(I) Plenary Sessions [Day 1 - complete this section]
(A) My key learning points from each session...
1. Importance of Water - Dirty and Clean
I had learnt that Water is precious and we should not take it for granted. Microbes such as cholera can be found in water. Singapore has a total of 4 national taps, the local catchment tap, the imported water tap, the Newater tap and the desalinated water tap. These 4 taps are where Singapore get its water from. They supply enough /sufficient water for the residents. I had also learnt that Asia today has the highest water & environment infrastructure spending growth as it contributes to 39% (9000) of that in the world. This also means that the countries in Asia, including Singapore, actually spent more money in building infrastructure that helps to obtain water and natural materials as compared to the other countries in the world. As for the other countries in the other continents, for North America, it contributes 16%, for South America, it contributes 22%, and for the other continents, such as Europe, Middle East, Africa and Oceania, they contribute 23% (3 continents), the remaining percentage. Therefore, South America is second after Asia.
2. Revolution of Microelectronics Technology
I had learnt more about brainwaves and integrated circuits. Learnt about how to remember the word ‘brainwave’ through the 9 ‘O’s techniques. The 9 ‘O’s are Bio, Radio, Auto, Info, Nano, Water = Hydro, Audio, Video and Energy = m.c^2 = m.c^two. Learnt more about how computers were created and how most electrical devices look like over the past. Motorola was the first company to launch a handphone. Lastly, I also learnt about how an engineer can actually replace a doctor’s job, and also many others’ jobs. The professor told us that with an engineer, you do not need a doctor, because an engineer is able to make things like medicine for use. An engineer has the knowledge of creating things like pills which can also help to cure people. He / She is able to make things which doctors supply to the patients (medicines). Sick People are free to buy these things from the market and use them to cure themselves, or maybe also their sick relatives.
3. Biomedical Engineering & Technology
I had learnt more about nano-science, nano-technology and also bio-technology. Also learnt about the amount of energy in someone / something and how to look at it. This is under Nano-Science, which is looking at small things related to the subject of Science. From this part of energy, we learnt that a smaller size for a fixed volume = a larger surface area (particles were used as example). Nano-technology can be used to look at small things which we cannot see using our eyes. There are such things known as nano-materials and man-made materials, however, nano ≠ natural, it is = small. Also learnt about electrostatic forces & electrosteric forces. Examples of things which used nano-technology are the White-Light Illumination and LIV Illumination. One interesting thing is that the cataract treatment (cataract is found in the eye) make use of biotechnology to work. Firstly, a hole will be cut in the cornea, then the knife will be put into the eye to dig out the cataract and then suck it out. Then, a new cataract will be put in.
4. IT for Animation by Prof Seah Hock Soon
I had learnt that Animation is created from many different processes and they require the use of films. Animation and Films can be very nice, however, there is really a need of patience from the creator to be able to create them nicely. In Day 2, we get to watch all the animations and films created by other students of the same age as us. They came to NTU and spent a lot of hours to make an animation or a film. The films they made were very eye-catching and we really enjoyed them. Other than these, I had also learnt that animations and films can be either 2D or 3D. To create animations and films, it really requires a lot of planning, planning for a script and also for a storyline using a storyboard. Then, there is a need for a character design (design of characters which are going to be included in the animation or film). Everybody can be an inventor and for an inventor, there is a serious need to identify and analyze the problem which many faced nowadays (problem which inventor wants to work on), before he / she provide the effective solution.
5. Disappearing glaciers, rising sea levels, and why gravity is even more important than you think
I had learnt that in the Earth, the sea-level is rising greatly due to the melting glaciers. I tis believed and true that sea-level rise will be the highest when it is the farthest away from the glaciers. There are a lot of causes to why glaciers melt, such as global warming, because when there is global warming in the Earth, the temperature of the Earth will rise, causing these glaciers to melt. We learnt that glaciers gain heat when they melt into water. As for gravity, it is important because the Grace Satellite in 2002 is studying on Gravity Recovery. However, the main and important point which the professor highlighted out is that the sea-level rise will not be the same everywhere, although the sea level in the Earth is rising greatly. The global average sea-level rise is 1.8mm/year. There are many reasons as to why there are spatial variations. In the initial state of the melting of glaciers, there will be sea level fingerprints, where the crust will be depressed and water is then attracted to the glaciers. Therefore, the initial state does not include the flowing of water down the mountains into the sea which causes the sea level to rise, since the water will be attracted to the glaciers. However, as the glaciers melt, the crust will rebound and water will therefore flow away from the glacier. Hence, we can conclude the melted glacier is also the glacier which rebounds. That is all I had learnt for the 5 plenary sessions.
