Science Learning Trail @ MacRitchie Resevoir

Quite a few weeks back, I followed a few HCI schoolmates and headed to MacRitchie Resevoir. You will ask why, so I'm telling you. Actually, this is a part of the MOE's plan to improve the learning trails that we have every now and then ( I remembered quite a few back in Primary School). I did not apply for this, but since I had shorter than 10 CIP Hours, I HAD TO go. Let's think, we're actually some sort of Beta testers for this learning trail and give comprehensive feedback at the end. Mr Vincent Tan was the Teacher-In-Charge, but luckily, he did not put up an angry face, which is like a thousand 'Phews!' A few members of the PUB also joined us, and they got authorities, so... don't mess around with them. :D

After reaching MacRitchie by a hired bus, we settled down and were given a logbook each and introduced to our guide for that afternoon. Here's the map of MacRitchie Resevoir:

We started at the Amenities Centre which is probably indicated by the tiny red dot on the southeast of 'MacRitchie Resevoir' and headed west, which is actually almost unfindable in this map above, so we need a small scale one:



As you can see, we headed towards the area below the promenade. We could see the forest reserve opposite the promenade, and also the Band Stand, Lim Bo Seng Memorial and the Kayak Platform. It was like a small hill, so we could see quite a distance away. Then we moved towards a small jetty above the promenade. There, we collected water samples from the reservoir and started evaluating the water quality. Obviously, the water quality there is near perfect, otherwise the people of PUB would have to complain. We evaluated the smell, colour, turbidity (level of 'murkiness' of the water), pH value, temperature and checked if any oil pollution was present in the water. Luckily, everything was fine, the water had no smell, green and yellow algae in the water which is perfectly normal in waters in a catchment area, zero levels of turbidity, no oil pollution, 31.4 degrees Celsius and pH value of 5. Good, statistic collection done. Then we realised that dark clouds were looming above us. A thunderstorm was approaching. We rushed back to the Amenities Centre, and was later greeted by a small drizzle. We had to stay put and wait for a while, and the rain stopped after 10 minutes or so.

The sky returned to its clear state almost immediately. We walked along the dam and the lawn area and around the east end of the reservoir. We also realised the history of reservoirs in Singapore and also the human impact of the water here. Although it was tiring, there were still monkeys to cheer us up. We had to turn back a while later when we were on the boardwalk. There was not enough time to walk through the whole thing and we had to go home. Then, we saw a few people feeding the fish at the reservoir, which is illegal. Remember the PUB authorities? Well, they did not handcuff him (they were not police by the way), but called the park rangers to take action. I didn't know what action was it, so we didn't care. Near the shed for canoes, we were given a quick debrief followed by a survey so as to improve the conditions for learning trails in the near future. After that, I headed home by bus.

Quite a exciting adventure huh? Oh, and not to mention, we did saw a few canoes capsizing. We shouted, "In your face!" and laughed. Ok, maybe we were too cruel, I have to admit it now.


Great! I've finished the 3 Science ePortfolio posts! YAY! See ya next time when I have more updates!!!

Term 3 Science Grades

Kudos again to everyone visiting my blog right now!

Term 3 passed, as I mentioned in the previous blog post, and now we're getting closer to the End-Of-Year examinations. I pretty nervous though, cross my fingers and pray..... OK, actually the secret is to just work hard.  I'm doing just so, and depending on my Term 3 science grades, it's still very hard to predict what I will get in the final year exam. But guess what? I got an A1 for my Science in Term 3. It's a borderline A1 though, so I'm not too happy about it.

Anyway, I realized that it was an improvement compared to Term 1 and 2. Great. And that I got 76, it's awesome. Nah, it wasn't. I just felt ok, not too bad. It wasn't surprising that I got an average mark (not too bad, not too good), as I grabbed a few of the basic concepts tested, and went through them repeatedly before the test. I revise a bit, but dropped out of careless mistakes which I made carelessly (Duh!) Moreover, my science hadn't been so bad in Term 1 and 2, but with that little push from the A1 I got in Term 3, I'm starting to feel confident that I will get a decent 80 and above for my EOY. Nevertheless, I still have to work hard and improve in my weak areas. You see, I got 66 for Term 1, 70 for Term 2, 76 for Term 3, and wouldn't that be good if I got 80 and above for EOY? Yep.

