Monday, 18 July 2011
Reflection on 17-7-2011
Maggie Yam (4S)
Today, we went sight-seeing in London to relax ourselves before the start of the next course.
Firstly, we went to the Windsor Castle. We had a chance to look at how the lives of the kings and queens were. We were very happy to visit such large and grand castle. After that, we went to a Chinese restaurant nearby and had our lunch. It had been a while since we haven’t eaten Chinese food. The food was very delicious, the decorations of the restaurant were also very nice. We enjoyed our meal very much.
Then, we went to the Tower Bridge. The bridge was unique with its blue pillars. The scenery on the two sides of the bridge was very beautiful and we took lots of pictures there.
After that, we took the bus to the St. Paul’s Cathedral. The buses in London had no big differences to the ones in Hong Kong, but it was a new experience for us to have a ride on the bus. As a Paulinian, it is a must for us to visit the St. Paul’s Cathedral, however, there was not much time left, we just took some group photos and went to the next site, the Millennium Bridge. It was built to celebrate the year of Millennium. After that, we took the underground back to our hall and had our dinner.
Tomorrow will be the start of another two weeks' STEM World summer course. We won’t be studying as a group of 8. Instead, we will be separated into different mentor groups. It is a chance for me to meet different people around the world and to communicate with them. It is also a chance for us to face different challenges and hence gain more experiences.
Today, we went sight-seeing in London to relax ourselves before the start of the next course.
Firstly, we went to the Windsor Castle. We had a chance to look at how the lives of the kings and queens were. We were very happy to visit such large and grand castle. After that, we went to a Chinese restaurant nearby and had our lunch. It had been a while since we haven’t eaten Chinese food. The food was very delicious, the decorations of the restaurant were also very nice. We enjoyed our meal very much.
Then, we went to the Tower Bridge. The bridge was unique with its blue pillars. The scenery on the two sides of the bridge was very beautiful and we took lots of pictures there.
After that, we took the bus to the St. Paul’s Cathedral. The buses in London had no big differences to the ones in Hong Kong, but it was a new experience for us to have a ride on the bus. As a Paulinian, it is a must for us to visit the St. Paul’s Cathedral, however, there was not much time left, we just took some group photos and went to the next site, the Millennium Bridge. It was built to celebrate the year of Millennium. After that, we took the underground back to our hall and had our dinner.
Tomorrow will be the start of another two weeks' STEM World summer course. We won’t be studying as a group of 8. Instead, we will be separated into different mentor groups. It is a chance for me to meet different people around the world and to communicate with them. It is also a chance for us to face different challenges and hence gain more experiences.
Debby Chau (4S)
Today we went sightseeing. We first travelled by train to the Windsor Castle which took us about an hour. The castle is magnificent and grand which includes the lower, middle and upper ward. At first, we decided to visit the Queen Mary’s Dolls’ House but due to the long queue and the bad weather, we went straight into the State Apartments. The rooms, portraits and decorations are beautiful and there were huge collections of treasures on display. Through listening to the audio guide, we understood more about the history of the Royal Family.
We then visited the Tower Bridge. We had a spectacular view of London when we were walking along the bridge and we took a lot pictures. Next, we went to the St. Paul’s Cathedral and its ruins from the big fire were clearly seen.
Tomorrow, we will be meeting our new mentors, friends and teachers and we are looking forward to a new week.
Sunday, 17 July 2011
Reflection on 16-7-2011
Joey Chu (4S)
Today is our first day without a mentor and we followed our school teachers to do some sightseeing as well as shopping in central London. We went to the Portobello Market, there were lots of characteristic London products and the buildings there were also very beautiful. Despite the wet weather, we all enjoyed ourselves. Then we went to the British Museum, one of the biggest museums in the world. We saw a lot of great exhibits from different countries like Egypt, Britain and China. We even saw mummies there! We had learnt a lot more about the characteristics and history of these countries and have had a great time. What a pity we couldn’t visit every part of the museum due to the lacking of time. We then did some shopping in Oxford Circus. Although we can find most of the brands in Hong Kong, we were still happy to be staying together and shop in these extremely big shops. We had Chinese meals for both lunch and dinner. We were all so excited to have rice and other iconic Chinese dishes that we haven’t had for the past two weeks. It had been a really enjoyable day. After one more day of relax and leisure, we will be beginning another academic week!