(B) Deepest impression...
For me, I feel that the 1st plenary session on the importance of water - dirty and clean by Professor Ng Wun Jern left me with the deepest impression, although the other plenary session did left me with great impressions, which was that they were all very meaningful. What I like about the plenary session on the importance of water - dirty and clean is that the professor told us a lot about the different aspects of water as the topic. The content was very much related to the topic and the speaker was also very clear about what he is saying or trying to relate to us. For example, he told us that microbes like cholera could be found in water and also that when water is not treated properly, it will cause the consumers to take on diseases like fever and stomachache. Before the session, I already had interest in water and hope to find out or explore more about the topic, especially on the aspect of how dirty water is treated. Last year, we went on a trip to the Newater treatment plant in Marina Bay and we were taught about how dirty water is then treated there. There are a total of 3 processes which are required to treat water, and these 3 processes are used by all treatment plants. These processes mostly require chambers which can block out the impurities and bacteria in the water using small holes. In the small holes, only water is allowed to pass through, the bacteria and impurities are too ‘big’ in size to pass through.
So, basically, when water is treated at the treatment plant, it will have to pass through chambers and also selectively permeable membranes. Another thing which I like about the plenary session is that the speaker (Professor Ng) used a lot of examples for every point he gave so that we can understand more about the topic he was talking about (water). When some of the students asked him questions about the topic at the end of the session, he is able to understand the questions well and then gave out his best answers to these curious students. He made sure that everyone understand his answers by asking the asker (student): ‘Does that answer your question?’. Therefore, these shows that he was very clear and concise about what he is talking about, one reason being he is very strong in the area of water. I can see that the students really had an enjoyable time with him.
Also, I already had some knowledge about the 4 national taps of Singapore, so when he talked about it, I understand what he was talking about. We had learnt the 4 national taps of Singapore in our Geography lessons last year, and they are the local catchment tap, the imported water tap, the Newater tap and the desalinated water tap. The local catchment tap is where there is a big basin to catch rainwater which will then be treated at the local treatment plant. This is about 30% of the supply of water in Singapore. The imported water tap is where Singapore import water from Malaysia which is very cheap per day, and this is about 40% of the supply of water in the country. Then, the Newater tap is also where Singapore reclaim water which has been used to become Newater. The water used by the residents, especially in taps, will be washed down into pipes and then to canals, then to rivers, then to the seas. However, Singapore has Newater which can help to collect the water from these water sources containing the used water. The used water is always dirty because residents used it to wash dishes, wash clothes and flush toilet bowls. Therefore, when it is being collected by the Newater company / treatment area, it has to be treated like the rainwater from the local catchment tap. Then, after it is being treated, it is called Newater and will be packed into bottles. These contributes to about 20% of the supply of water in Singapore. Lastly, the desalinated water tap is where Singapore treats water from the sea through desalination, which is the process of removing salt from salt water. This contributes to the last 10% of the supply of water in the country. This is all I like about it.
(II) My Personal Reflection [Day 3 - complete this section] {Suggested text}
So, basically, when water is treated at the treatment plant, it will have to pass through chambers and also selectively permeable membranes. Another thing which I like about the plenary session is that the speaker (Professor Ng) used a lot of examples for every point he gave so that we can understand more about the topic he was talking about (water). When some of the students asked him questions about the topic at the end of the session, he is able to understand the questions well and then gave out his best answers to these curious students. He made sure that everyone understand his answers by asking the asker (student): ‘Does that answer your question?’. Therefore, these shows that he was very clear and concise about what he is talking about, one reason being he is very strong in the area of water. I can see that the students really had an enjoyable time with him.
