Junior Science
education
Our Meeting Place
Table Mountain
Here are some useful words to remember that can be used when
you are on top of Table Mountain. These words will remind you of
the adventure you will have on the mountain.
• Summit (top)
• Camps Bay (beach)
• Protea (national flower)
• Map
• Reptile (lizard)
• Viewpoint 1 (Robben Island)
• Rock rabbit (dassie)
• Viewpoint 2 (Muizenberg)
• National Park
• Cable Car
• Atlantic Ocean
• Millipede (thousand leg insect)
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Junior Science
education
North and South
North and South
Look carefully at the map of the summit of Table Mountain. The
mountain is situated in the ________________________ of Cape
Town.
Table Mountain - The cloud on Table
Mountain is also called the table cloth.
How is this table cloth formed?
The table cloth is actually a cloud that
forms when the South Easter wind
blows a pocket of warm air over Table
Mountain.
Our Climate - We have a MEDITERRANEAN climate in Cape Town and
we share the climate with countries around the Mediterranean sea,
California and South Western Australia. Today, however, our weather
patterns are very unpredictable. When the wind blows in a SOUTH
EASTERLY direction, it can cause a fire to spread.
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to the mountain?
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the cable car travel up
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In which direction does
Junior Science
education
Direction
Look carefully at the photograph of the Table Mountain below. The
mountain is in close proximity to the City.
Activity
1. Cut out the compass below and place it over Cape Town.
2. Moving in a clockwise direction, work out on what
point of a compass each place is located. ( For example
______________ is north of Cape Town.)
___________
______________
___________
______________
___________
______________
___________
______________
___________
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Compass
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Junior Science
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Ocean and Land
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S A Z
Find the words below in the word search. As you find it, draw a
line through the word.
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Pacific
Pollution
Radiation
Rainbow
Reservoir
Sixty
Smog
Southern
Table
Vapour
Warm
Water
Whirlwind
Wind
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Currents
Dioxide
Doctor
Fog
Fynbos
Hydrogen
Indian
Kirstenbosch
Lightning
Littering
Moisture
Nine
Nitrogen
Oxygen
Ozone
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Agulhas
Arctic
Atlantic
Atmosphere
Bay
Beacon
Benguela
Cape
Carbon
Clifton
Climate
Clockwise
Cloth
Cold
Cloud
Junior Science
education
Currents
The Currents, Climate and the
Cable Car
South Africa is affected by the two ocean currents called the warm Agulhas and the cold Benguela current.
The warm Agulhas current is one of the world’s fastest and most powerful currents. This current also brings
warm water from the tropics to the east coast. The Western Cape, where we live, is influenced by the cold
Benguela current which flows northwards along the west coast. This current brings cold Antarctic water to
the west coast.
Did you know?
During the summer months, the famous “South Easter” wind blows. It is known as the C_____________
because it keeps the Peninsula cool in summer. It blows anti-clockwise around the South Atlantic high
pressure cell. As this high pressure cell moves around, an arm of high pressure sometimes lies south of the
Cape. The air then blows over the warm water of the Agulhas current and picks up moisture. When this
moisture laden South Easter blows over Table Mountain and other mountains, it rises against the south east
face, cools and forms clouds. As it flows down the northern face of the mountain, it
warms and evaporates. Cold fronts move northwards and clip the South Western Cape,
bringing rain. Because rain falls mostly in winter, Cape Town’s climate is known as the
M__________________.
The Cableway
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On 4 October 1929, the Cableway opened its doors to its first visitors. Since then
three upgrades have taken place, with the most recent in October 1997.
• The 65 passenger cable car runs from the Lower Station in Tafelberg Road to the
top of Table moutain. The floor rotates giving everyone a 360 degree view on the
way up.
• The cable car was imported from Switzerland and there are only 2 other such
cable cars in the world, one in Titlis in the Swiss Alps in Switzerland, and one in
Palm Springs in America.