Today is our first day without a mentor and we followed our school teachers to do some sightseeing as well as shopping in central London. We went to the Portobello Market, there were lots of characteristic London products and the buildings there were also very beautiful. Despite the wet weather, we all enjoyed ourselves. Then we went to the British Museum, one of the biggest museums in the world. We saw a lot of great exhibits from different countries like Egypt, Britain and China. We even saw mummies there! We had learnt a lot more about the characteristics and history of these countries and have had a great time. What a pity we couldn’t visit every part of the museum due to the lacking of time. We then did some shopping in Oxford Circus. Although we can find most of the brands in Hong Kong, we were still happy to be staying together and shop in these extremely big shops. We had Chinese meals for both lunch and dinner. We were all so excited to have rice and other iconic Chinese dishes that we haven’t had for the past two weeks. It had been a really enjoyable day. After one more day of relax and leisure, we will be beginning another academic week!
Saturday, 16 July 2011
Reflection on 15-7-2011
Katherine Lam (4A)
Today is the last day of our mathematics course. It is also our presentation day. We prepared for our presentations in the morning. Everything had to be done in a rush as we only got two hours for preparation. Luckily, our group managed to finish our script and PowerPoint just before lunch. However, we did not have enough time to practise. It made us very nervous.
After lunch, we went to the lecture theatre. Unlike what we did last week, this time, we had to present our project in front of the chemistry groups, mathematics groups, all academic leaders, mentors and school teachers. Our group was the first to present. Although we did not practise much the presentation ran smoothly and we could answer the question raised by Phil, our maths teacher. We got a certificate of participation and a badge after the presentation, symbolizing we had graduated from the course. We were so excited about having finished the course successfully but at the same time, it was sad for us to say goodbye to our mentors, who had always been so kind to us, helped us in our studies in the past two weeks.
In the afternoon, most of our schoolmates had to leave as the two-week summer course had come to an end. The campus became so quiet when all the STEM World students had left.
In the last two weeks, I learnt to manage time well as we got so many things to do everyday like having lessons and lectures, having evening activities and preparing for presentations. The experience of doing presentation was the most impressive. We used to have weeks or months to prepare for project presentations in Hong Kong and still felt that time was not enough. However, the experience of preparing a presentation in just two hours proved that we could manage our time better. In the following two weeks we will study different subjects. I will work hard to learn new knowledge and I believe we will have great time.
Ingrid Lai (4U)
Today is our presentation day again! This week, we studied Chemistry and our topic was ‘enzymes with apple juice and jelly’. Time was very limited, so we had to rush our work. After breakfast, Ella brought us to the computer lab and we started to work on our Powerpoint at once. Then, Barnaby brought us to the Reach Out Lab to see our jellies which have been left in the lab for a night. We then analysed the jellies to see if our hypothesis made earlier could stand or not.
The presentation began at 2pm. I was very nervous since we were the last group to present. Moreover, I had not practiced my script yet as I was copying my script onto my cue card during lunchtime. I felt I was ill-prepared for this presentation. Luckily, our presentation ran quite smoothly despite the fact that I sometimes spoke too fast and I read my script too much.
We then received certificates from Alan. I felt very honoured and emotional. I was proud of myself having completed the course, but at the same time, my friends from SPCS were going to leave in less than half an hour…
Still, we had to say ‘goodbye’ to our friends. We farewelled them one by one. It was really a touching moment.
At 6pm, we went to JCR for dinner. Yet, the staff said we could not have dinner there since the STEM World programme had already finished. As a result, we had to dine in the Eastside Cafe. The food there was quite delicious!
