Science Week Proposal

Objective:
1. Promote science in a fun and interesting day by conducting more hands-on experiments. 2. For students to develop a greater passion and awareness for Science. 3. Explore the many disciplines and aspects of Science. 4. Broaden ones scientific knowledge and apply effectively: explain science phenomenon. 5. Engage in various fun and enriching hands-on experiments.

Motivation for Event:

Real hands-on enriching and fun experience they would not get without science day. Science is not textbook-based, and can be applied to real life. Tie in to house system. Involving the arts stream student as well, getting them to keep in touch with science to relive their passion in science and have a scientific view on things as well. After all, science is essential in everyday life. The CCA members are also able to have the chance to experience facilitating a school event, building up intangible skills like responsibility, initiative and leadership skills. This will improve the CCAs portfolio as well.

Roles of SHS members:

JC1: Plan and execute the Science Week, helping mostly in the preparations during the event. JC2: Plan and organize the Science week, helping mostly in the pre-event preparations.

Planning Timeline:
25th/26th June: Announcement of gathering all JC1 Science Reps and Math reps (for classes without a science rep) at the left flagpole after assembly to get their names, classes and contacts. Forms will be given out to them and will be returned via Mr Tings pigeon hole by the next day. The form consists of the information on Science week and that their participation will be included in their testimonials, and will need a fill-up on their contacts (hp and email). 25th-27th June: Collation of voluntary JC1 reps to be sorted into their stations. Every rep is to do 1 station each day for the 4 days of treasure hunt. SHS members are to see how the new timetable works. Reps will work during their breaks. 29th June: JC1 SHS members train Science and Math Reps. All reps are to learn how to demonstrate and run every single station. Meet at CCA room at 3pm till 6pm. SHS members are to keep stock of their materials during these few days in the CCA room if they can. 3rd-6th July: Science week 3rd July: Before morning assembly: Set up stations (or pass the necessary materials if havent during the holidays to the group of reps taking the earliest break). Hide the 30 daily clues around the school and take picture/note of where they are. During morning assembly: Introduction of Science week during Morning Assembly (including showing how the clue looks like and the rules and prizes and things to look out for, i.e. quiz on Friday). Tell about Fridays quiz (what, where, when, duration, prize s,

etc, last chance to win prizes!!!). Need to issue forms regarding the participation of the quiz to the HTCs. During the breaks: 2 treasure hunt stations (Bio themed) which are Phenotype and Fingerprinting conducted. End of the day: Hide the clues for the next day and take picture/note of them. Not necessary to take back clues for the present day as these clues have an expiry date written on them. All score sheets to be returned to SHS pigeon hole by 5pm. SHS member to collect and keep them. 4th July: Before morning assembly: Set up stations (or pass the necessary materials if havent during the holidays to the group of reps taking the earliest break). During morning assembly: Give update on how the 1st day of Science week went, and show how the present days clues look like. During the breaks: 2 treasure hunt stations (Phys themed) which are Ping pong balls and Stick bombs conducted. End of the day: Hide the clues for the next day and take picture/note of them. All score sheets to be returned to SHS pigeon hole by 5pm. SHS member to collect and keep them. 5th July: Before morning assembly: Set up stations (or pass the necessary materials if havent during the holidays to the group of reps taking the earliest break).

During morning assembly: Give update on how the 2nd day of Science week went, and show how the present days clues look like.

During the breaks: 3 treasure hunt stations (Chem themed) which are Chromatography, Ice cream making and Natural Indicators conducted.

End of the day: All score sheets to be returned to SHS pigeon hole by 5pm. SHS member to collect and keep them.

6th July: During morning assembly: Give update on how the 3rd day of Science week went, and remind about Quiz. From 2-3pm: Quiz. From 2-4pm: Collection of unused clues and unfound clues outside CCA room (mention 1st level of Science block), and Consolidation of scores by SHS members. 9th July: During morning assembly: Presentation of prizes.

Publicity:
Posters. Announcements.

As it will take place on the 2nd week of school, there is at least some publicity we can do before the launch and we can still publicize during the week.
Create forms for the reps and announcement for the reps, and crafting of (physical form of) clues, and creating forms for quiz: Keely, Naushad

Announcers/Updaters during the Science week, and creating of posters and posting them around: Arushi, Neha, Veena, Marianne, Sathaysai, Tingyi, Maurice.

Launch:
Use a visible experiment which involves chemical reaction. The principal and the 2 viceprincipals will spray iodine onto the banner which has the phrase Science Week and/or its theme name written in lemon juice. The banner will turn black from white due to the reaction of iodine and cellulose, and the words will turn yellow from white due to being stained by iodine solution.

