St Patrick's College in Kimberley in the Northern Cape.

She is such an "utterly convinced fan" of SciFest Africa that she is shepherding 26 of her high school learners all the way to the Eastern Cape, where the annual science festival takes place in Grahamstown from March 25 to 31.

SciFest drew 58 000 visitors last year and is expected to attract even more this year. Joining the International Year of Astronomy (IYA) initiative, the theme of SciFest 2009 is "Space to Explore".

Vera Adams, SciFest director, said the festival aims "to highlight what's 'out there' and bring back to earth what we can't see beyond the blue of the sky".

However, festival manager Margaret Wolff pointed out that with 550 events on the schedule, it is not limited to astronomy, but "to everything around us".

Some of the highlights include:

  • Two astronomy-related events, one for grades five to seven will explain the northern lights phenomenon and another, aimed at grades 10 to 12, the science of the telescope.

  • As 2009 is also the bi-centenary of Charles Darwin's birth, everything evolutionary will have a strong presence at SciFest. This includes two lectures by University of Cape Town Zoology Professor George Branch on the myths and magic of evolution. He will also address the reasons for the controversy around the introduction of evolution into the grade 12 life sciences curriculum.

  • Caryn McNamara will present a workshop on teaching evolution and handling conflicting religious questions that may arise in class. She is project manager of the Mathematics, ICT, Science and Technology (Mist) Research Support Centre at Rhodes University.

  • Teachers can attend a workshop on the Siyavula online community for developing and sharing educational resources. Nguni for "we are opening", Siyavula has partnered with the established website Connexions to provide free access to thousands of modular, curriculum-aligned resources for all grades and is sponsored by the Shuttleworth Foundation.

  • For pre-schoolers aged three to six, there is SciKids, which gives them a first playful introduction to science. Coordinator Jean Schäfer from the Centre for Social Development at Rhodes University said "pre-school teachers from Grahamstown are invited to set up hands-on activities" that have a "scientific slant". Her team offers logistical assistance.

  • Is “green” good? Why are fossil fuels bad? What's wrong with carbon dioxide? Why is the earth getting hotter? Why are there so many people? These are some of the questions Melinda Griffiths, a doctor of bioprocess engineering, will answer in the talkshop "Energy: The good, the bad and the ugly".

    For further information go to www.scifest.org.za or phone the SciFest office on 046 603 1106