In 2025, the Science, Technology, and Education Centre (STEC@UKZN), in partnership with the Department of Education (DoE) and Natal Portland Cement (NPC), hosted a series of two-day teacher training workshops designed to support Natural Science teachers with innovative, practical, and cost-effective classroom strategies.
The workshops held in the Ugu District (Port Shepstone), focused on key sections of the curriculum and offered demonstrations and experiments that teachers could easily adapt for their learners.
Each term’s content was explored in-depth through interactive activities. In ‘Matter and Materials’, teachers worked with concepts such as the particle model of matter, density, expansion and contraction, and atomic structure. They also carried out engaging chemical experiments including thermal decomposition, electrolysis, and pH testing. Sessions further deepened understanding of gas laws, chemical structures, and balancing equations, with teachers even building sodium chloride crystal structures using marshmallows and toothpicks.
The ‘Energy and Change’ theme teachers investigated electric, gravitational, magnetic and electrostatic forces through hands-on experiments such as making a fruit battery and moving straws without touching them. A Van de Graaff generator added excitement, while other sessions explored electricity concepts through building circuits, creating electromagnets, and comparing series and parallel setups. Practical applications of energy science were demonstrated through combustion reactions and constructing solar-powered models.
For the ‘Earth and Beyond’ unit, educators explored the solar system by examining the scale of planets, simulating meteorite impacts and investigating Earth’s systems. Activities included making sedimentary rocks, testing and identifying rock samples and investigating the rock cycle. A highlight was the session on South Africa’s mineral resources, where teachers experimented with extraction and separation processes.
Teachers received certificates of attendance, as well as rock boxes and digital resources to support continued application in their classrooms.
Through these workshops, STEC@UKZN has supported Grade 8 and 9 Natural Science teachers by providing accessible, low-cost ways to bring science to life. By combining demonstrations, experiments, and resources, the programme has equipped teachers with the confidence and tools to deliver more engaging science lessons, helping learners connect theory to real-world applications. Ultimately, the goal is to encourage learners to view science as understandable, relevant, and worth pursuing at higher levels.
Teachers’ feedback was overwhelmingly positive. A participant from Zithokozise High School commented: “The workshop was really an awesome opportunity to enable myself to gain in-depth knowledge and understanding of the most effective methodologies and teaching. Strategies that promote meaningful learning. I am now very much confident in teaching the topic covered in the workshop and I feel like my lessons will be much more interesting to the learners.”
Science Centre Co-ordinator, Dr Tanja Reinhardt, acknowledged that the initiative would not have been possible without the generous support of NPC, Mr Nyamela (Science Curriculum Coordinator), and the Department of Education.