Structure:
The Game This game will be structured as a treasure hunt. 1. Clues to the locations of the stations will be written on a piece of paper taped to cardboard pieces from Tuesday to Thursday on Term 3 Week 2. 2. Each day, they will receive the clues for 1-2 stations. Each day will be themed by the different science subjects, i.e. bio, chem, phys. 3. Students can only attempt the stations if they found the clues which would be hidden around the school. There are 15 clue pieces for each station each day. Each cardboard piece is limited to 3 people at each time (i.e. if 1 student finds a clue, then he can only form a team of maximum 3 people.) The clues will also advise the finder to form a team of 2-3 people. The clues will show their expiry dates.

4. The unused cardboard pieces need not be collected back every day and clues for the next day will be hidden the day before. 5. Station master are to take down the class and house of those participating. 6. They will be given at most 10-20 minutes to carry out the experiment. 7. Participants will receive a small prize (snack and/or stationery) if he/she successful completes a station. 8. Points will be awarded to the Houses accordingly: Found a clue (but not able to solve it and go to location): +5 Found station: +10 Completes the station: +20 Cannot complete the station: No extra points given Top 3 classes: +200, +100, +50 awarded to house accordingly

If participants cant find the location of the station, then the clue that he got is to be returned to the CCA members on Friday between 2 to 4pm at the Science Block CCA room if they want to claim their points. Take note that while a house may have the winning class, it may not be the winning house. The points scored by the class are recorded as the house points aka class points. The score table for each station will look like this:

Class:

House:

Score for ________________ station:

1T01 1T02 1T03 1T04 1T05 1T06 1T07 1T08 1T09 1T10 1T11 1T12 1T13 1T14 1T15 1T16 1T17 1T18 1T19 1T20 1T21

1T22 1T23 1T24 1T25 1T26 1T27 1T28 1T29 1T30 1T31 1T32 1T33 1T34 1T35 1T36 2T01 2T02 2T03 2T04 2T05 2T06

2T07 2T08 2T09 2T10 2T11 2T12 2T13 2T14 2T15 2T16 2T17 2T18 2T19 2T20 2T21 2T22 2T23 2T24 2T25 2T26 2T27

2T28 2T29 2T30 2T31 2T32 2T33 2T34 2T35

Each station master will hold onto a score table. To consolidate on Friday, 2 other tables will be constructed: House: Albert Joseph Michael Patrick Total Score:

Class: 1T01 1T02 1T03

Total Score:

1T04 1T05 1T06 1T07 1T08 1T09 1T10 1T11 1T12 1T13 1T14 1T15 1T16 1T17 1T18 1T19 1T20 1T21 1T22 1T23 1T24

1T25 1T26 1T27 1T28 1T29 1T30 1T31 1T32 1T33 1T34 1T35 1T36 2T01 2T02 2T03 2T04 2T05 2T06 2T07 2T08 2T09

2T10 2T11 2T12 2T13 2T14 2T15 2T16 2T17 2T18 2T19 2T20 2T21 2T22 2T23 2T24 2T25 2T26 2T27 2T28 2T29 2T30

2T31 2T32 2T33 2T34 2T35

9. The top 3 classes, regardless of level, with the most number of points scored (for their house) over the week will be given a prize (food hamper) each on the coming Mondays prize presentation. (We think food hamper is more appropriate as voucher is difficult to share as a class.)

Participants It will be a voluntary-based game so there is no need for registration for the participants. Both JC2s and JC1s except for station masters on duty for the day are able to participate in the game as long as they find the clue.

Station masters JC1 reps will be assigned per station as station masters. There will be 2 shifts per break where the total number of station masters available for their breaks will be halved. The station masters will be trained on carrying out the experiments before Science week. Science/math reps who get involved in the planning and carrying out of Science week will have 20 points added to their classes (aka to their houses) and this event will be included in their testimonials.

Dry Run The first dry run has been set to be on the week after Good Friday, 13 th April, 2012. There will be a few more dry runs, to ensure that the event runs smoothly, the dates to be confirmed at a later time. Feedback from everyone and to everyone will be given.

Details for the Stations There are currently 7 stations. Each station is arranged to end within 10-20 minutes. No. 1 Stations Ice-cream making (Chem) Location: Outside Good News Caf -presence of fridge -near toilet and sinks Station I/C: Veena Details Projected costs: Purpose: To learn about enthalpy $25 change, and how it can be applied to daily lives. E.g. freezing of ice, defrosting food. This knowledge can be conveyed to the arts students easily if we were to use laymans terms while keeping the scientific terms minimal. It is more important that they understand what we are talking about. Materials: 1. Full cream milk 2. Chocolate Milk 3. Sugar 4. 2 different size zip lock bags 5. Cocoa powder 6. Plastic spoons 7. Salt 8. Ice cube Procedure: 1. Pour in half a cup of milk in a small zip-lock bag 2. Put in two teaspoon of cocoa powder. Actual costs:

