Thursday, October 28, 2010

Post-Exam Activities (Sports Chanbara and Archery)

2:05 PM Posted by Reuven Lim No comments
This is the second day of post-activities. 5 classes were taking Archery and Sports Chanbara. 101, 102 and half of 103 was in the first group. The other half, with 104 and 105 formed another group. I was in the second group, and we had Sports Chanbara first.



Sports Chanbara, or swordplay in Japanese, was being conducted by Dave, an instructor from Samurai Sports Singapore. It was a funny briefing. We learnt about some Japanese terms regarding Chanbara. The foam swords we were using were called Kodachi, or short unadjustable sword.



We were led to do Ashi warmups. Ashi refers to the area from the hips to the foot, but we were told to aim for the shins, for reasons guys should know.

After we were let to run wild, we organised to do some kind of drills between groups, sort of like dancing. It taught us how to basically attack, defend, and counter.

After we were finished with the warm-up and drills, we were in a game of mock war. It was really fun, with some people being "commandos". Most people "die" after "killing" another person, but a few kill many or die a few seconds into the game.

Some action!


After a short recess, It was time for us to do archery.



Instructors from Ace Archery told us how to use the bows, common mistakes, and things to avoid. It was pretty slow as it was a few at a time. I got to try my hand at left-hand bows and right-hand bows. Sadly there was only 1 left hand bow.



After all of us got to try out, some going four times, even Mr Lam joined in, we were made to play archery games, where we earned points with our shots. We had to pop balloons, and everybody got at least 1 shot.

Well after that, everyone was having fun, but sadly all good things come to an end. With hesitant hearts, we bade farewell to the instructors and went on our way.

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Perfume Making Workshop @ Science Centre

10:13 PM Posted by Goh Jia Sheng 吴佳声 , No comments

This is the end product of Christopher's and he is very happy about it.


Filling the solvent into the perfume.



Dropping a few droplets of the different scent of oil or perfumes.


Shakti was smelling the ester.


The substance used to make the ester that Shakti smells.


The lime shredding of the skin and where we can smell the zest of the lime and gather the critic oil.



Abilash smelling the jasmine water which is non - soluble and he has already shaken it.


Pouring the solution of the crushed Jasmine and distilled water.


Mixing the crushed Jasmine flowers and distilled water for one to three minutes.

Pouring all of the crushed Jasmine flowers into the beaker.

Pour 200ml of distilled water into the water.

Crushing the Jasmine flowers.




The end-of-yearexaminations are over, and SST has planned a range of activities for us. One of them was to learn about the making of Perfume at Science Centre. Perfume making are separated into three segments with four
experiments.


The first segment is extraction of the smell from two natural raw materials.The first experiment is about solvent extraction of the Jasmine flowers.
Then pour the crushed flowers into the water and stir in one direction for three minutes.Here is how we extract it.First crush the Jasmine flowers in a pack.
Secondly, prepare a beaker filled with 200ml of distilled water.
Finally carry out the filtration process and collect the Jasmine water.
To smell it shake it throughly as it is non - soluble and so as to redissolve the Jasmine water.

The next experiment is to find out the lime scent. First, scrape the lime skin along the grater.We took turns to grate it and while grating, we smelt the scent of the lime. The instructor told us that the grated pieces are actually where the citric oil is.

At the second segment, we learn about esters, creating esters and writing a word equation. Ester are scented organic compounds. To make a ester,the instructor ask us to pass her our beaker which she filled with Salicylic Acid Crystals, Methanol and Concentrated Sulphuric Acid which act as a catalyst.

Lastly the the third segment which all of the students love is making their own perfume. Before that , the instructor gave us a crash course on the three part of the perfume. The top note which is most refreshing, most volatile and evaporate the fastest. The next is the heart note, which last the first few minutes and somewhat the neutral type. Finally is the base note, this is the last to evaporate and normally after one day the smell will change.

After that, we were given a glass vile to store our perfumes.Then the instructor said to forget about all those and ask us to mix our favorite smells together and the result may be the same as the smells that we choose. Most pioneers went around tables mixing different smells and the result were astonishing as some came out good well some were very smelly.

Reported by Goh Jia Sheng

Post-Exam Activities (Cheer Leading Workshop)

8:10 PM Posted by JieMin , No comments
The end-of-year exams are over, and SST has organised facilitators for our cheerleading workshop.

