Life Sciences learners participate in provincial Online Quiz Competition
3 October 2019
On Saturday, 14 September 2019, 366 Grade 12 learners from 40 schools across the Western Cape gathered at Wynberg Girls’ High School to compete in the semi-finals and finals of the provincial Life Sciences Quiz.
The quiz was organised by the Life Sciences subject team in partnership with the mGenAfrica platform, an initiative of the University of Cape Town (UCT), and the e-learning team of Metro South Education District.
The Moodle-based quiz platform offers learners the opportunity to gauge their knowledge and prepare for examinations and tests through online quizzes, which include questions from past NSC examination papers available on the SAASTE Moodle site.
Learners entered as individuals or as teams and schools could enter both team and individual participants. The preliminary rounds were done online. While the team and individual heats took place, the rest of the learners attended inspiring science career talks by UCT researchers or visited career exhibitions.
In the individual category, Mbasakazi Songololo from Spine Road High School was crowned the overall winner. She was followed closely by Charles Martin from South Peninsula High School in second position and Merel van den Brink from Parklands College in third.
In the group category, South Peninsula High School came first, followed by Sinethemba High School in second position and Fairmont High School in third position.
Ridaa Botha of Spine Road High School received a special award for the most active learner on the SAASTE Moodle site at https://saastewc.co.za since January 2019.
Mbasakazi Songololo received a trophy and a laptop, as well as the opportunity to attend the 13th African Society of Human Genetics Conference in Tanzania. She will be accompanied by one of her teachers. All other winners received scientific calculators, trophies, memory sticks and backpacks. All prizes were sponsored by UCT and various partners.
The Life Sciences team plans to have district online quizzes followed by a final provincial quiz competition in 2020.
