Away Day to Chicamba Real Dam
Our first Milton Junior School Away Day of 2023 was a trip to Chicamba Real Dam, an impressive hydro-electrical plant just 30kms from Chimoio. The tour gave our students an insight into the production of electricity and how we can use the power of nature to meet our energy demands.
Chicamba Real Dam is a magnificent construction. Made entirely of reinforced concrete, its curved surface stretches across the Revué River. It is 94 metres long, 75 metres high and 10 metres wide - that’s a lot of concrete! It currently produces energy for Beira, Chimoio and the border regions of Zimbabwe.
Our students were lucky enough to access to the inner workings of the hydro-electrical plant. They learnt how the flow of water is managed between different areas of the plant to ensure that there is always a steady supply of electricity. They also saw some of the challenges in trying to predict the amount of electricity needed in the future and how this affects the day to day operations at the plant.
We definitely have some future engineers amongst our students! The tour allowed everyone to see how the knowledge they learn in the classroom is applied in the real world. We believe this is a vital part of their learning and development, helping to encourage a positive attitude to their education and curiosity about the world around them.
Whenever possible, we like to finish our Away Days with a short summary of the day’s events before our students rush off to tell their parents all about their trip!
Asking students to remember different parts of the day, to describe what they have seen, to highlight what they found interesting or surprising, reinforces learning. It is also a valuable way to check their understanding and gives the students confidence that they can apply their knowledge to the outside world.
We’d like to say a huge thank you to everyone involved in making this trip happen, we couldn’t do it without you!
If you would like to see more of our Away Day to Chicamba Dam, do visit our blog page to watch a short video.