Young teacher’s catchy song about chromosomes is the new anthem for life sciences students

Sometimes, all it takes is one good teacher to make school fun and intriguing for kids. It may be the friendly approach or fun-filled teaching methods, but what matters the most is that the teachers keep their students engaged, especially when teaching hard or seemingly boring subjects. But Samkelo Sabamanzi Mhlophe, a teacher who goes by @thishawakutiktok on TikTok, cracked the code to teach life sciences most amusingly. His peppy song about chromosomes recently went viral on social media.

Working as a teacher in South Africa, Mhlophe also takes up multiple professional roles, including actor, presenter and program director. In this video, we can see that the teacher put his performing skills to use by using a catchy tune to teach the "crossing over" of chromosomes. The lyrics were just descriptive lines about the biological process, like, "It's a process whereby chromosomes exchange genetic material." Simply reading it out may seem glum, but Mhlophe made it much more fun by making it sound like a rap song. The teacher sings the song once and the students follow his tune, repeating the lines multiple times. So, this way, whenever the students come across a question about "chromosomes cross-over," they would instantly think about this song they have memorized. 

Mhlophe patiently waited till his students got hold of the concept and then explained the next one with the same groovy approach. The classroom was bustling with energy as every student was enjoying their lessons. They were all smiles while singing the "Chromosome song" repeatedly and some were even seen dancing from their seats. Throughout his class, the teacher kept up his enthusiasm and assured that his students were tagging along with him. With nearly 3 million views on the platform, this video got people expressing their love and gratitude for the teacher in the comments.

"There is absolutely no way you will forget this, even when writing a text. An excellent strategy to learn" commented @katembali77. "As an educator too, I'm learning so much here. I've realized that they don't learn anything when you just stand in front and preach. Thanks," wrote @thobsmak. "I got to level 6 in life science because of you! I used to go to all the camps and cross-days," commented @xx_mbali2.

Speaking of cool teaching methods, the internet is quite fond of this hip-hop artist's amazing way of teaching emotional intelligence to school kids. Emmy award winner Devine Carama – who goes by @devinecarama on TikTok – shared a powerful message through his video. He asked a group of little boys to stop him as he was slowly filling up a glass of water. When the water reached the rim of the glass, the kids yelled, "Stop it." He then explained that the experiment represented how we take in too many experiences and feelings in a day. "Because we, as young men, keep it in. We don't let it out. We don't talk about it," he said and added that an overflow of emotions makes a mess in our lives. "We have to find safe places where we can talk about what we are going through and what we're feeling," the singer emphasized.

You can follow Samkelo Sabamanzi Mhlophe (@thishawakutiktok) on TikTok and Instagram for more fun teaching content.