Also, I already had some knowledge about the 4 national taps of Singapore, so when he talked about it, I understand what he was talking about. We had learnt the 4 national taps of Singapore in our Geography lessons last year, and they are the local catchment tap, the imported water tap, the Newater tap and the desalinated water tap. The local catchment tap is where there is a big basin to catch rainwater which will then be treated at the local treatment plant. This is about 30% of the supply of water in Singapore. The imported water tap is where Singapore import water from Malaysia which is very cheap per day, and this is about 40% of the supply of water in the country. Then, the Newater tap is also where Singapore reclaim water which has been used to become Newater. The water used by the residents, especially in taps, will be washed down into pipes and then to canals, then to rivers, then to the seas. However, Singapore has Newater which can help to collect the water from these water sources containing the used water. The used water is always dirty because residents used it to wash dishes, wash clothes and flush toilet bowls. Therefore, when it is being collected by the Newater company / treatment area, it has to be treated like the rainwater from the local catchment tap. Then, after it is being treated, it is called Newater and will be packed into bottles. These contributes to about 20% of the supply of water in Singapore. Lastly, the desalinated water tap is where Singapore treats water from the sea through desalination, which is the process of removing salt from salt water. This contributes to the last 10% of the supply of water in the country. This is all I like about it.
(II) My Personal Reflection [Day 3 - complete this section] {Suggested text}
1. I choose this project because I simply had interest in it. In this project, it requires us to apply what we had learnt in Chemistry and Physics lessons in school. Chemistry and Physics, together with other components of Science such as Biology, are what I like to study on. For the experiment on the extraction of caffeine from tea, we had to apply what we had learnt in Chemistry lessons, because the procedures of the experiment include processes like Buchner Filtration, Solvent Extraction and Distillation using a rotary evaporator. In some of the Chemistry lessons last year, we had learnt about filtration, simple and fractional distillation and also compounds and solvents. We had learnt about the key words and points which we have to remember for each process (for example, for filtration - residue and filtrate), but had not get a chance to put these processes into use. However, in this part of the project challenge (experiment), it allows me to put them into use to be able to extract the caffeine and obtain pure caffeine.
In the experiment on the fastest ball challenge, we had to apply what we had learnt in the Physics lessons, because the concepts need to be applied in it for us to be able to win the challenge. For example, the concept of the conservation of energy needs to be applied in the challenge, so that we are able to understand how to change the angle of inclination of the ramp in a more efficient way (knowing about the principle of conservation of energy means to know that energy can neither be created or destroyed, it can only be converted, therefore we will also know that the energy will only be lost as negligible sound energy as the ball bearing rolls along the track, and that the loss of energy will be very least, therefore we will be able to know how to change the angle of inclination of the ramp - we have to calculate the amount of gravitational potential energy and kinetic energy). We also had to make use of the concept of distance, speed and time where speed*time = distance to be able to calculate the time taken for the ball bearing to travel on the horizontal track.
Therefore, I had decided to choose this project as it allows me to apply what I had learnt in my daily lessons. I really like to put what I had learnt into use, especially the things taught in the topic of Science. Once again, I also had interest in this project, in the components of Science such as Chemistry and Physics. I also chose this project (consists of 2 parts) because I know that the 2 challenges will really help me recap back some of the concepts of Chemistry and Physics which were taught to me in last year’s class, while it helped me to gain new knowledge. Next, I chose this project because for the extraction of caffeine from tea challenge, I know it will allow me to explore new things and gain new knowledge, because the experiment on extraction of caffeine from tea is what I had not conducted before. Therefore, when conducting the experiment, there is no doubt that I had learnt new things, things like how to obtain pure caffeine from tea using the 3 separation methods taught. Also for the fastest ball challenge, although I had conducted this experiment in our school’s Physics lab before, I had never encountered such a challenge before (in school we learnt, not through challenges). Even though I had conducted such an experiment 1 year ago, I will still be able to recap some of the concepts which I had used in the first time I conduct this experiment when I conduct it for the second time; this time with a challenge. Therefore, it is more about being able to gain new knowledge, recapping back the concepts and also applying them again that leads me to a decision to take on this project.