Initially, the facilitators introduced themselves and shared some jokes. We did some warm-up exercises shortly after. A student from each class was to be carried from one end to another, supported by the classes' hands, which in this case was me, as I seemed to be light. It felt very awkward, being lifted by everybody.

Then we began by learning some arm motions, namely: a high touchdown, a high 'V', a 'T', a low 'V', a touchdown, low touchdown, a clap and a clasp.

Then, we learnt some simple jumps like the star jump, tug jump and straight jump. After that, it was our recess and we took the time to refresh ourselves.

Next, we learnt how to perform a PA Stand. it requires 4 positions: 2 bases (left and right), a flyer and a backsport. Firstly, the right and left base form the full base. Then, the flyer puts his/her right leg onto the right base's leg. Next, the backsport, who is holding the flyer's waist, boosts the flyer up and the flyer balances on both bases' legs. The flyer then makes a high 'V'. After that, the bases hold the flyer's hand and jump on the count of 4, bouncing the flyer, who keeps his/her legs together, landing on his/her toes.

We also learnt to do a dance, comprising of various moves, following the facilitator step by step. Many of us got confused and we had to repeat it.

Finally, we combined the dance and the PA Stand. We failed many times but we did not give up. We tried and tried and eventually got it perfectly.


We would like to thank the facilitators who were very patient with us, and of course, SST, who organised this entire program!

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

A Day @ SST

9:09 PM Posted by Lee YuChong No comments
The day had come! We were finally going to meet our potential juniors for 2011 in SST. We now have the chance to see who we would be sharing the knowledge we have with next year. This was the day when our juniors would get a feel of how we work, learn and collaborate as if they were already a part of the SST family. They will experience how it’s like being a student of the School of Science and Technology, Singapore. This day would be crucial as they would get a feel of how a day at SST is really like, and thus, would decide if such a school is suitable for them.
A day of fun and learning began with all our own SST students and staff preparing themselves to receive our guests. At around 8 o’clock, our potential juniors, along with their parents, came rushing through our gates and headed towards the registration area. Our student ushers and staff gave them their tags and info kit for them to get started. The parents were ushered into the waiting area, our library, to wait for the meeting with the Principal or the Vice-Principals to begin in the Learning Oasis and ADMT Room 1. As for our juniors, they were brought to the various rooms for different activities based on the various subjects. Subjects that were previewed to the students were Science, Mathematics, English and Integrated Humanities. Our ushers were running back and forth to assist, guide and even answer questions by the juniors and their parents. Our student helpers, or the Teacher Assistants, were working hard too to ensure that their teachers managed to get their message and lessons across to the juniors. The teachers of the respective subjects did their best to engage the students in their various activities and allowed them to get a taste of SST life. Throughout the three sessions, the SST family did their best to give to her potential members.
We hope that in 2011, we will be able to see the same people we saw today, this time donned with our school uniform. They will join us in our road to success and progress with their seniors to a bright future.


Written by: Hardy Shein Nyein Chan
Edited by: Lee YuChong
Images shall be uploaded in the next post

Pictures of A Day @ SST

9:00 PM Posted by Lee YuChong No comments
Selected photos:

Session 1:

Students and Parents registering for the event
Students and parents registering for the event

Student and Parent figuring out which venue to go to
SST student reporters going around doing their live feed to the parents at the learning Oasis and ADMT Room 1 sharing with the parents their learning during the classroom experiences.

An English class going on

Looks like a serious discussion in English Class!

Students arranging their instructions in English Class

Students arranging their instructions in English class

Teacher giving instructions during English Class
Students having their physics class in the Physics Lab
Students trying out a Physics software
Session 2:

Another SST student reporter going around doing their live feed to the parents at the learning Oasis and ADMT Room 1 sharing with the parents their learning during the classroom experiences.

Yet another discussion in English Class

Students recording themselves using their MacBooks
Students exploring the MacBooks

Mr. Richard Koh giving instructions to the class

Mrs. Salena Nair helping a student out with her MacBook
Students having fun while learning with their MacBook

Our Teacher Assistant helping out with a junior's MacBook

Mr James Koh helping a student with her MacBook

Someone pointing fingers? Perhaps a problem surfaced with Ms. Tay to help

Students searching for Malay Pioneers of Singapore during the Integrated Humanities lesson

Students using their MacBook for an activity

Mr Charles Loh briefing his class in Biology
Session 3:
Mr. Low briefing the student helpers

Entire selection of photos