The Centre for Mineral Biogeochemistry (CMBG) at the University of the Free State (UFS) was part of another successful Tritech National Science and Technology Fair 2023 – an exciting STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) research competition.

The UFS has partnered with Tritech and other sponsors since 2021 to bridge the gap between high school and tertiary education. Tritech, which started in 2008 and is open to all Grade 7-12 learners, aims to equip them for tertiary education by introducing them to scientific research and incorporating modern technology in research. This is an annual competition that starts at the regional level and goes all the way to the national level, with the national competition held at the Merensky High School, in Tzaneen, Limpopo from 20-21 October 2023.

Schools from across the country take part in the fair, but learners compete in groups rather than schools. 

“Every year the CMBG includes different departments from the UFS in alignment with the theme for the event, to ignite a lasting passion for innovation toward promising careers in the STEM fields. In 2022 the theme for Tritech was “Crime Scene Investigators” and the CMBG team created a very realistic crime scene and laboratory setup to teach the learners about Forensic Science. The learners scored our CSI activity as the best for the weekend and we knew that for the 2023 Nationals, we had our work cut out to do even better,” says Dr Erasmus. 

Learning about food health and safety

This year, Prof Maryna de Wit and her students from the Department of Sustainable Food Systems and Development (SFSD) joined the CMBG team, to introduce learners to food health and safety, food preservation, food systems and development, as well as sensory analyses. 

Island, shipwrecks, and wilderness survival

Dr Mariana Erasmus, Deputy Director of the Centre for Mineral Biogeochemistry (CMBG), spearheads the Tritech team from the UFS. CMBG, as part of its community outreach programme, is not only a sponsor of the event but is also the organiser of the main activity together with another UFS department. 

Dr Erasmus says the theme for Tritech 2023 was “Survival MasterChef”, where for the two activity events, the Tritech learners were “stranded” on an island. This exercise was a great way to promote leadership qualities, encourage creativity and confidence, promote teamwork and active communication, and increase critical thinking in learners, while they got to know more about food health and safety practices.

“It was all island, shipwrecks, and wilderness survival at this year’s event where learners had to survive after being ‘stranded’ on an island. To escape, the learners had to build a boat and while they waited to be rescued, they needed to adapt to island life to survive by preparing healthy meals, as well as preparing meals and drinks to treat dehydration and scurvy,” says Dr Erasmus.