2. My role in the group is that I am supposed to help my group members when they are in need and when they are lagging behind. Since they are my group members, and that we had to work together to be able to complete a certain challenge given to us (in the project - Project 3a & 3b), there is really a need for me to help them when they are in need and are lagging behind, meaning they have some doubts to clear. I feel that there is a need for them to be able to clear their doubts and understand what each of us in the group is doing because when they do, then the whole group would be able to advance to the next step even more efficiently. Other than helping my group members to clear their doubts, my role in the group is also to try my best to contribute in helping to finish up or clear each challenge. Since I am a member of the group, I must at least do something which can lead my group the way into success, especially success in completing the challenges. I can do this by contributing ideas and giving my best in everything I do. This should help the group to overcome each challenge, and though the group may not win in the end, I will still feel good as I had done and given my best.
3. Challenges I/we encounter when working on this project in the last 2 days were that there was insufficient time for us to get together to do group work, especially to do up the presentation slides for the last day (Day 3). Without enough time, we can only do up these presentation slides briefly, without specific content, because we would be rushing through time. However, we still know that there is a need for us to finish them up before the presentation to the teachers and professors, who had taught and guided us, on the third day. We know that if we still manage to finish the presentation slides up before the real presentation (in the school we went to - School of Physical and Mathematical Sciences) on the third day, the teachers and professors will still at least be able to know that we had learnt something from the applied project challenges we took up when they listen to our presentation and look at the slides; the slides need to include our main learning points from the applied project challenges - we had learnt something.
So, we did our best to overcome this challenge of having insufficient time, and how I / we overcome these challenge was that we included more pictures in the slides rather than words only. This is so as there is a saying ‘a picture speaks a thousand words’, so even if we include pictures, the teachers and professors will be able to see that we had find the applied project challenges interesting, because they can see the development of how we took on these project challenges clearly with the pictures. Having a picture to explain is just like having 1000 words in the slides to explain too. Also, we tried to only include the main points in our slides, and not elaborated points. Including elaborated points is also like including points with a lot of words, therefore it will really take us more time to do up the slides. So, we just include the key points into the slides and these saved us a lot of time.
4. Through this project, I/we discovered that I am able to work better in groups than when working individually. This is also what I had discovered in the ISS Project. When I work individually, I always tend to take up more time to complete a certain task given to me. However, when a similar task is given to me and I am allowed to work in groups, then I will be able to work more efficiently and also take up lesser time to complete this task, therefore leaving me more time to complete the other tasks or homework. Also, one reason as to why I will take up lesser time to complete a task which requires group work is because I am able to think more faster and more effectively when collaborating with others. However, when I had to complete a task individually, then I will take a longer time to think of useful ideas and this will cause more time to be taken up. One example to prove that I work better in groups is that in the subject of Science this year, I got better marks in the ISS Project and also in the E-Learning Task (when we had to work in groups) than in the summative tests (working individually - had to revise own self).
Through this project, I had also discovered that I am able to put what I had learnt in my daily lessons into use effectively, especially things which I had learnt in the Science lessons last year. Last year, we had learnt about filtration, simple and fractional distillation and solvents, and in the experiment of the extraction of caffeine from tea, we get to apply our concepts on these 3 processes when we carry out processes like Buchner filtration, solvent extraction and also distillation using a rotary evaporator. What we had learnt about filtration was mostly about the filter paper, the filter funnel, the residue and the filtrate. In this experiment when we carry out Buchner filtration, we get to experience the use of a filter paper and filter funnel and also a beaker to support the filter funnel. The beaker is also where the filtrate will flow into. The filtrate is the liquid we obtain after we finish the filtration, and the residue is the solid substance. The filtrate in this case is the hot water in the tea while the residue is the impurities in the mixture of the caffeine and hot water. Therefore, we get to see how to obtain the filtrate and the residue using filtration. What I had learnt in Chemistry lessons last year about filtration was not a waste, because I used the concepts and key words (residue and filtrate) of ‘filtration’ which I had gathered to be able to proceed on in the experiment. The instructions may have only given the word ‘filtrate’, but from what I learnt last year, I am still able to understand what exactly ‘filtrate’ is and therefore carry out the different actions and procedures provided / included. This is the same for the other 2 processes, and the other actions or procedures which we carried out.
