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A publication of

June 2011
Pg4
East meets West The NUS High Exchange Programme

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Pulau TiomanSun, Sea & Science!

Pg15
Check it out! NUS Highs own iPhone App

SSEF Experience
NUS High School students set record in Singapore Science and Engineering Fair 2011.
by Christopher Thng & Tan Fu Nan

he Singapore Science and Engineering Fair (SSEF) is affiliated to the prestigious Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (Intel ISEF) and widely regarded as the Olympics of science competitions. The competition shortlists outstanding projects for the Intel ISEF in a two stage process - a preliminary round and a poster presentation final round. This year, 70 projects from NUS High School were shortlisted for the SSEF finals, the largest number of projects amongst all the participating schools. It has also set a new record for the most number of project submissions that made it to the final round.

Gloria & Jayashri strike a winning pose. (Above)

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On the first day of the highly anticipated project fair, participants were required to make poster presentations of their research projects. These presentations were made to 6 or more judges from various related research fields and were subject to strict grading criteria. As the day progressed, participants had to field tough questions from each judge. In between presentations, students from various schools mingled and participated in engaging scientific discourse while building friendships and forging networks. The second day of the science fair saw members of the public, scientists and students savouring the myriad of posters for the many interesting discoveries made. NUS High School students made their way down after lessons and comprised a good majority of observers there. An Awards Ceremony was also held, where Gold, Silver, Bronze, and Merit awards were presented to the few projects which impressed the judges. This year, NUS High School did exceptionally well, garnering a total of 31 awards: 10 Gold, 5 Silver, 11 Bronze and 5 Merit. Our school swept 10 out of the 17 gold medals, triumphing over other more established institutions. The Gold award recipients range from projects on Parkinsons disease to the theories governing the mechanism of the Rubiks Cube. In addition, Gold awardee Cheng Herng Yi was selected to present his mathematics project at ISEF. Aside from academic dominance, this event also showcased a remarkably united and supportive NUS High School spirit Whenever a schoolmate received an award, exuberant cheers erupted and hearty claps of congratulations resounded throughout the hall. After the Awards Ceremony, all the participants gathered for a photo-taking session. This concluded a fruitful day marked by a multitude of accomplishments for NUS High School.
All that hard work paid off Mr. Ng!

Cheng Herng Yi, awarded the Gold for his mathematics project

Epitome June 2011

All smiles as NUS High students sweep the awards.

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Best wishes from Mr Suresh


By M.Aparna & Lim Sijia
The Deputy Principal joined the teaching profession nearly twelve years ago as a mathematics teacher. He is now attending a Leadership in Education Program at the National Institute of Education. In the three years that he has been here, the best part of being the Deputy Principal he feels, is knowing that he was able to make a difference. From being a teacher just because he liked math, to being the Head of Department to becoming a Deputy Principal, he believes that his experiences have helped him in many ways. Becoming the Deputy Principal, I am glad that I am able to make a difference to a wider audience to both teachers and students, he told Epitome in an interview. And a difference he has made indeed. In the short time he has been here, he has done numerous things for the school. While overseeing student developement here, he has done much for our students including getting the NUS High School Diploma recognized in universities, leading the Boarding Programme, ensuring that the school got only the best staff, forming the extensive Staff and Development Programme, aiding in the formation of a strong leadership board, and even coming up with ways to build the schools spirit all of which he said he could not have done without the support of a wonderful team of people. When I first came here, events were level wide, students were free to do what they wanted, and there was a need to build up the school spirit. Class bonding activities hadnt yet been implemented he recalled. So we put in place housebased bonding activities, because when you cheer for your house, you are inadvertently cheering for your school, and yourself. When asked what he would have done differently, he said he only wished he could have made these changes earlier as he was busy doing the curriculum. But his efforts have definitely not gone to waste. With NUS High School being the one of the only schools with its own diploma, and with the first batch of students graduating with each and every one of them securing at least one place in a university, he feels happy that the school has definitely crossed many important milestones. Quoting the book Good to Great by James C. Collins, he said that for a good organisation to become great, you need to get the right people on the bus. Its like a journey, he said wisely, people come in, and people alight, but you have to make sure that the ones who come in are the right ones. You have to recognise people and keep them. Recalling the first day that he came to the school, he said, It was literally like walking through a ghost town, because everybody else was on holiday. Compared to other schools, where there are students attending camps, enrichment lessons, CCAs, it was quite a big difference for me back then. But now if you come to school during the holidays, you will see it bustling, and you can see that it has changed over the past few years.

fter three wonderful years, NUS High was reluctant to see Mr. Suresh Balakrishnan leave the school.

