T M Hani – 27 August 2014

After an early start from Cathcart we made our way through the St Marks area to find the T.M. Hani School purchased on top of a hill side. A high clearance vehicle made it easier to navigate the very rough access road to the school. Having an off road trailer also ensured that the equipment arrived safely as well.

The decision was taken to do an outdoor presentation and to include the Grades 4-9 to make up a total of 75 learners as it was not a very big school. We drove in to the school grounds and within 5 minutes were greeted by the eager leaners surrounding the demonstration table.

The first few minutes of any demonstration was spent covering issues of motivation, Mathematics vs Mathematics Literacy, girls getting an education before having children, focusing on doing extra homework to improve their chances in life, etc.

The demonstration table was in half-sun which meant that the solar energy component was very easy to set up. Learners were encouraged to make observations as engineers to solve problems presented to them. One component that worked well was the use of the capacitor to capture radiant energy and to then release this in the mini car. If no energy is put in then no energy is released. The solar panel was used to capture radiant energy but this was purposely faced in the opposite direction to the sun. Again the car did not move. Some of the more observant learners (and some teachers) pointed out the problem and soon the car was working from the capacitor (stored potential energy).

This same principle was demonstrated with the hydrogen fuel cell where energy had to be put into split the water in the first place. Only then could one get energy out through the hydrogen fuel cell which worked well by releasing the car on the concrete floor and allowing it to run for quite a distance on a drop of water.

I was impressed with the enthusiasm of the teachers (7) including the answering of the questions when I posed them to the whole class – an aspect that needs further investigation. In general discussions with a teacher afterwards he reported that the lesson was very informative as they had covered that section of the work just last week. More importantly he commented on my teaching strategy which he will use in other classes.

The demonstration lasted about 90 minutes and was most enjoyable.