{"id":881471,"date":"2026-10-27T07:10:46","date_gmt":"2026-10-27T05:10:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=881471"},"modified":"2026-10-27T07:10:48","modified_gmt":"2026-10-27T05:10:48","slug":"space-in-the-classroom-seec-south-africa-2027","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/industry-news\/881471\/space-in-the-classroom-seec-south-africa-2027\/","title":{"rendered":"Space in the Classroom: SEEC South Africa 2027"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><em><strong>Richard Knaggs, Director of Technology Innovation, Parklands College<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;The destiny of a nation is being shaped in its classrooms.&#8221; That is the headline for the Space Exploration Educators Conference (SEEC) South Africa 2027, and it is why we are bringing the conference here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/seec.africa\/?utm_source=BusinessTech&amp;utm_medium=Article&amp;utm_term=October+2026\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Click here to register for the Space Exploration Educators Conference (SEEC) South Africa 2027.<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Learners are curious about space. A 2019 Harris Poll of 3,000 children aged 8 to 12 found that 86% are interested in space exploration, and 79% said teachers were where they learned most about it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That curiosity carries them into subjects they might otherwise avoid. A learner who wants to know how to grow food on Mars has to learn biology, chemistry, mathematics and engineering to find the answer. The problems are also ours. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a  data-lightbox=\"post-image\" href=\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Headline-Image-1600x900-74.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" src=\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Headline-Image-1600x900-74-1024x576.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-881477\" srcset=\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Headline-Image-1600x900-74-1024x576.png 1024w, https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Headline-Image-1600x900-74-300x169.png 300w, https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Headline-Image-1600x900-74-768x432.png 768w, https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Headline-Image-1600x900-74-1536x864.png 1536w, https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Headline-Image-1600x900-74.png 1600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Growing food in space means growing it with no soil and very little water, which is much the same problem as farming in a drought. In the words of astronaut Dr Sian Proctor, &#8220;Solving for space solves for Earth.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Space is also an industry, and much of South Africa&#8217;s is already in the Western Cape. Companies here design and build satellites, components and space-grade electronics. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Cape Constellation makes space-grade circuit boards in a clean room in Cape Town, and MaxIQ Space builds the hardware our learners send to space. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The jobs exist now, but the industry cannot find enough people with the skills to fill them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The people who will fill them are learners in our classrooms now, and we need to show them they can help build Africa&#8217;s space economy here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Parklands College space journey did not start with a rocket. It started in 2014 with a trip to the telescopes at Sutherland for 20 learners. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Later a parent introduced us to MaxIQ Space, our launch partner. Since then our learners&#8217; experiments have flown on two of the University of KwaZulu-Natal&#8217;s Phoenix rockets to nearly 15 km altitude at speeds exceeding Mach 2 and on two NASA Salter high-altitude balloons to 38 km. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Our learners&#8217; analysis found an unusual rise in Total Volatile Organic Compounds (TVOC) at 17 km, in the stratosphere, which they link to human activity on the ground and to military aircraft flying at that height.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Not every school needs a launch. One of our science teachers, Don Duffield, attended SEEC in Houston in 2024. He came back and used Slooh, an online network of professional telescopes, to teach observational astronomy to over 300 Grade 8 learners over three years for less than R200 per learner a year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Our next step is the International Space Station. In December a Falcon 9 rocket will launch Northrop Grumman&#8217;s Cygnus spacecraft to the station. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It will carry a MaxIQ Space nanolab holding two experiments designed and programmed by Parklands learners and one each by CAMST (Cape Academy of Mathematics, Science and Technology) and Trinity Preparatory of Florida.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The first is Rooibos in Space, run with the South African Rooibos Council, MaxIQ Space and SANSA. Rooibos seeds from the Cederberg will spend six weeks in orbit. They will be the first seeds of an indigenous South African plant to go to space. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The seeds fly with a Springbot that our Grade 6 learners programmed. It will record temperature, humidity, gases, light, microgravity and radiation. When the seeds come back, our secondary learners will grow them next to Earth-grown controls and compare how they do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The second is Genesis, a device our learners designed that will measure vibrations on the International Space Station (ISS) to find early signs of equipment failure. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The same approach works in cars, aircraft and spacecraft. Spotting a fault before it causes a failure makes them safer, and repairing parts before they break costs less than repairing them after, with less time out of service. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>With this launch, Parklands College will become the first African school to send a custom, learner-designed device to the ISS.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Space Exploration Educators Conference is a good place for your school to start. Send a few teachers, and nominate learners for the Learner Day (when applications open). <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As Don Duffield <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ieducation.co.za\/preparing-the-next-generation-to-become-a-multi-planetary-species\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">argues<\/a> in <em>Independent Education<\/em>, if we are to become a responsible, ethical multi-planetary species, we need to educate the generation in our classrooms now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a  data-lightbox=\"post-image\" href=\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Untitled-design-2026-10-27T070425.332.