Yi,

When asked about his most memorable experience here he said that it was to see the compassion that NUS High School students have.It was truly touching for me to see that NUS High School students care for children with special needs. I am glad that they are able to accept others for who they are, because they are not only intelligent, but also sensitive, which is a good balance. Mr. Suresh feels happy to be appreciated and cant thank NUS High more. His parting words of wisdom? This is something Dr. Hang always says, Humility always opens doors for opportunities. If you are humble, and show humility, people will open doors for you. But if you close up and show that bit of arrogance, you will not be able to move forward. You can be very great, you could have written a book, but if youre humble about it, people will come and say, here, I link you up with people. With those wise words in heart, NUS High School thanks Mr. Suresh for everything he has done for the school and wishes him good luck for his future.

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The Camborne Exchange


By Quek Yihui
Needless to say, food was an essential part of the Singapore experience for the foreigners. But the typical Singaporean palate, comprising our penchant for all things spicy, oily and wheat/rice-based, provoked amusing reactions amongst the UK students. Nothing could have prepared Leanne Daniel, 16, for the cornucopia of flavours that was a curry puff, a Singaporean tea-time treat deceptively similar in appearance to their native Cornish pasty. Predictably, the pungent durian was universally spurned. But while many were slightly unnerved by the eellike slivers of grass jelly in said drink, Milo was a hit amongst the Camborne students, with many hoarding 3-in-1 Milo packs and Milo nuggets.

US High School students had an opportunity this February to host students from Englands Camborne Science and Community College (CSCC) in a school exchange programme. One of our earliest partners, CSCC has held regular exchanges with NUS High since 2008. During their stay here, we brought our visitors to many of Singapores famous tourist attractions, including the National Museum, the Singapore Flyer and the Night Safari. Despite their arrival in NUS Highs hostel in the wee hours of the morning and ensuing lack of sleep, the enthusiasm of the nine Camborne students was evident as they assembled at 9am the next morning for their first outing to Universal Studios. But as they traipsed to Clementi Market for breakfast, first impressions were swiftly seared into their minds by Singapores inferno-esque weather. The foreigners experienced less of a culture shock than heat shock. HOT!! panted Jenny Bawden, 16. If it were this hot at home, wed all be lying on the beach unable to move!

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Everyone say lush ta!

Students try out local transportation. Yippee!

A quick stop to take in the Singapore skyline.

Exchange students experience shopping in Orchard. (Below, Facing Page)

The activity-packed itinerary provided the NUS High students with many opportunities to interact with their buddies. Armwrestling proved to be an international pastime. But in regard of the arm-wrestling prowess of its female students, whatever scant credibility NUS High boasted was undermined when resident champion Fabia Lim (M10605) was bested by both Jen and Leanne. The trip was also marked by many large group outings during the allotted slots for free time, to places as varied as Orchard Road and East Coast Park. On one particular trip to the shopping mall Ion Orchard, all members of the group suddenly found themselves being videotaped by a television crew, who buoyantly announced that they would be featured in a Brazilian TV programme. Cultural exchange occurred in the medium of language as well. So eagerly did the Camborne students take to the Hokkien/Cantonese phrases they were taught, that their Cantonese toasts (yum seng) one evening before dinner were rowdy enough to draw several curious stares from the public. In turn, the NUSHS students took great pleasure in learning and using Cornish slang, such as lush ta (lovely) and cheers.

At the end of the week, all the Camborne students went home with the fulfillment of having made their mark in Singapore and NUS High School. They will certainly be missed. A satisfied Tu Wen Hui, 17, of NUS High, said I really enjoyed hosting them and learning about their culture, which is very liberal and different from ours. Cheers!

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Birds andjoined in 2010 and 2011: the Bees Biology Teachers who
Mr Lee Siak Cheong
Mr Lee Siak Cheong has a strong interest in adventure, sports and science. He believes in experiential and multi-approach learning. His favorite quote is Education is the ability to listen to almost anything without losing your temper or self-confidence. by Robert Frost

Dr Low Kai Leng


Dr Low Kai Leng recently graduated from the National University of Singapore with postgraduate training in molecular biology and microbiology. He believes that a good teacher should have qualities encompassing the four Is: Informative; Interesting; Interactive and Inspiring!

