By Thabang Mokoka
THE Life Sciences Museum at the University of the Witwatersrand will be abuzz with bugging activity at the third annual Yebo Gogga Yebo amaBlomo exhibition.
Running from Wednesday, 4 October to Sunday, 8 October, the show will feature a host of bugs, insects and plants. Entrance is free. The exhibition is aimed specifically at educating schoolchildren about insects and plants; everyone, however, is invited.
Each year the show's organisers pick a theme designed to help schoolchildren and adults to understand the bugs and plants on display. This year the theme is "Umuthi", or medicine.
Renee Reddy, the manager of the Life Sciences Museum, explains the thoughts behind the theme. "We are looking into the health issues by teaching people [about] which plants and bugs cure and those that can kill."
Carriers of disease and medicinal plants will be included in the exhibition, and visitors will be able to take part in a number of activities related to the theme, such as a bug braai to emphasise the nutritional value of insects. A first aid tent will explain how to treat and heal insect stings and spider bites using medicinal plants.
Reddy says there will be much to learn in a short space of time. She hopes the number of people attending the show will increase over last year's 8 000 visitors. "It is going to be an exciting show," she adds.
Last year's theme was "amaSurvivor", and the exhibition focused on insects' defensive weaponry and what they do when faced with danger. Past themes have included "Crime in the bug world", which showed that crime was not unique to human society; "Why are bugs important?", which looked at their usefulness to humans; and "Arthropods and you", which focused on discovering bugs that shared our homes and bodies.
Schoolkids getting up close with bugs
The show, on from 4 October to 8 October, will be open from 9am to 4pm on weekdays and from 10am to 4pm on weekends. For more information contact Reneé Reddy on 011 717 6467. For group bookings contact Tennyson Mashiloane on 011 717 1188 or by email on Tennyson.Mashiloane@wits.ac.za.
|
Permission to use web site material Publishers may use material from this site free of charge, as long as:
|
