7/9/2015 - Siskelo

We headed to Siskelo High School in Big Bend, 1.5 hours away, for a full day of solar cell workshop and science demos.  In the city area, there was a checkpoint on the road holding up traffic.  Of course we were stopped.  

  

  

It turns out the registration on the car was expired (we didn't get searched for drugs like many other vehicles did) and Sifiso came back with a ticket in hand.  We still managed to make it Siskelo by 9 AM like we promised, and were greeted by Maria's contact, Dawn Naylor, who showed us to two lovely science laboratory classrooms for demos and the workshop:

Maria, Miles and I took on the demo portion again.  We did demos for one group (a bit short since we had some setup time) and then a double classroom.  There was a break for tea, and then we had another double class, all while Erik, Leah and Nelia worked on the solar panels with the oldest group (though Maria introduced the PV concepts before heading back to the demo side of things). The students at this school were more interactive, more willing to answer questions, and had many good questions for me about space and the space telescopes.  

    

  
  

One complication was that today was also picture day at the school, so students were needed at various times for individual and group photos.  There was also a 1 hour lunch break (which we needed - we were exhausted from going non-stop this week) and ate the sandwiches we made together last night.  After lunch, we all went to assist with the workshop.  The goal was to make 4 small panels in one day, so Leah had divided the students into 4 teams who competed for the best voltages on each strip as well as the overall panel reading.  One group finished very quickly.  We spent time also talking to students who had science expo projects to discuss and gave them suggestions on them, and on applying to colleges, etc.  Miles kept up the demos for students who hadn't seen it in the back of the room.  

  

By 6 PM, all panels were finished, university and NASA gifts given, photos taken, and bags packed to head back home.  The road was dark, but we felt safe while Sifiso was driving and sang all the way back to Malandela's where we enjoyed a late dinner and the knowledge we could go to sleep without alarms tonight!