reflection on 5-7-2011

Reflection on 5-7-2011


Ruby tin (4S)

This is our second day of our chemistry week. We feel very excited to conduct more experiments on our own. Dr. Alan taught us some advanced knowledge about chemical clock which includes mixing different chemicals together to perform reaction at different times.

We did an experiment on potassium iodide, sodium thiosulphate, hydrogen peroxide and starch, we were all amazed when the reaction product changed their colours with reference to their proportions.

After having relative experiments on different proportions, Dr Alan guided us to do more experiments to investigate about rate of reaction and we go the chance to follow the music and did our experiment according to the bangs.

Chemisty is indeed very interesting as we have never thought that there could be so many variations while conducting experiments. Chemistry is also the basics of inventing the common medicines. In the afternoon, we produced aspirin, a daily pain-killer.

At night, we watched a movie called “the tourist” which was an action-packed romantic film. The movie featured Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie as the main characters. The movie was filmed in Rome, Spain and France so the scenery was very grand and we can know more about the different cultures of different nations.

We look forward to the next lessons of chemistry and we hope that we will have great fun in the evening activities.

Sharon Wong (4S)

After yesterday’s lecture on the introduction of chemistry, we knew more about the basic concepts of chemistry which are not yet taught at school. Today, we had lots of experiments and we learnt to make aspirin which is a kind of painkiller. The experiment is very challenging and is a once in-a-life-time experience. We learnt to be patient and be precise as the mass and volume of solutions and the solids have to be accurate in order to produce what we want. We took back our nylon model which was produced yesterday. We learnt more about artificial fibres and the inner structure of sofas through this activity. Other than the chemistry lessons, we had a “movie night” we watched ‘The Tourist’. It is thrilling and the sound effect is realistic. We all enjoyed the movie a lot!

Janice chan (4S)

Today we learnt about loop and lynxes which is something to new us all. Loops, or a more mathematical term, iteration is where we study what happens to a single number when we repeatedly cosine it. We expressed the data using microsoft excel and converted it into s graph from which could study its behavior. We found this very interesting as we learnt more about the functions of excel.

In the evening, due to bad weather, the mini-Olympics that had been scheduled was postponed and hence we watched some youtube clips instead. We found these clips very interesting as it could show the culture of English people. We believe we have been seen a lot more about the English culture today, hence today is a very knowledgeable day.

Jennifer Chu (4A)

We attended math lesson and watched a movie.

In the math lesson, the professor taught us about Rocket. It is our first time for us to learn on this aspect. It was quite interesting and we turned more active due to the application of flash games. We were asked to do a simulation of rocket launching and our aim was to use the minimum amount of fuel to launch rocket. We gained more in depth understanding of physics.

At night, we saw a movie called “Tourist”. We found it quite challenging to understand as there is no English substitute. We think that we should try listen or to watch more such educational movies.

Chaahat Gambhit (4T)

Today was a day of work and play. My group and I were assigned to have Mathematics lessons with Dr. Phil Ramsden. We learnt a lot from him and we also learnt new mathematical skills such as experimental mathematics. This involved launching a rocket from the surface of the Earth and Moon. It was an online stimulation program, but it was quite realistic and practical. This program tested our lateral thinking skills as well as our logical thinking and reasoning.

In the evening, after hours and work, we had a fun movie night with toffee popcorn and Waler’s crisps. We watched ‘The Tourist’ which starrs Jonny Depp and Angelina Holie. It was a movie based on Alexendar Pierce (Johnny Depp) trying to escape the police of several countries including the Uk. Eluise Ward (Angelina Jolie) is his accomplise.

All in all, today was a fruiteful day and we have gained much new knowledge.

Kelly Lam (4A) and Ingrid Lai (4U)
Today was a special day for all of us because it was our first time to go to the Computer Lab and got to meet our new activity leader—Dr. Phil Ramsden . He was a humorous speaker and we, as the listeners, would never get bored.

Our morning session was called “Loops and Lynxes”. We used the software Excel to demonstrate the idea of ‘iteration’. We inserted the data into the cells in Excel, such as cos1, coscos1 and coscoscos1, and so on. Then we plotted a graph and spotted out the pattern. I thought it was amazing since the graphs from various equations were very pretty! After this session, I had a brief idea of what iteration was like and I had also become more familiar with Excel! It indeed brings convenience to our daily lives and makes everything a lot simpler.

For the afternoon session, we had our lesson on ‘The Final Frontier’ in the same room. It was mostly about physics and how to calculate escape velocity which involves Mathematics at the same time. Although some of us didn’t take physics or further Mathematics at school, we tried our very best to catch up with the other classmates. It was quite challenging though as the theory or formula for the gravitational potential energy was really complicated. One thing I must mention was the ‘Launch Your Own rocket’ simulation. This simulation allows us to alter the exhaust velocity and the number of stages which encourage us to think deeper—launching a real rocket is never an easy job. However, this simulation was innovative and offers a way out of our difficulties.

I am getting more and more engaged in every lesson as I’ve never seen the new softwares and never had a chance to appreciate Mathematics from a new perspective.

Rosanna Li (4S)

This is the second day of our summer course. In the canteen where we took breakfast, we met some students from 44 other countries who are also engaged in the STEM tour. This experience greatly aggrandized the content of the course because we exchanged our views and knowledge of what we have learnt yesterday. At the same time, we also had a chance to boost up our communication skills while chatting with them and our mentors.

After breakfast, we did some experiments on reaction rate. We were fortunate enough to have the stroke of luck to mix different chemicals together. This greatly fascinated us. The change of colour and their change of states during chemical reactions are what inspire us to study chemistry. We also learnt about the application of the ‘chemistry clock’ in real life (fireworks)

After lunch, we learnt how to make aspirins using only simple laboratory set-ups. We were fascinated during this session because we found that matters which seemed extremely complicated can be produced with some really ordinary substances and simple laboratory set-ups only if you know the accurate method. In the evening, we had a movie night with some foreign students and we watched ‘Tourist’. Originally, we were supposed to have a mini-Olympics at the Hyde Park. However, due to the bad weather, the game was hang back and we watched movies indoors instead. We savored the movie as it was thrilling and agitative.

Leung Jasmine Sandra (4S)

Today, we studied about clock reactions and aspirins. In the morning, we did an experiment on potassium iodide, sodium thiosulphate, starch and hydrogen peroxide. This was very interesting because the reactions are ‘delayed’. Normal reactions usually start right when we mix the reactants together. However, a clock reaction will start after a period of time. When we mixed a few colourless solutions together it suddenly turned blue after 30 seconds.

After the teacher introduced us the theory behind this reaction, we had the chance to try it on our own. This was quite an interesting experience. At school, we don’t have much experiment to do in chemistry lesson, so we were all quite excited about this. During the experiment we learned how to be accurate and cautious.

In the end of the morning session, we went to have lunch in the Queens’ Lawn. We had some sandwiches and salads with bottles of juice. This was a unique experience! We never had such big and beautiful lawn in Hong Kong for the public.

In the afternoon session, we learned how to make aspirins! This was truly fascinating because I have never dreamt about making medicines. Moreover, we mad aspirins out of a common herbal oil used to ease joint or muscle pain. The reaction is a batched process. It took us a long time to finish it. The product was quite different from an aspirin pill we usually see. It looked a bit like candy floss as it was pink and fluffy. In this lesson, I learned how to be both quick and precise on all things. We’ve also broadened our knowledge base like things about esters and salicylic acids.

I think today’s lessons deepened my interest in Chemistry and I hope that in the next few days, we can learn more about other aspects of chemistry.