Masi pupils get to grips with polar research

Looking at micro-organisms through a microscope and observing crystals formed in sea ice were just some of the things Ukhanyo Primary School Grade 7s got to do during a field trip to the Marine and Antarctic Research Centre for Innovation and Sustainability (MARiS) at UCT.

The pupils, who all attend the Marine Club run by Guardians of the Deep, at Masicorp’s English Hub, joined the South African Polar Research Infrastructure (SAPRI) and Guardians of the Deep’s Antarctic Year students for the field trip on Friday September 6.

Guardians of the Deep is a non-profit that helps people make good decisions for the ocean and the environment while the SAPRI helps to coordinate the country’s marine and and Antarctic research.

Guardians of the Deep partnered with the SAPRI to run a year-long programme on Antarctica, and MARiS invited them to explore the current research being done by its scientists.

Guardians of the Deep director Sally Sivewright said the outing was "a crucial link between the talks about Antarctica and actually seeing the science in motion“.

MARiS students, she said, had spoken of their respective fields of study with one student describing how a childhood love of LEGO had led to a career in engineering and another telling how, as a child, he had borrowed his sister’s biology textbooks, despite not being able to read English, and had later gone on to become a PhD oceanography student after seeing the ocean for the first time.

“The pupils also had the opportunity to engage with equipment and tools used in sea ice research and were able to hold a piece of an ice core, brought from Antarctica, safely encased in a zip-locked bag,” said Ms Sivewright.

Masicorp’s English Hub manager Katherine Smith said the Grade 7s had also enjoyed watching how robots were being used to collect sea ice samples when conditions were too dangerous for humans, and many of them had said the trip had made them realise how interesting science and technology could be.

“Some of them are now curious about potential careers in these areas,” she said.