Magnets and magnetic materials play important roles in our lives! Our homes have some form of magnets/electromagnets because many of our electrical appliances and even our circuit breakers and doorbells require the use of magnets to function. Watch the following video to learn more.
Genetic Engineering is very useful for making large amounts of useful biological substances such as hormones from living organisms such as bacteria. You can visit the following websites to learn more about genetic engineering:
Websites:
http://www.madehow.com/Volume-7/Insulin.html
http://www.abpischools.org.uk/page/modules/diabetes/diabetes6.cfm?coSiteNavigation_allTopic=1
For the past week, a number of my students who are taking important exams this year did not complete their homework. I had expected it as school has reopened, and numerous activities would have taken up their time.
Nevertheless, I spoke to each student and provided them with some advice. As this is the beginning of the second semester and many students will be taking their national examinations in a few months’ time, I would like to share my personal experience on what I feel are key factors to achieving success and a balance in life (not just studies, but in all aspects of life).
All of us have only 24 hours each day. Why are some people able to accomplish so much in 1 day? Whereas others can hardly get anything done? Secondary school students in Singapore usually have to juggle between 6 to 9 subjects on top of other extra curriculum activities. How can a student cope and do well in everything then?
The key lies in good time management. To be able to manage one’s time effectively, you need to have Planning, Prioritisation and Discipline.
Planning
For things to happen, you must plan for it. I like to plan on Sundays what I would want to get done for each day of the following week. I would also set aside time to do each activity (block time). If you are a student, you can also plan a schedule on what subjects and topics you would like to cover each day. Set realistic time blocks which are achievable, for example, 15 minutes a day on chemistry. If you were to calculate, 15 minutes a day on one subject, if done consistently for 7 days is equal to 1 hour and 45 mins a week. That is a significant amount of time. When you get use to this routine, you can slowly increase the time block for each activity. This small incremental amount of time spent each day on each subject has a cumulative effect and will lead to astonishing results!
Prioritisation
Human nature is such that we prefer to do things we like first and procrastinate on doing things we dislike. Similarly, for subjects or topics that we dislike, they end up at the bottom of the ladder. We may end up not studying them or study them at times when we are already exhausted. Consequently, these subjects/topics also become our weakest ones and are our Achilles’ Heels. They will hinder us from getting our A1/A*s ultimately. Hence, when I had multiple subjects to study, my strategy was always to do what I dislike most/weakest. By doing this, I ensured that my weakest points were covered when I was most alert. I would also feel a sense of achievement after accomplishing them and I could look forward to doing what I liked next.
I strongly urged students not to give up on their sleep in order to squeeze in more activities. Our brains need to rest and our bodies need to rejuvenate. A well-rested mind and body can achieve much more than an exhausted one. Hence, please make having adequate sleep one of your top priorities too.
Discipline
The best schedule will not work if it is not put to action. Hence, discipline is vital for any planning to succeed. Discipline may involve sacrifices such as missing out on favourite TV programmes at times. However, if one looks at the bigger picture, these small sacrifices pave the way to achieving success at greater heights.
Last but not least, it is important to review what you have done to past week: have you use your time constructively, are there ways you could have improve on your time utilisation?
Remember: manage your time well to lead a balanced life !
The principles and concepts in Science are like the varied and amazing tools in a magical toolbox to me. Just like the tools in a toolbox, there are many interesting and fascinating facts in Science.
But, the responses we get when we hand a child a toolbox to play and when we give the child a book to learn about Science are worlds apart.
The child will explore the toolbox and its contents with glee, making an effort to find out how to use the different tools.
As for the book, few children will really sit still and read the book with interest!
Why are the responses so different then? How can we create the experience of learning science similar to that of playing with a toolbox?
In the toolbox case, the child undergoes experiential learning: he/she learns from exploring, he tries and experience, observes and make inferences. Through this mode of learning, the child remembers and will learn the purpose of each tool and how to use them next time.
In the science learning case, it is very dry and boring to learn science by reading. Many concepts and principles in science are best learnt and remembered through hands-on activities and experiments.