Ms Kalpana Subramaniam
Ms Kalpana Subramaniam personally believes in living life and loving others to the fullest; this entails exploring the world when she is able to and at every opportunity! Aside from travelling to scenic spots, she also enjoys playing sports like netball. She loves dancing and if she were not teaching, she would be learning all the genres of dance in a dance academy and maybe become a professional dancer!

Ms Huang Sinong
Ever philosophical, Ms Huang Sinongs favourite motivational phrase is There is a season for every activity under the heavens Ecc 3:1. On another note, food never fails to cheer her up! With an easy-going personality and an ever-ready smile, Ms Huang makes for a cheery addition to the Biology Department.

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s 11:
Mr Robin Seoh Kah Huat
Curiosity in nature and its organisms (including ourselves) has drawn Mr Robin Seoh deep into the heart of Biology. It is his greatest pleasure to be a teacher in the subject, to be able to share his understanding and interpretation about how nature works. He loves to make the information in textbooks accessible to students- to make the abstract relatable and relevant.

Ms Renata Triani
Ms Renata Trianis personal statement is: Dream the impossible dream, its not impossible because nothing is over until the moment one stops trying. She describes herself as a person who really loves science and music.

Teachers Pet!

Name : Tiger Owner : Ms Valerie Lim Breed: Jack Russell Terrier D.O.B: 9th August 2001 Age: 10 Tiger has a mind of his own and likes to venture off in search of his next adventure. He is constantly foraging for food, even though he is very domesticated. I guess its in his genes. He is always ready to play fetch and his favourite friend is his smelly pillow that he has suckled since he was a pup. He never fails to brighten up my day and is easily satisfied with a nice tummy rub. Special thanks to the Head of the Biology Department, Dr. Tan Ee Ling, for putting this together.

ere y 1. ver an d an ng on to

Mr Seoh : heres a picture of my daughter, Kerris (on the left), with her cousin Victoria (on the right). Kerris is around 3 years old. She is an incredibly social creature, so you could just say Hi! to her if you bump into her in school.

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24 hours. Coffee. Sleep deprivation.


Write. Write. Write.
by Lee Huiwen

n 8th September last year, the team from the Journalism Club stayed overnight at the Singapore Press Holdings for the National Schools Newsletter Competition. During the 24 hour challenge, we were to produce a newsletter from scratch without any external help. The assignments included an interview with Singapore Sports Schools paddler Isabelle Li, a mock press conference held by the National Council on Problem Gambling, a street poll about exams and a photo assignment covering Marina Bays iconic skyline.

Upon release of the assignments at 9am of 7th September, we scrambled to plan out our entire work schedule to ensure that everyones duties did not clash. This was especially important, since many events occurred at the same time. For the rest of the day, it was all about shuttling from venue to venue, stopping only to wolf down catered meals and cups of instant noodles generously provided by the organizer. Besides snapping photos of the city from Marina Barrage, Daryl and I also headed up to the Marina Bay Sands convention halls to see if we could add more tidbits into our newsletter. On our way back we hailed a taxi, forgetting to factor in all the extra surcharges. Soon enough, the $3 ERP gantry, peak hour and Central Business District surcharges factored themselves in, and we blew the $20 transport budget provided. Unable to afford another $20 worth of taxi fares, we dropped off at the nearest MRT station and squished ourselves into the packed train. In the evening, when the interviews had been settled, it was time to work on the poll. Through MSN and Facebook, we managed to quickly gather survey results for the poll section. To everyone who helped, thanks! By 9pm, all the articles were written, and half were proofread. Layout however, dragged on throughout the night and into the wee hours of the morning. Tensions started to run high as the lack of sleep had gotten to us. In the end, we decided to take turns sleeping 2 hours each so that we could cross edit the articles. The final edition of our newsletter was ready for submission by 7.30am. Kiasu-ism got the better of us though, so we delayed the submission by an hour, grabbed breakfast and hoped for the best. As this was only our schools second time participating, we feared that we would not have matched up to the more experienced teams. Winning the Best Writing Award and coming in second was indeed pleasantly surprising. This year, the Journalism Club will be gunning for gold. Watch for us!

