Explore a bug's world

The annual Yebo Gogga Yebo amaBlomo exhibition is on now at Wits UniversityIt's a bug’s life at Yebo Gogga Yebo amaBlomo, where you can learn all about creepy crawly critters. Try the mopane pizza fest for size.
HAVE you ever wondered why a snake sheds its skin, how insects with rigid skin grow, or how to attract bugs and birds to your garden?

There are wonders all around - watch and discoverThere are wonders all around - watch and discoverThese are just some of the questions that you can find answers to at this year’s Yebo Gogga Yebo amaBlomo exhibition, which is on now on Wits University’s East Campus.

Running until 16 October, the exhibition, which this year has the theme Explore, gives visitors the opportunity to discover the world using their senses – watch a bug, smell a flower, listen to nature.

According to Vivienne Rowland, the senior communication officer at Wits University, visitors can expect to enquire and learn. “This year [includes] exhibitions by more than 35 organisations, where you can use all five senses to delve into the secret of plants, goggas and amazing creatures of all kinds,” she says.

Among the exhibitors are the Johannesburg Zoo, Pretoria Zoo, Gauteng Conservancy Association, Walter Sisulu Botanical Gardens and Grow a Tree. The university’s School of Animal, Plant and Environmental Science is also exhibiting.

Visitors can discover other ways of looking into the world as well as learn how scientists explore the world.

“There are wonders all around and sometimes all it takes is open eyes and an inquisitive mind to see the fascinating things in your own backyard, where you can watch and discover,” says Donald McCallum, the exhibition’s director.

Explorer
The organisers explain that Yebo Gogga Yebo amaBlomo this year is about exploration and explorers. “Come and explore with us the world from the perspective of bugs and critters. Use all your senses to find out more about our living world. Tiny hunters and their prey, strange life, strange lives, fact more weird than fantasy,” they say, invitingly.

The last two days of the exhibition – over the weekend – will feature talks on spiders, scorpions, frogs and plants.
Entomologist Marcus Byrne will present a lecture on science and dung beetles. Entitled Smoke and Mirrors: Doing Science with Dung Beetles, it will take place on 14 October at 6pm in OLS3, Oppenheimer Life Sciences Building. Entrance for the lecture is R50.

For more information or to book, send an email to: Nelisiwe.Majola@wits.ac.za.

There is also an explorer challenge, and a mopane pizza fest at 1.30pm on both Saturday and Sunday. Or you can just learn a bit more about snakes and scorpions.

Yebo Gogga Yebo amaBlomo has been held by the university each year since 2004, inspiring young schoolchildren, students and the general public to learn more about bugs, plants and animals – and their importance in our world.

The theme changes each year, to reveal interesting information about the planet, with a special focus on South Africa. The exhibition is hosted by Wits’ School of Animal, Plant and Environmental Science and the Oppenheimer Life Sciences Building.

It is held at the life sciences building, which is on East Campus, in Braamfontein. Entrance is from Yale Road.

Entrance to Yebo Gogga Yebo amaBlomo is free beside the lecture. Doors are open from 9am to 4pm on weekdays and 10am to 4pm on the weekend.

For a full programme, more information about the event or school bookings, visit the Yebo Gogga website or contact Cheryl Dehning on 011 316 1426 or Renee Reddy on 011 717 6457.