To cultivate an interest in the learning of science, the Educator should make the “Science” come alive; Let the child see how deeply science is intertwined in their daily lives:
Example 1: why do you need to breath and eat? (This will explain the principle of respiration)
Example 2: why do plants die when they do not have sunlight and water? (Simple experiments can be done to show the wilting of plants when one of the factors is removed)
The Educator plays a vital to ignite and continuous fuel this passion in the child by:
Once the child gains mastery of each tool (science concept), he/she will know which tool to take from the magical toolbox (Science) to use when given a problem to solve.
Every education specialist that I met and every educational magazine I came across never fails to advocate reading from a young age. Prenatal education also encourages mums-to-be to read as much as possible to their unborn babies.
If language is so important, what about Science then?
Why is Science only taught from Primary 3 onwards in Singapore? Why is it not taught right at the start (Pri 1) like English and Mathematics?
In my opinion as a Science Educational Specialist, a good grasp of the language skill is necessary to understand science questions and answer science questions logically and coherently. Hence, the first 2 years of formal schooling help build up a child’s language ability before Science Education is introduced.
By introducing Science later, does that mean Science is less important? Definitely not!
In my personal capacity as a parent, it is vital to introduce Science as early as possible to a child. The two key reasons are:
Academic Progression
In primary school, science is one of the 4 subjects studied. But in Secondary school, science can become as many as 3 subjects (pure chemistry, pure biology and pure physics) of 7-9 subjects. Even if a secondary school student takes combined science, it is basically 2 science subjects rolled into one. If a strong foundation in science is not established in the early years, the child will struggle as he/she moves up the educational ladder as science subjects will only seem to become more and more complex and abstract, and difficult to master.
Future of the child
Academic grades aside, having a good knowledge and passion in science will open up many career paths for the child. The careers paths for science students are very diverse and varied. They ranged from hardcore science careers such as research scientists to medical/pharmaceutical science to food science to engineering/architectural science. Given the abundance of career opportunities science provides, it is definitely a good idea to start nurturing a love for science since young. Even if ultimately, a career in science is not pursue, a good science knowledge will also help a person know the biochemistry to good health.
Given that Science is an integral part of our lives, how do we introduce Science to young kids through our daily activities?
Stay tune for my future posts as I will write in-depth on how to introduce science and explain scientific concepts to our children.
Time flies! It’s the middle of the June Holidays already.
Running out of places to bring the kids out?
Thinking of an outing that is both fun and educational of the kids?
A good place I have discovered recently is the Singapore Arts Museum. I went there for a school excursion with my kids to learn about “shadows”. To my surprise, I saw a number of exhibits there they are very useful in imparting science to kids.
On level 1, there is a large glass tank that contains numerous green plants. The self-sustaining environment of this exhibit captures at least 3 scientific principles:
1. Photosynthesis: In the presence of light, green plants take in carbon dioxide and water to produce oxygen and food.
2. Respiration: Green plants are living things and will take in oxygen to support life processes and carbon dioxide and water are by-products.
3. The water cycle: Loss of water through evaporation and transpiration to produce water vapour which condenses on the cooler glass surface to form water droplets.
The above three concepts are highly interlinked as the products (waste) of one process is a necessary reactant in another process. For example, the carbon dioxide produced in respiration is a necessary reactant in photosynthesis. This exhibit brings to life a typical structured question in science exams.
On level 2, real rubber seeds are show-cased. Visitors can learn about the dispersion process of rubber seeds as well as the different varieties of rubber seeds. It is a good starting point to introduce young kids to the concept of dispersion in plants and the different types of dispersion methods.
Other exhibits related to science worth mentioning are:
1. Animal traps: different types of animal traps are on display and visitors can understand the different mechanisms present in these traps.
2. Exhibits made of iron nails and graphite: these exhibits exposed kids to different types of materials and uses. It was very refreshing to see the innovative and beautiful art pieces made from these materials which typically are highly functional type of materials.
It was indeed an eye-opening trip for me as I never did expect to see so many scientific displays in an ART museum. The exhibitors were ingenuous to synergise science and art together to create highly educational art pieces. If you have the time, it is definitely a good idea to make a trip to S.A.M where your kids can be exposed to Science, Art and have fun at the same time.
Xenography: How a laser printer works
Lab experiments to demonstrate reactivity series of metal
Forensic Ink Analysis
Chemistry in Forensics
Excel w/ Vicky 