lowdo

MORE STUDENTS DONATE BLOOD

ighty-five members of NUS High School donated blood in August last year, during what was NUS High Schools second blood donation drive (and its first official one). The donors comprised students from Year 3 to 6, as well as Dr Tang Hock Chun (Department of Biology). Mrs Soong-Tan Seck Cher (Department of Chemistry) oversaw the event, and NUS High School blood donors were provided with school transport to the National University Hospital. According to the student coordinators of the drive, this years event has seen a great improvement in donor numbers compared to last year, when less than 50 donors registered amid concerns about the H1N1 outbreak. Encouragingly, students at the event demonstrated great enthusiasm for the spirit of the drive. Some student donors found to be ineligible kept attempting to persuade the nurses to recheck their status, or else to schedule another donation. One student coordinator, Natalie Ng (M10604), recounted: A group of regular student donors who were unable to donate at NUH due to a recent trip to Cambodia were constantly asking me if they could donate at the Health Sciences Authority [headquarters] at Outram!

By Soon Hao Jing


The amount of blood drawn per donor was determined by prior health assessments. Around 350 mL of blood was drawn from the average donor. Up to 400 mL was drawn from heavier and physically healthier male donors. A pack of blood may be used for up to three patients, and donating such an amount poses no threat to donors wellbeing. The Health Sciences Authority estimates that 100,000 units of blood (each approximately 450ml in volume) are used up each year. There is also a shortage of blood types O+ and A-, to the extent that specific requests for the donation of such blood are made periodically. The student coordinators in charge also expressed these concluding remarks: You can definitely count on the next NUS High School Blood Donation Drive 2011 [we] encourage previous donors and more students and teachers to sign upand save a life! The Journalism Club thanks Mrs Soong and Natalie for their assistance in preparing this article.

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QUICK BITES IN CLEMENTI


Are you tired of eating that same dry wholemeal sandwich or that pasta that stays tasteless no matter how much pepper you add? Are you tired of waiting in line for hours on end for a small cup of bubble tea that costs way more than it should? We sure are.

By Aparna Mahadevan Soon Hao Jing & Lim Sijia

o end our epicurean ennui, a few Journalism Club members paid a visit to Clementi Malls basement on a hunt for good food. Here, we give you the lowdown on two food outlets.

Mr Bean
Started in 1995, Mr Bean is one of the more well-known soya bean food & beverage retailers in Singapore today. With more than 50 outlets located islandwide, the chain offers a variety of soya bean drinks and snacks. Whats more, the stores boast only the finest ingredients and highest grade of NGMO (Non genetically modified) soya beans which go into every product. We thought wed find out for ourselves, if the proof was really in the pudding. First up was the red bean pancake. To our delight, it was not as starchy as it looked. The weight of the pancake when picked up was also a good indicator of the adequate filling inside. We dug in, and true enough, were quickly rewarded with a mouthful of creamy, red bean flavours. The texture was also smooth and just right. Next up was the ever-popular chocolate pancake! Chocoholics beware! The filling is rich and sticky- indulge with caution! We were more than overcome by the punch packed by such a tiny package and recommend most to go slow when tackling this fluffy concoction. But it was on our third dish where we struck gold. The cheese pancake was truly a connoisseurs delight, dissolving delectably in our mouths. It had an abundance of delicious creamy cheese and was wonderfully fluffy. There was only one problem with it: it immediately left us craving more! Our verdict? If you have a pancake craving and time only for a quick bite, go for the cheese pancake!

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Each A Cup
Right at the corner of the basement, next to Burger King is Each A Cup, a small, brightly-decorated bubble tea shop. And get this it is reasonably priced, has a countless number of flavors and tastes nearly the same as KOI. The hazelnut milk tea that we had was with 20% sugar and cost just $2.60 a cup. With a generous amount of chewy, flavored pearls, it was creamy and fragrant. It left a slightly gritty but sweet aftertaste in our mouths and was definitely value for our money. On the less conventional front, the store also sold something called a snowshake. These ice-cold, milky treats contained small cereal bits that were very filling. Plus, milk powder is used in the drinks rather than dairy milk as the former is less fattening, and the finest tea leaves from Taiwan are used. Each A Cup is open until at least 9.45pm everyday and is worth a visit.

