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MAMELODI- Over 50 Mamelodi school children attended an open day at the Mae Jemison U.S. Science Reading Room, to view the partial eclipse of the sun early on Monday, January 26, under the guidance of three interns from the SciEnza science center.

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MAMELODI- Over 50 Mamelodi school children attended an open day at the Mae Jemison U.S. Science Reading Room, to view the partial eclipse of the sun early on Monday, January 26, under the guidance of three interns from the SciEnza science center.

Mae Jemison Science Reading Room

School learners, students, teachers and community members in Mamelodi who are interested in science or working with or in science  now enjoy access and use of a new science and technology facility, thanks to a partnership between the University of Pretoria and the United States Embassy in Pretoria.

The Mae Jemison US Science Reading Room (Mae J), is a partnership between the United States Embassy in Pretoria and the University of Pretoria. It is aimed at assisting the education of students in the local community about science and related academic subjects.

According to Mr Edwin Smith, Director of the Mamelodi Campus, the Reading Room will have local high school learners as its primary beneficiaries. These learners will participate in structured and planned programs but will have access to the facility in general as well.

The Mae Jemison US Science Reading Room can accommodate approximately 60 people. It has three sections, ie., a reading room, exhibition space and an audio-visual auditorium. The facility houses approximately 3,000 books and films, and 58 magazine subscriptions with an emphasis on science, health, technology, the environment and related topics. It also has five computers with Internet access and exhibition space for rotating exhibits, science experiments and demonstrations. The Reading Room is also equipped with an audio-visual auditorium which will enable multimedia presentations and sessions as well. The computers and audio-visuals have earphone facilities as well as mounted speakers for group activities. [Virtual tour on Facebook]

The Reading Room is named after the first African-American woman astronaut, Dr. Mae Jemison, whose historic flight on the Space Shuttle Endeavor took place on 12 September 1992. Dr. Jemison served as a National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) astronaut for six years. [Read the full press release]