• The cable cars take about 5 - 10 minutes to reach the top of the mountain and
they travel at a speed of up to 10 meters per second.
• The cable cars can carry a maximum weight of 5200 kg and works on a
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counter weight system weighing 134 tonnes each.
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• The length of each cable is 1200m.
• The cables weigh 18 tonnes.
• The height of Table Mountain at its highest point, Maclear’s Beacon,
is 1085m.
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Junior Science
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The round cable car offers excellent aerodynamics in Cape Town’s famous strong South Easter winds. The base of the cable car is in fact a water tank that can carry up to 4000 litres of fresh water. This water is supplied to the Upper Cable Station. During the windy season
the filled water tank offers additional ballast.
NAME: __________________________________ Date: _____________________
Answer these questions set on the information above.
1. Name the two ocean currents that affect Cape Town.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
2. Why is the Cape Peninsula such a special place?
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
3. Which current influences the Western Cape?
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
4. What is our location on the African continent?
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
5. Why is the wind that blows over the Cape Peninsula called the Cape Doctor?
_____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
6. What is Cape Town’s climate called?
_____________________________________________________________________________
7. Why do you think the Table Mountain cable car is so unique?
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
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8. How does the new cable car differ from the old one?
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
Junior Science
education
Get Involved
Do you love nature? Start a Table Mountain Watch Group with a few friends. Write down things you see on
the mountain that you are not happy with. Write down a goal and a plan of action (poa) for your group. Now
watch over the mountain.
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_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
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Junior Science
education
Environmental Consequences
Environmental hazard identification and Environmental Aspects
• Identify the environmental hazards associated with Table Mountain
• Identify the aspects of the environment that these hazards may have an impact on.
An example is given to get you started.
Type of Hazard
Environmental Aspect
Fires
Air (dust, smoke, fumes)
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Science
education
facilitator’s notes
What are the food chains?
Food chains
All living things need food to give them the energy to grow and move. A food chain shows how each living
thing gets its food. It shows who is eating who.
The sun is very important for all living things. Without the sun the plants would not grow and without plants
there would be no animals.
Table Mountain supports many food chains.
The food chain consists of four main parts:
• The sun, which provides the energy for everything on the planet.
• Producers: these include all green plants, which use the energy of the sun to make their own food. They make up the bulk of the food chain.
• Consumers: In short, consumers are every organism that eats something else.
They are divided into primary and secondary consumers.
• Decomposers: These are mainly bacteria and fungi that convert dead
matter into gases such as carbon and nitrogen to be released back into
the air, soil or water.
Do you know what a food web is?
A food web shows how food chains in an ecosystem overlap. Each plant or animal
may be part of a different food chain. For example here on the mountain a
grasshopper eats grass. So does a mouse. Then the mouse eats the grasshopper. Snakes again
will eat the mouse.
How have humans affected the food chain?
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Tertiary Consumers
Primary Consumers
Producers
Decomposers
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The table shows the relationship of each of the major groups in the
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When we spray pesticides, we put the food chain in danger. By breaking one link in the
chain all of the organisms above that link are in threat of extinction. By hunting animals
nearly to extinction, everything above the animal in the food chain is put in danger. Such a
‘chain reaction’ in the food chain can be perilous! Since the food chain provides energy that
all living things must have in order to survive, it is of utmost importance that we protect it.
Science education
Food chains on Table Mountain
Activity
Cut up the picture cards and labels below and use them to complete different food chains in the table.
Consumer
Secondary
Consumer
Predator
Algae
Worm
Man
Eagle
Falcon
Cabbage
Chicken
Plankton
Sparrow
Fish
Leaf
Caterpillar
Producer
Assessment
1. What is a food chain? Provide an example. (A food chain shows how living things get energy.)
2. What is a food web? Provide an example. ( A food web shows how food chains in an ecosystem
overlap.)
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