September 30, 2005
By Mamello Makgana
AMASURVIVOR: which creepy crawly will outwit, outplay and outlast the others?
This year's Yebo Gogga Yebo Amablomo arthropod and plant exhibition at Wits University's Life Science Museum runs from 5 to 9 October, and the theme is Amasurvivor.
Each year the show's organisers pick a theme designed to help school children and adults to understand the bugs and plants on display.
At the tribal council will be the insects and animals that share our homes and gardens, and hundreds of live millipedes, centipedes, hairy spiders and scorpions will show off their defensive weaponry when faced with danger.
According to Caroline Crump, the zoological curator at Wits University, the exhibition was aimed at educating participants, especially school groups because it was related to their curricula.
"The trees and plants that will be used at this year's show will enhance the Amasurvivor theme," she said.
Visitors can join the experience by taking part in activities like making fire out of dry wood and chewing on diospyros lycioides, commonly known as bush veldt blue bush, to clean their teeth.
When in the jungle and in need of a rope, use the strong leaf fibres of the indigenous mother in law's tongue or sanseviria.
Have a microscopic view of frog embryos mutating into tadpoles, and handle the insects - with the help of students from the Wits School of Animal, Plant and Environmental Sciences.
There will be more than 10 exhibitors, and external organisations will take part in the show, adding to the zoology museum's more than 60 000 specimens. They include the Bat Interest Group, the Orchid Society and the Transvaal Museum.
The exhibitors will judge the bugs and plants for the ultimate survivor, according to the survival characteristics they possess and their knowledge of the species.
At midday, you can join the bugs for lunch, and sink your teeth into braaied mopane worms, grasshoppers dipped in chocolate, or spicy termites.
Gourmet chefs will prepare delicacies for spectators, and are planning an interesting menu, with dishes of seasoned cockroaches and insect-topped pizzas making the list.
Last year's theme was The Bug and Plant Olympics and goggos competed in competitions and races. They were rewarded with a coat of spices, a roast in a hot frying pan and served up as lunch.
Previous exhibitions had themes like Crime in the Bug World, which showed that crime is not unique to human society; Why are Bugs Important?, which looked their usefulness to humans; and Arthropods and You, which focused on discovering bugs that share our homes and bodies.
The museum will be open to the public during the week from 9am to 4pm. Weekend shows will run from 10am to 4pm.
For more information on the exhibition, contact Renné Reddy on 011 717 6467. For school and group bookings, contact Tennyson Mashiloane on 011 717 1188.
Permission to use web site material
Publishers may use material from this site free of charge, as long as:
- Credit is given to either the "City of Johannesburg website
(www.joburg.org.za)" or to "Johannesburg News Agency
(www.joburg.org.za)";
- If the article is used online, a link is provided to the original
article on this website;
- The name of the article's author is acknowledged;
-
The webmaster is informed of how and where the material is used (fill
in this brief online form).
Johannesburg News Agency is operated by BIG Media at 011-484-1400 |