At night, we went to Harrods to do some shopping. We were amazed by its huge size! Everyone bought some souvenirs and Cynthia even became a member of Harrods!
In these two weeks, I thought I had changed a lot. The most significant change was I became more outgoing and eager in making new friends. This course was really fantastic as I could learn various aspects of Maths and Chemistry, have a taste of English life (for example, having traditional English breakfast every morning), as well as make friends from around the world.
Today is the last day of our mathematics course. It is also our presentation day. We prepared for our presentations in the morning. Everything had to be done in a rush as we only got two hours for preparation. Luckily, our group managed to finish our script and PowerPoint just before lunch. However, we did not have enough time to practise. It made us very nervous.
After lunch, we went to the lecture theatre. Unlike what we did last week, this time, we had to present our project in front of the chemistry groups, mathematics groups, all academic leaders, mentors and school teachers. Our group was the first to present. Although we did not practise much the presentation ran smoothly and we could answer the question raised by Phil, our maths teacher. We got a certificate of participation and a badge after the presentation, symbolizing we had graduated from the course. We were so excited about having finished the course successfully but at the same time, it was sad for us to say goodbye to our mentors, who had always been so kind to us, helped us in our studies in the past two weeks.
In the afternoon, most of our schoolmates had to leave as the two-week summer course had come to an end. The campus became so quiet when all the STEM World students had left.
In the last two weeks, I learnt to manage time well as we got so many things to do everyday like having lessons and lectures, having evening activities and preparing for presentations. The experience of doing presentation was the most impressive. We used to have weeks or months to prepare for project presentations in Hong Kong and still felt that time was not enough. However, the experience of preparing a presentation in just two hours proved that we could manage our time better. In the following two weeks we will study different subjects. I will work hard to learn new knowledge and I believe we will have great time.
Ingrid Lai (4U)
Today is our presentation day again! This week, we studied Chemistry and our topic was ‘enzymes with apple juice and jelly’. Time was very limited, so we had to rush our work. After breakfast, Ella brought us to the computer lab and we started to work on our Powerpoint at once. Then, Barnaby brought us to the Reach Out Lab to see our jellies which have been left in the lab for a night. We then analysed the jellies to see if our hypothesis made earlier could stand or not.
The presentation began at 2pm. I was very nervous since we were the last group to present. Moreover, I had not practiced my script yet as I was copying my script onto my cue card during lunchtime. I felt I was ill-prepared for this presentation. Luckily, our presentation ran quite smoothly despite the fact that I sometimes spoke too fast and I read my script too much.
We then received certificates from Alan. I felt very honoured and emotional. I was proud of myself having completed the course, but at the same time, my friends from SPCS were going to leave in less than half an hour…
Still, we had to say ‘goodbye’ to our friends. We farewelled them one by one. It was really a touching moment.
At 6pm, we went to JCR for dinner. Yet, the staff said we could not have dinner there since the STEM World programme had already finished. As a result, we had to dine in the Eastside Cafe. The food there was quite delicious!
At night, we went to Harrods to do some shopping. We were amazed by its huge size! Everyone bought some souvenirs and Cynthia even became a member of Harrods!
In these two weeks, I thought I had changed a lot. The most significant change was I became more outgoing and eager in making new friends. This course was really fantastic as I could learn various aspects of Maths and Chemistry, have a taste of English life (for example, having traditional English breakfast every morning), as well as make friends from around the world.
Friday, 15 July 2011
Reflection on 14-7-2011
2011.07.14
Sharon Leung (4S)
Today we had Mathematics lessons and we played games on game theory. Through the games, we negotiated all the time. We took part in several exciting and fast paced team challenges involving strategic decision making.
Game theory is commonly used to end wars, cut carbon emissions on making decisions. We learnt how to trust friends in order to achieve success and not to betray others because of short-term benefits.
Besides, we had an activity on iteration and chaos. We used excel to calculate some equations that we cannot solve ourselves. It was very useful in our study. I gained interest in Mathematics after the lessons.