5. As an individual, how I have benefited from this programme is that I had found out the areas which I am better at and therefore will try my best to pursue or study more on them. This is especially from the 5 plenary sessions given by the 5 professors and also the 2 parts of my chosen applied project challenge. I had also found out about my strengths in terms of working in groups and also working individually, though I work slower individually than in groups. The strength of me working in groups is that I am able to think faster and also more effectively so that I am able to give more useful ideas to the group, which may sometimes also help my group to succeed in completing the tasks given to us (having this strength allows me to give more useful ideas and therefore play a bigger role in the group). My strength of working individually is that I will think slower but more specifically, which means I will think of ideas which can be elaborated on and on. For example, when writing this reflection (working individually), I am able to think of ideas and main points which can be elaborated, so that is why each paragraph I had done up is very long. I feel that working in groups and individually are both important, because when we enter the working world, we will have a lot of chances and opportunities to work in groups. We also have to learn how to work individually, because when we take our exams, we will not be allowed to work in groups.
Next, I had also benefited from this programme because I now know how to make my presentations more fluent and clear. On Day 3, my group was chosen to present in front of the cohort, the teachers and the professors. With such a big audience, I still am able to present fluently and clearly, and I think I should keep this up for the subsequent presentations. From these presentations, I had also learnt about the importance of presenting one’s own work. It is important to do so because only when we present our work to the audience fluently and clearly then they will be able to understand how we had created our work. Some of the audience may even have interest in the topic we are talking about, therefore it is important to present our work. Even for those who do not have interest in the topic, they will still try to listen. Lastly, this programme has also allowed me to be able to connect the different things which I had learnt in my daily lessons together, and I am also able to see a link in between some of the programmes which were planned for us. For example, on the first day, we had the networking and interaction with the NTU Student Leaders, where we get to play some games. One of the games was ‘Pass the Message’, and the objective of this game is to help us to practice effective communication. Then, on the last day when some of us get to present on our work, we had to use effective communication to be able to relate the things we want to relate to the audience clearly.
6. My Aspirations for the future is that I hope to be able to invent new things if possible. I had discovered that I am actually interested in inventing new things which can help to improve other’s lives. Improving other’s lives is also what I like to do, because I know that in the world, there are a lot of unlucky people who are suffering from diseases when we are lucky enough not to be. Therefore, I feel that there is a need for me to try to help this people who can also be considered as the needy. Of course, I will also not neglect the things which I had discovered about myself and also the things which I had learnt during the camp, because they are all useful ones which can help me in pursuing and meeting my aspirations. Knowing more about myself can allow me to plan on how to tackle each challenge more effectively, because I know that when trying to meet my aspirations, there will definitely be challenges and obstacles, therefore if I know more about myself, like being able to work better in groups, then I will be able to use this strength to try and overcome the challenges. I would really not want to waste the things which I had learnt from the 3 days 2 nights camp too. I will try to apply these things into real life situations, and with these things I will also be able to meet my aspirations more easily. As we all know, it is always good to learn new meaningful things, because the more things we learnt, the more the things for us to apply when we need them.
Other than wanting to invent new things, another of my aspirations is to work on the area of Sciences and Mathematics. In this programme, I had joined Project 3, which the whole project group when to the School of Physical & Mathematical Sciences to take up the 2 challenges, one is the extraction of caffeine from tea (Chemistry) and the other is the fastest ball challenge (Physics). From this project, I had found out that I am actually interested in the areas of Physics, Chemistry and Biology, and also Mathematics. So, I want to pursue the areas which I am interested in, because I know that pursuing these areas will really make it easier for me to achieve something as compared to pursuing the other areas. If I get a chance to take on these areas, I will deeply consider to take up the opportunity, and if I do, then I will want to achieve something from them. Lastly, another one of my aspirations is to be able to work on an area which really requires research, because research is also what I am interested in too. In research, we normally get to discover new things and then put them together to become even bigger things. Without research, a lot of things would not have been created and invented, so that is the importance of research. I always like to search on the Net for useful things and put them down together into files (in paragraphs). Therefore, I had this aspiration. If possible, I will also want to work on areas where the things which I had / will learnt / learn from 2 or more subjects in nowadays lessons could be combined and applied together.
