The paper compares the experiences of rural and urban learners who participate in Eskom Expo for Young Scientists science fairs in the Limpopo province of South Africa. Within an exploratory case study in the Limpopo province, a third-generation activitytheory framework was applied as an analytical tool to determine differences in activities between learners from rural and urban schools. To address triangulation, personal meaning mapping, interviews, focus-group discussions, and observations were used. The study involved eleven learners, six from rural schools and five from urban schools. Themes were identified to present the learners` view on science fairs and possible reasons for their performance or failure. The results revealed that the differences in activities of rural learners are due to: poor school facilities, lack of support, lack of mentors, lack of equipment, lack of computers and computer illiteracy. Two new areas are confirmed namely the level of attention with regards to learner`s engagement and readiness to learn and depth of knowledge of learners-factors that were not identified in previous studies on science fairs.

This paper reports on a research carried out to obtain information on the usefulness o f Science and Mathematics Centres (SMCs) in Zimbabwe. Interviews and questionnaires administered to the regional directorate andA-kvel teachers addressed the following aspects: accessibility o f SMCs, use o f materials at the SMCs, SMC workshops attendance, support to access the SMCs, networking and development o f curriculum materials. 73.8% o f the respondents indicated that the SMCs were easily accessible. Those in rural areasfound the centres not to be accessible in terms o f distance. The A-level teachers mainly come to the SMCs when invited fo r workshops. Only 47.1% o f the respondents are using the resources at the centre, and it is mainly the photocopier which is used. There is no deliberate move to enhance teacher networking in the regions. It is recommended that the SMCs be made more accessible, teachers be afforded a chance fo r computer literacy courses, and SMC management committees should have aggressive advocacy campaigns so that intended users are aware o f what is offered at the centres and the resources that are available. This is a download from the BLDS Digital Library on OpenDocs http://opendocs.ids.ac.uk/opendocs/ Institute o f Development Studies