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"819\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Untitled-design-2026-10-27T070425.332-819x1024.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-881475\" srcset=\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Untitled-design-2026-10-27T070425.332-819x1024.png 819w, https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Untitled-design-2026-10-27T070425.332-240x300.png 240w, https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Untitled-design-2026-10-27T070425.332-768x960.png 768w, https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Untitled-design-2026-10-27T070425.332-1229x1536.png 1229w, https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Untitled-design-2026-10-27T070425.332.png 1600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 819px) 100vw, 819px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">SEEC comes to Africa<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>We have partnered with Space Center Houston to bring SEEC to Cape Town from 18 to 20 March 2027. It has run in Houston for more than thirty years, and this is the first time it will run on this continent. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Parklands College is hosting and organising it with our partners Living Maths, the Sakhikamva Foundation, MaxIQ Space, Trinity Preparatory of Florida and CoderLevelUp.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The theme is Space Explorers. Sessions use space to teach across the curriculum, from Mathematics and the Sciences to coding, Languages, History and the Arts. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Over three days there are keynotes, panels, astronaut sessions, spotlight inspiration sessions and over 25 workshops. Workshops are led by experienced educators, and at least half of every workshop is hands-on. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The conference is open to educators in all phases and subjects, so it works as professional development for a whole staff, not only the science department. Teachers leave with lessons and activities they can use in their own classrooms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Dates<\/strong>: Thursday, 18 March 2027 to Saturday, 20 March 2027<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Venue<\/strong>: Parklands College, Parklands, Cape Town<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Pre-Launch tickets<\/strong>: R4 500 for the first 50 delegates, including the gala dinner, a South African lamb-spit braai with stargazing.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Standard<\/strong>: R4 900 per delegate, with the gala dinner at R350.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Included<\/strong>: all three days of keynotes, panels, astronaut sessions and workshops. One delegate will win a ticket to SEEC 2028 in Houston.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Learner Day<\/strong>: Saturday, 20 March 2027, for up to 50 learners, with astronaut sessions and learner workshops. R1 500 per learner. Places are allocated by selection, and the criteria will be on seec.africa when applications open.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/seec.africa\/?utm_source=BusinessTech&amp;utm_medium=Article&amp;utm_term=October+2026\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Click here to register Today.<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>For more information or for any queries, please contact seec@parklands.co.za.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure data-wp-context=\"{&quot;imageId&quot;:&quot;6ae04fa9c3003&quot;}\" data-wp-interactive=\"core\/image\" class=\"wp-block-image size-large is-resized wp-lightbox-container\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"819\" height=\"1024\" data-wp-class--hide=\"state.isContentHidden\" data-wp-class--show=\"state.isContentVisible\" data-wp-init=\"callbacks.setButtonStyles\" data-wp-on-async--click=\"actions.showLightbox\" data-wp-on-async--load=\"callbacks.setButtonStyles\" data-wp-on-async-window--resize=\"callbacks.setButtonStyles\" src=\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Untitled-design-2026-10-27T070419.159-819x1024.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-881474\" style=\"width:840px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Untitled-design-2026-10-27T070419.159-819x1024.png 819w, https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Untitled-design-2026-10-27T070419.159-240x300.png 240w, https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Untitled-design-2026-10-27T070419.159-768x960.png 768w, https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Untitled-design-2026-10-27T070419.159-1229x1536.png 1229w, https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Untitled-design-2026-10-27T070419.159.png 1600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 819px) 100vw, 819px\" \/><button\n\t\t\tclass=\"lightbox-trigger\"\n\t\t\ttype=\"button\"\n\t\t\taria-haspopup=\"dialog\"\n\t\t\taria-label=\"Enlarge image\"\n\t\t\tdata-wp-init=\"callbacks.initTriggerButton\"\n\t\t\tdata-wp-on-async--click=\"actions.showLightbox\"\n\t\t\tdata-wp-style--right=\"state.imageButtonRight\"\n\t\t\tdata-wp-style--top=\"state.imageButtonTop\"\n\t\t>\n\t\t\t<svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"12\" height=\"12\" fill=\"none\" viewBox=\"0 0 12 12\">\n\t\t\t\t<path fill=\"#fff\" d=\"M2 0a2 2 0 0 0-2 2v2h1.5V2a.5.5 0 0 1 .5-.5h2V0H2Zm2 10.5H2a.5.5 0 0 1-.5-.5V8H0v2a2 2 0 0 0 2 2h2v-1.5ZM8 12v-1.5h2a.5.5 0 0 0 .5-.5V8H12v2a2 2 0 0 1-2 2H8Zm2-12a2 2 0 0 1 2 2v2h-1.5V2a.5.5 0 0 0-.5-.5H8V0h2Z\" \/>\n\t\t\t<\/svg>\n\t\t<\/button><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">South African Rooibos Council and photographer, Patrick King<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Parklands College has partnered with Space Center Houston to bring the Space Exploration Educators Conference (SEEC) to Cape Town from 18 to 20 March 2027.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":57,"featured_media":881472,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sma_x_autopost_status":"posted","_sma_x_autopost_error":"","_sma_x_post_id":"2114949215910559971","_sma_facebook_post_id":"191437357620492_2250557655764633","_sma_instagram_post_id":"","_sma_x_attempts":1,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10459],"tags":[20831,26940,2927,26941],"class_list":["post-881471","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-industry-news","tag-parklands-college","tag-seec","tag-space","tag-space-exploration-educators-conference"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/881471","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/57"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=881471"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/881471\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":881480,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/881471\/revisions\/881480"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/881472"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=881471"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=881471"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=881471"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}