In addition, we were preparing for the Cabaret on Thursday evening. Our group had a long discussion on what to perform. We co-operated with each other. We sincerely hope that we will have a good show on that day.
Isa Hung (4T)
It is hard to believe that there are three more days left for us to be in Imperial College and London. We will be leaving for a night flight back to Hong Kong on Friday. We would surely miss our days here!
In the morning, we had lesson on the use of spectroscopy in Chemistry. We used aspirin produced from yesterday’s lesson to analyse the molecules contained through doing spectroscopy. The Chemistry building was huge and the laboratory was professional, with lots of equipment we had never seen. Through this lesson, we learnt more on the skill and use of spectroscopy. Technology really helps a lot in development of science.
After lunch, we attended another lesson on complex chemistry. Through various reactions and the process of titration, we could find the amount of copper in coins. We had to pay full attention during the experiment as the solution used was corrosive and the reaction would produce toxic gas. Part of the experiment had to be taken place in a fumed cupboard. However, one group from our class carelessly forgot to do so and accidentally dropped the coin into the beaker of reactant. Vigorous toxic gases were produced in the laboratory and the whole laboratory had to be evacuated. This was the most unforgettable experience we have ever had. We learnt the importance of listening and following strictly to instructions. We have to be very careful whenever we are working in the laboratory.
For dinner, we went off campus to a traditional British restaurant. We had an abundant meal and felt very contented for such a treat.
Throughout the course at Imperial College, we do really enjoy the course and we like the experience of being a “two-week university student”. Through the two-weeks’ summer school is about to end ,it will definitely be a memorable experience!
Karen Ho (4T)
Time flies, we will be leaving Imperial College two days after. I am sure I will miss the learning and fun we have had here so much!
As usual, we went for lessons after breakfast. Today we were doing spectroscopy. We were very honoured to have the opportunity to use some advanced machines to analyse the composition of certain compounds. We never had such an opportunity to use these machines and this was definitely a very good experience.
In the afternoon, we had our lesson on complex chemistry. During the lesson, we had to perform an experiment which would produce some poisonous gas. We were supposed to carry out the experiment in a fumed cupboard. However, one group did not follow the instructions and handled the reactants outside the fumed cupboard causing the toxic gas to accumulate. We all had to evacuate until the toxic gas had been ventilated. Luckily, no one was affected in the accident. We learnt a lesson from this experience that we should always follow instructions given by teachers when doing experiments so as to ensure our safety.
In the evening, we went out for dinner. Although we have all been to that restaurant last week, we still enjoyed the food. After dinner, we practiced for our talent show. I am really looking forward to the performances of other groups and I hope our performance would be a success!
Tiffany To (4A)
These past two weeks have been an amazing experience for us. W have learnt a great deal. We learnt more about university life and we now have a better understanding on what we would encounter when we take up science and mathematics in the future.
The courses were very informative as we definitely learnt things we never learnt before. We were exposed to different learning Mathematics which involves more interactions during classes. We certainly became more active in class and more willing to pose questions to our professors. We even experienced the use of different equations in Chemistry. It was such a great experience. Mathematics was a great challenge for most of us but we learnt to persist and never give up.
All in all, these two weeks has been an unforgettable learning experience for us all. We will really miss this place and hope to come back again.
Mary Suarez (4T)
It’s nearly the end of our stay here. There will be a lot of things we will miss. Apart from the classes, we ill definitely miss our beloved professors and mentors. The have helped us through all our hard times. We real thank them for everything and we will greatly miss them.
We will also miss the beautiful campus and the fun and the interesting lectures and activities we had. Many amazing memories have been made and they will remain in our hearts forever.
We have also made new friends and hope that we will see each other again. Our group has become great friends and we learnt a lot from each other. We learnt how to work well as a team and learnt how to cooperate and listen to each other’s opinion.
Moreover, we learnt how to be more independent and we will never forget these two weeks, we will miss Imperial College!
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