Wednesday, September 15, 2010
As a project submitted for the Science Eureka sabbatical, I have done research on Bones and their Problems.
Bones make up the skeletal system in our body, and gives our body its shape and works with the muscular system to have the ability to move. Although our bones may seem quite strong, it still can cause many health problems. Some of the problems of bones are Osteoporosis, Osteonecrosis and Osteoarthritis. Many of bone problems, including these 3 stated, occur when we grow older if we do not take care of our health when we are young.
Osteoporosis: Bones become brittle and fracture more easily.
Osteonecrosis: Bone death.
Osteoarthritis: Degradation of joints.
In order to avoid these harmful problems in the future, you should get as much calcium as you can before the age of 30, and also more important, exercise regularly!
Saturday, September 11, 2010
I feel that the Science Eureka Sabbatical is the most meaningful and enjoyable yet among the three terms. The trainers, who are all secondary four, give us interesting experiments to do, most of which are not done at secondary one. This provides a very good opportunity for me to expose myself to science outside of syllabus and also, give a better understanding when I advance to upper secondary.
After attending this sabbatical, I realise how advanced upper secondary science is compared to what I am learning now. Ah, there is still so much to learn, how I wish I could be more exposed to such interesting things in the world.
Thursday, September 2, 2010
After participating in the Science ICAS, I am glad to have achieved a Distinction and am top 8% in the world. This is a great experience for me to be exposed to Science out of curriculum. Also, the questions required specific techniques to answer correctly, so it gave me a brief idea of what I am poor at, especially observation.
During Primary School, I took the New South Wales. Although it was very similar to the ICAS, the questions were much less complicated than the ICAS ones, so it makes me realise the advancement from Primary School to Secondary School.
Monday, August 30, 2010
After going through so many rounds of the Projects Competition, I have finally been kicked out at the finals. These seven months of hard work to produce such a result has been extremely fruitful and I have become closer with my project mates.
Throughout the seven months, we have had many conflicts and problems but eventually we managed to solve most of them. Although we did not get past the finals, I feel that we have done our best and we must continue to work hard in the next year if we want to improve.
I am very grateful our my project mentor, Ms Leong, for giving such constructive advice and guiding through the seven months of work.
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
After doing a research on Sublimation and Deposition, I wish to share some of the knowledge.
Sublimation: The transition of a substance from a solid to a gas without becoming a liquid.
Deposition: The transition of a substance from a gas to a solid without becoming a liquid.
Some examples of substances that go through Sublimation and Deposition are iodine and carbon dioxide. Therefore, it is not possible to get pure liquid iodine, whereas the iodine solution that we use nowadays is made of iodine crystals dissolved in alcohol. As for carbon dioxide, it cannot be obtained in liquid form in atmospheric pressure. Some uses of carbon dioxide and its property of being able to sublime is during weddings, where dry ice is released to cause carbon dioxide to spread for the arrival of the wedding couple. However, when Sublimation or Deposition occurs, energy is usually released in the form of heat or light.
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Origin:
The English word ‘inch’ comes from Latin ‘uncia’ meaning "one twelfth part" , in this case, one twelfth of a foot. In some other languages, the word for "inch" is similar to or the same as the word for "thumb"; for example, French: pouce inch/thumb; Italian: pollice inch/thumb; Spanish: pulgada inch, pulgar thumb; Portuguese: polegada inch, polegar thumb; Swedish: tum inch, tumme thumb; Danish: tomme inch, tommel thumb; Dutch: duim inch/thumb; Sanskrit: angulam inch, anguli finger; Slovak: palec inch/thumb; Hungarian: hüvelyk inch/thumb. Given the etymology of the word "inch", it would seem that the inch is a unit derived from the foot, but this was probably only so in Latin and in Roman times. In English, there are records of fairly precise definitions for the size of an inch, so it seems that the foot was then defined as 12 times this length.
Relation to SI unit:
1 inch = 2.54 cm = 0.0254 m
1m = 100 cm = 39.37 inches
Monday, March 1, 2010
With salt being more dense than water, the mass of 1cm3 of water is less than that of 1cm3 of salt. By adding salt to water, the mass of the saltwater is increased more greatly than its volume, since 1cm3 of water has a mass of 1g. Therefore, by adding a generous amount of salt, the mass of the saltwater increased significantly, while the volume of it only increased by a little. Eventually, the density of the saltwater will increase so greatly it becomes higher than that of the egg, causing the egg to float.
For example, the egg has a density of 30g/cm3, and the water has a density of 1g/cm3. By adding salt, the density increases from 1g/1cm3 to 1.2g/1cm3. Eventually, it will hit a density of over 30/cm3, and with lesser density, the egg will float on the surface of the saltwater.
God
No ripping