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National Day
O
n 6th August 2010, NUS High School and every other educational institution in Singapore celebrated the 45th anniversary of our countrys independence with its National Day parade and concert. The school had been all abuzz with activity whether rehearsals or decoration and when the students gathered at the track for morning assembly, it seemed like a sea of red and white. After settling down on the grandstand, we received fans and miniature Singapore flags, which everyone waved with gusto. We were greeted with the sight of all the Uniformed Groups members, house representatives, and co-curricular activity representatives marching in orderly lines onto the field. Then the Parade Master gave the command to start the parade. After all the marching, it was the time to sing the national anthem and recite the Pledge. Imagine our pride in being able to sing together for our nation on this important occasion! After the parade at the track, the whole school proceeded to the hall for the National Day concert celebrations. Soon after we reached the hall, the cheerleaders from the student leadership organizations gave out cute clappers which got the whole school hyped up for the celebrations. The first segment of the show consisted of learning the dance to the familiar song Will You and candid interviews with teachers who hailed from different countries. A few teachers and students were also invited on stage to play traditional games (including skipping rope and spinning hula hoops) and answer questions on Singapores history. It was definitely an enjoyable and hilarious sight watching our teachers and friends participating in games when they were evidently not good at them.

By Victoria Tay & Beverley Tan

Te

A play, entitled Survivor Wars, then followed. Performed by a volunteer troupe, they depicted the story of life during the Japanese Occupation from different perspectives. It certainly helped us understand how life was like back then and how fortunate we are nowadays. Finally, the last item of the celebrations community singing. Familiar and popular national day songs were played, starting with this years National Day song, Corrine Mays Song for Singapore. Audience and choir alike immediately got into the mood and sang along. Many students, including the cheerleaders, threw their arms around each other, waving the national flag and singing with joy. By the time the last song, Will You, was performed by eight local singers, almost all the audience was standing up and swaying to the song. National Day, such an important event in Singapore, was definitely wellcelebrated with a meaningful line-up of performances that set the school thinking and got them to their feet. What a memorable National Day Celebration!

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Teachers Day

Finally, there was a skit which taught students and staff the importance of relativism. In this skit, a teacher, Mr Chia, and a student, Danny Boy, swapped bodies courtesy of the back gates turnstile. Body-swapping humour has always been milked for laughs, and for sending home the message that the grass is always greener on the other side. Bursts of laughter could be heard throughout the skit, and this item was without doubt a highlight of the celebration. Teachers Day is a time where teachers and students alike both bond with each other, and where students show their appreciation to their teachers. Looking at the happy smiling faces in NUS High, with its unusually close relationships between the faculty and the student body, it can be ascertained that we have achieved the schools old mission of teaching and learning with passion.

By Victoria Tay & Beverley Tan

n the first of September every year, Teachers Day is celebrated to commemorate all that our teachers have done. This year, we had a celebration that truly expressed our gratitude to our teachers for their important and irreplaceable role in our lives. The day opened with performances from the winners of the individual and group categories in this years school talent search. As students settled down in the hall, we were treated to a short guitar performance by our home-grown Fred Nam, followed by a band performance by all-Korean group Dice. As usual, there followed the customary How Well Do You Know Your Teachers segment. During this question-andanswer quiz, the audience was provided with biographical trivia about a teacher. The audience was required to deduce the teachers identity, and to gain points for their house by answering correctly. Next came the beauty pageant-style awards, where prizes were given to noteworthy and quirky teachers. Students had earlier voted for their teachers to win awards such as Mr and Ms Funky and Mr and Ms Neat, and senior management now garlanded them with laurels and sashes in mock seriousness. The second half of the quiz ensued, where more house points were gained and more laughter ensued. After the quiz, it was time for the School Choir and the Dance Club to put up a show. The melodious voices of the choir and the evocative movements of the dancers definitely added to the vibrant atmosphere.

A gift for teachers on a special day.

Dr. Hang hands out deserving awards.

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Experiential learning on Tioman


Taking learning out of the classroom: Pulau Tioman Ecology Field Trip 2010 By Quek Yihui
After an arduous six-hour journey that involved a bus and ferry ride, our group of about 100 teachers and students were finally ready to start on the first activity, setting our pre-prepared plasticine fake eggs in the forests. We had been forewarned by the first batch of students who went on the trip that mosquitoes were a dime a dozen on this island, and so had taken the precaution of applying copious amounts of insect repellent. As we trooped deeper into the forest, smelling of lemongrass and citronella, I was reminded of the importance of maintaining an ecological balance in our quest for urban perfection. The preservation of such natural enclaves is no longer a luxury in our world but a very real necessity. At 10pm that night, we embarked on an intertidal walk just outside our hotel. Surreally enough, the tide had receded far enough to expose large swathes of the seabed where the sea had lapped at the shore just hours before. Shrouded in pitch-blackness, we descended on the tidal pools with nothing but our torchlights and team-mates for support. To our astonishment, our torches revealed all manner of creatures. Tiny shrimps and crabs scurried amongst the exposed corals, and eerily fluorescent sea slugs and sea cucumbers made an occasional appearance.