Ping-Pong (Physics)

Ball Arushi

3. Stir well 4. Add 1 teaspoon of sugar 5. Pour the chocolate milk into the small zip lock bag and zip it up! (ensure that most air 6. has been removed from the bag) 7. Pour ice cube into the big zip lock bag and add salt. 8. Place the small zip lock bag into the big zip lock bag. 9. Shake it for 15 minutes. Successfully made ice cream will have 10 points given. If unsuccessful, no points are given. Purpose: To learn about projectile $15 motion Materials: 1. 24 Ping pong balls 2. 3 Plastic Plates 3. 1 Styrofoam/plastic cup Procedure: 1. The 3 plates will be arranged linearly with a cup at the end. 2. Participant will have to throw the ping pong balls into the cup such that it bounces over the 3 plates. 3. They will have to fill up the cup fully with the ping pong balls to be successful.

Location: Piazza -open space

Chromatography (Chem)

Ming Xuan

Purpose: To let people know about $0. chromatography This can make students be interested in the criminology field. Materials: 1. Filter paper (cut into strips) 2. Pencil

Location: In Chemistry Lab 1 -availability of materials

required

3. Ink (From pens etc.) 4. Ethanol (Or other solvents) 5. Beaker

Procedure: 1. Mark out a line using pencil. Put one drop of ink on the pencil line. 2. Put the Filter paper in the beaker filled with alcohol solvent. Make sure solvent does not touch the pencil

line. 3. Wait for a while to allow the ink to rise. 4. If the ink stops rising, stop the experiment. 5. How it is going to be used: a) A mystery ink will be given to the team/students. b) 3 or 4 samples (of different ink chromatogram) would have been prepared beforehand. c) After the experiment, they must compare with the samples given to identify the mystery ink. d) If they identified the mystery ink correctly, they will get 5 points and will have no points given if they got it wrong. 4 Phenotypes (Bio) Janice Purpose: To expose the $0 participants to biology, phenotype (heredity). To let them realise that it is not just coincidence that a child looks like their parents and if the child does not look like their parents the possible reasons behind it. This station is not just for the fun of matching people with their parents but also to train students analytical skills and logic. Materials: 1. Photographs of parent and child (separate)

Location: Table at 2nd level above piazza. -tables available

2. Answer to photo matching Procedure: 1. Participants are required to group the photos to show the family line that they think is correct. 2. If all are matched correctly, the station masters will ask them to fill up the questionnaire on why they have chosen to arrange the photos in such a manner. 3. Participants can only leave if station masters approve of their answer. Based on the number of pairs that they have successfully matched within 3 mins, they will be given the score by the station master. For every minute passed, the points awarded will be lesser and when a certain time has passed the group would have failed the station and point will be deducted. Thus: For less than 2min, 10 points are given if all are matched correctly. For less than 3min, 5 points are given if all are matched correctly. Any more than 3min, no points are given. Questions: 1. Which were (or was) the most distinct feature(s) of the people in the photos in each group that made you do this

selection? 2. What similarities did they have? 3. We can only do these due to phenotypes, explain what phenotypes are. (Define + How does this affecting the features) 5 Natural Indicators Nam (Chem) Purpose: To use items easily Price TBC obtained to test for acidity 1) Indicators can be used to test swimming pools. The lifeguard uses pool test kit to determine if the water is safe to swim in. 2) pH measurements are used to test pH of blood looking at bacterial activity and biological processes where correct pH dictates correct enzyme function. 3) pH testing can reveal whether the water of your aquarium is safe for fishes to live happily. This is common to test the water of lakes as some lakes are susceptible to acid rain. 4) Find out which vegetables/fruits have indicator properties. 5) Identify the colour change in acidic and alkaline conditions. 6) Estimate the pH level of the stronger acid solution given based on colour change. (Red cabbage test only) Materials:

Location: Chemistry lab 2 -chemicals required is available -safety

1. Pestle and Mortar 2. Two different acid stronger, 1 weaker) 3. Two different alkali stronger, 1 weaker) 4. Test tubes 5. Dropper 6. Beakers 7. Glass rod 8. Water 9. Red Cabbage 10. Grapes 11. Blackberries 12. Cabbage 13. Broccoli 14. Cherries 15. Apples

(1 (1

Procedure: 1. Participants are to grab a pestle and mortar and take a sample of each of the fruits and vegetables provided. 2. They have to put one sample into the mortar and add water before crushing the sample to extract the juice. 3. Once they have crushed the sample, the juice has to be transferred into a test tube using the dropper. 4. There will be 4 solutions (2 acidic and 2 alkaline), all labelled. 5. Using clean droppers, they have to add the solutions to the juices they extracted from the fruits and vegetables and observe the colour change. 6. While conducting the experiment, participants