Oh, and glad to say, the integer '1' in the Science A1 also managed to pull up my marks! So I'm thanking Science very much. Whews! 2.43 is my Term 3 MSG. Great. Improvement from 2.71 in the previous 2 terms. Now with the new chapter coming up (Forensics Science), I think that should not be too hard, so I'm putting my target on Science at 80 or 85 and above? Hmm, should think about it now and then...

Forensics Science

Hey there it's me and I have not written here for quite a long time. Term 3 has flown past and now everybody is getting ready for the last term of Sec 1. A lot of exciting things happened, including the release of Term 3 grades.  However, I'm going to talk about a Science topic hat has recently attracted my attention. It's still' Teaching-In-Progress' though, but it seemed exciting. The topic for today is:

Forensic Science

Forensics depend a lot on Science, indeed, it plays a huge role in solving small and large crimes, including homicides, murder and etc. However, it's an arduous task just by collecting the evidences from the crime scenes. A forensic investigator has to scrutinize every single 'thing' in the room, as they may be crucial evidence to solve the crime. If there are no evidence, then investigators will have to deduce and interrogate close members of the victim, or who was seen at the scene of crime at that time.

I feel that it is very important for investigators to exist in this world where peace is constantly disrupted by people who want to ruin theirs and our life. With investigators, we would be able to solve mysteries that may never be solved by normal people like us. In this way, members of the victim(s) can at least know how he/she was killed, and hopefully who was responsible. Not to mention, being an investigator is cool. You get to use your authorities to control the situation (not misusing it) and interrogate people till they give in. You know, some scenes in movies...

However, I'm afraid I won't be an investigator. Why? Because I suck at looking for things and bring frank, I wear glasses. Okay, maybe that's not a reason, but I can only admire them, but not be one of them.

In conclusion, I think that we should respect these Very-Important-People. In the next few science lessons of Term 4, I would be anticipating all the methods used to solve crime and restore peace.

HAIL JUSTICE! :)

Migration of my SCIENCE ePortfolio to Blogger + A brand NEW post!

Hi! This is my official movement of blog from Live@Edu to Blogger. I haven't been writing for a long time and I heard that we have to update at least 10 science blog entries! That's a LOT. Now, I'm very busy all this while. As such, I will not say a lot about complex, complicating and confusing science stuff. Let's start with the basic things, how about the reviews about the newest South Africa FIFA World cup Official Ball, the Adidas Jabulani.

I don't know whether, you have heard about the positive and negative effects about the ball's aerodynamics. It was said that the 'techy' ball was constructed using a new design, consisting of eight (down from 14 in the last World Cup) thermally bonded, three-dimensional panels. These are spherically molded from ethylene-vinyl acetate (EVA) and thermoplastic polyurethanes (TPU). The surface of the ball is textured with grooves, a technology developed by Adidas called Grip′n′Groove that are intended to improve the ball's aerodynamics.


However, there are critics complaining about the ball's unusual 'long flight' time while in the air. It sort of ' glides' when it's given a hard kick. The flight trajectory thus becomes much longer than usual. This is primarily due to the GripnGroove technology used on its surface. Adidas have added little ridges that surround the ball in many circular shapes that can clearly be felt when holding it. Like the dimples that surround a golf ball, GripnGroove’s function is to improve how the ball passes through air; basically it enhances how aerodynamic the ball is.\


Here's a quote by a soccer player:
 "My problem was that the Jabulani held up in the air longer than I have ever experienced with a soccer ball. Every time I tried to take it out of the air, it would end up landing several yards past where I expected. Another great aspect to the Jabulani is the fact that it doesn’t have noticeable panels keeping it together. I am sure at some stage, you will have played with a 32 panel ball, and you will be familiar with how you can feel the gaps in between each panel. Well, with the Jabulani, each panel has been pieced together and thermally bonded, so that you don’t get the same gaps in between panels. This leaves the ball a lot smoother, and is another key component to why it moves so fast." 
Video of ball's development:
http://www.lboro.ac.uk/service/publicity/news-releases/2009/adidas-video/169-adidas-video.html


So, with the new ball out for the World Cup, many 'oily hands' incidences has dawned on a few goalkeepers. One of them is Robert Green, the England goalkeeper who let the ball in even though it didn't have much power. 
Here's a video of what happened:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OxspfInbLV8&feature=related


OK, this science entry has come to an end, as it's getting quite late. If you want me to tell more about the 'Jabulani', simply, comment on this blog! Be a Follower and receive updatesss!