve, a benchmark if you like. So we registered for the 5km walk and made our way through the throngs of people (having racked up at least another 5km to get to the starting line).

​An hour and half or so later, we had enjoyed a fantastic day on Durban's beautiful promenade, done a little, not too strenuous exercise, and allowed our brains to indulge in some diffuse mode work.

Check out our Facebook page for some pics.

On Friday 5 February 2016, CASME in partnership with MAHLE achieved the momentous task of bringing together 2104 learners, teachers, UKZN students and staff to conduct the World's Largest Practical Science Lesson.

The attempt caught media attention who descended on the Durban Exhibition Centre to catch a piece of the action.

The successful attempt was a year in the making and is testament to what CASME with its partners is able to achieve.

Most of the schools participating in the attempt are beneficiaries of other CASME interventions to support Mathematics and Science teaching and learning.

Now that the attempt is behind us its back to the classroom for CASME where the work of supporting teachers continues.

We invite you to join us in our mission. To discuss partnership and funding opportunities please contact Henre Benson on benson@casme.org.za or 031 8262508.
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http://www.iol.co.za/news/south-africa/kwazulu-natal/durban-plan-to-smash-science-world-record-1974793

​https://www.ecr.co.za/news-sport/news/pics-durban-sets-new-guiness-world-record/

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On Thursday 26 November, CASME hosted internationally renowned author and online learning guru Prof Barbara Oakley along with local IT in Education champion Dr Craig Blewett in a public seminar titled Learning How to Learn.

The seminar attracted an audience of 80 academics and teachers in what was hailed as an "excellent learning event".

Prof Oakley shared her unique story and personal journey from linguist to Professor of engineering and how as an adult she had to teach her brain to think mathematically. During this time she discovered some unique things about learning and has gone on to research and investigate these and is now considered a world expert in the field of learning, drawing on the fields of neuroscience and cognitive science.

Her best selling book "A Mind For Numbers: How to Excel at Math and Science (Even If You Flunked Algebra)" is an accessible and interesting read for anyone interested in learning.

Prof Oakley offers her keen insights through a free online course titled "Learning How to Learn".

The first phase of a new training initiative for 500 Mathematics and Science teachers from 6 districts across 3 provinces concluded on Saturday 14 November 2015.

31 trainers, facilitators and coaches from Limpopo, Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal met for an intensive two-day programme to prepare for the training of teachers which kicks off on the weekend of 20, 21 and 22 November.

The 9 day short course for Mathematics and Science teachers at the FET level (i.e. Grades 10, 11 and 12) has been designed by CASME and focuses on carefully selected content that is nortoriously and historically poorly performed by learners in the National Senior Certificate examinations.

The short course is designed to engage teachers not only in the content mastery required in these topics but also to expose them to the teaching strategies that will assist them to develop problem solving and conceptual understanding in their learners.

The course has a strong ICT integration element with CASME sharing its knowledge and experience of free and open source software for teaching and learning mathematics and science.

The course is accredited by the South African Council of Education and carried 10 professional development points for participating teachers.

By March 2016 the teachers will have completed the course which includes opportunities for them to test the strategies in their classrooms and develop and portfolio of evidence to demonstrate the application of the course content.

The project is funded by the ETDP SETA through the National Education Collaboration Trust as part of a broader District Improvement Programme to assist government to meet its National Development Plan education objectives.