Fingerprinting analysis (Bio)

Han Wei

Location: At grand stand -open space -with places to hide the clues

also have to note down which fruits or vegetables have indicator properties and what are the colour change and show their answer to us. 7. For the red cabbage test, participants are required to guess the pH level of the strong acid, based on the colour change of the red cabbage juice. 8. Once their answers are more or less similar to ours, they have passed the station. If they get each vegetable correct, they get 10 points each, if not, no points are given to each. Purpose: $0 To interest students of how science is used in criminology. Materials: 1. 5 cards which show the suspects fingerprint. 2. Murderers fingerprint. Procedure: 1. Participants will run about finding 5 suspects fingerprints and matching the correct suspect with a murderers fingerprint found at a crime scene. 2. Station masters will ask why they match if correct. 3. 10 points are given if matched correctly and points are given if not matched correctly. 4. Bonus: If they can remember the description of the suspects on the spot, then 5 additional points are

Stick bomb chain Tingyi (Physics) Location: Grand stand tables

awarded. Purpose: $0 To let students know that energy is actually all around us. Materials: Tongue depressors (can we ask the Science Centre for it?) Procedure: 1) We will teach/show the participants how to make a stretch of stick bomb. 2) The participants must build a certain length (1 metre) of stick bomb, and it must be able to go off, only when set off, by a certain time. 3) Participants are given 3 times to practice, before an official attempt (there will be three unofficial attempts) Bonus: 10 points can be given for a successful attempt. No points are given for unsuccessful attempts.

Quiz (separate matter) I/Cs: Chee Chin (Chemistry and Physics) and Keely (Biology) Venue: TBC (probably in one of the LTs or Brothers rooms) Time: 2-3 pm 30 stretching MCQs (10 per subject) are to be done within an hour. Location is at SHS room on Friday. All are welcomed including teachers. Participants will get 10 points for their Houses

(regardless of their scores), and get mini (snack and stationery) prizes should they score at least 75% correct. If participants get full marks, they are awarded a $10 Kinokuniya voucher each and an additional 10 points will be awarded to their houses. (We think $10 worth of Kinokuniya voucher is reasonable.) If there are more than 3 full-mark scorers, we will have a lucky draw system. If there are less than 3 full-mark scorers, the Kinokuniya vouchers will be given to the top 3 scorers. If there are ties, we will have the lucky draw system.

Pop Stick Domino Booth:

Motivation The main purpose of the booth for the pop stick domino project during science week is to gather volunteers for the main event during Singapore science festival in Mid-July. The other less direct purpose is to show case the stick bomb concept to the school. To achieve this, we believe it is best to set up a booth during science week to showcase this directly to the school population.

Location The booth should be set up as a separate booth from the science week game system. This is since the stick bomb is not directly related to the science week gaming system. As a separate system, we would aim to achieve to educate the school population by setting up some simple demonstrations and on-thespot teaching from the SHS group members.

Logistics

As each rotating team need to at least 2 persons to handle the public, there could only be three rotations possible (all other CCA members would be busy with their own booths). As the rotation times can only be set at the break times of these 6 members break times, not the entire school population would be able to see the demonstrations. To cope with this problem of course we could film a video of our demonstration and make a video to be placed on the ignite.com so that those that did not see the demonstration can watch it too. This will be further discussed in the publicity section. For the timings of the demonstration, we hope to space them out over the entire week with one demonstration in the morning and one in the afternoon. The empty gaps would be filled up by the other SHS members that can help out at those time periods. We would need all six members of the stick bomb division on a rotary basis. These 6 people are Ray, Bosen, Meiqi, Zi Quan, Sanjeevan and Pei Tingyi. They will be paired up according to their break times.

Publicity The booth is to be set up near if not just beside the Treasure Hunts registration booth. This is so that people who are attracted to either booths will have a chance to be absorbed into the other booths activity. As for the materials such as posters and flyers, the stick bomb booth would have different and separate posters and flyers from the treasure hunting activitys. This is so as to project the pop stick domino as a different activity and not just as a part of the Treasure Hunt. The posters and flyers will of course have information about the treasure hunt. As for online publicity, we could get cjignite.com to post information broadcasts. We could also open a new Facebook page for publicity purposes.

Last Suggestion:
The House system can include points accumulated from the academic (non-sport) weeks like Mother Tongue Fortnight, Math Week, Environmental Science week and Science Week other than just using the

points from Sports Carnival. Both academically and sports inclined students can all do their part for their Houses to win for the Champion House of the year. While this suggestion is not expected to be put into practice immediately, we hope to see this suggestion realize its potential from next year onwards.