ere hours after midnight heralded the start of the September term break, a group of Year 5 Biology majors including this writer gathered at the school concourse. Envying our peers who were at that moment lounging on their beds in deep sleep, our minds rankled in anticipation of the very different programme in store for us. It was the start of a four-day long field trip to Malaysias Pulau Tioman for the module BL5103: Ecology and the Environment. That a field trip was a compulsory part of the module was telling since its inception, the NUS High School Biology department has adhered to the tenet of experiential learning, organising regular field trips to both local and overseas destinations. This field trip was led by Mr Malcolm Soh, Mr Lee Siak Cheong and Ms Valerie Lim.

Dont step on me!

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an

Ms Kalpana takes a dip.

Yes, we saw one.

A quick briefing before venturing forth.

It was a scene out of 20,000 Leagues Underneath the Sea. We soon heard shouts from other groups as they discovered a puffer fish, octopus, stingray, scorpion fish and the most venomous fish in the world, a stonefish. Instantaneous death awaits one who steps on a stonefish, and I thanked my lucky stars that I had been spared from this macabre fate. Over the next few days, we went deep into the rainforest to collect data about the species present in four different ecosystems. Aside from the rainforest and intertidal zones explored on the first day, we also visited mangrove and stream ecosystems. The beauty of Tioman is that all these ecosystems are located in close proximity to each other despite their very different environmental conditions. At the mangroves, we counted Uca crab burrows with our transects and tested the soil. We also captured macroinvertebrates aquatic critters large enough to be seen with the naked eye from their native stream habitats. It was only too soon that the trip came to an end. We made our way back to Singapore, reflecting on the diverse array of life hidden in our own backyard. While this was but a short respite from school, it was also an unforgettable one.

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by Christopher Thng & Tan Fu Nan


NUS High Students attend launch of New Science Academy led by Singapore Science Centre and Agency for Science, Technology and Research

n the 29 April 2011, the launch of the Singapore Academy of Young Scientists and Engineers (SAYES) was held in conjunction with the Singapore Science and Engineering Fair and A*STAR Talent Search (ATS) awards presentation ceremony. Dr Lim Chuan Poh, Chairman of A*STAR and the guest of honor, officially inaugurated this program. NUS High School did exceptionally well in the both the SSEF and the ATS, with many students receiving various awards. Among them was Year 6 student Cheng Herng Yi who emerged as champion for the ATS individual category. Our school also clinched the 1st runner up position in the school category. Overall, it was an impressive showing of our schools collective effort to achieve excellence. SAYES, a novel initiative spearheaded by both A*STAR and the Science Centre Singapore (SCS), was launched shortly after the prize presentation ceremony. It is a program which aims to inspire, intrigue and develop a passion and aptitude for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) among youth. To this end, students will be provided a conducive and intellectually stimulating environment to further their interests in science.

SAYES adopts a philosophy of pioneering and initiative. Students will be encouraged to lead assignments with little external guidance and autonomy. These assignments are largely project based and will require leaders to be able to promote and defend their proposals. Students can also look forward to mentorships and consultations from professionals in their respective fields. Student members will be promoted based on merit, giving them greater authority and access to resources. Established members may even be given the opportunity to start a science club in ones own school! Ultimately, this program aims to provide the passionate and motivated student with the resources and support necessary to develop as fully as possible, while raising awareness of STEM among the younger generation. Interested students are encouraged to find out more from the official SAYES website found at http://sayes.science.edu.sg/

ith the threat of epidemics such as SARS and H1N1, which we have seen in recent years, it is crucial for schools to be prepared for a situation in which students cannot go to school but must learn from their own homes. To prepare for such a situation, many Singaporean schools conduct e-learning at some point every year, and NUS High is no exception, conducting its own e-learning every year in March. The e-learning was conducted over the schools eSpace and Moodle platforms. The lessons were uploaded in the form of PDF or Word documents in workbins together with their accompanying notes, tutorials, assignments and worksheets. These workbins were organised according to module, so that we could view the documents we needed with ease. Online quizzes were also conducted. Initially, learning from eSpace or Moodle proved slightly

e-learning
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dropp Slicing in a si Differ blade

By Clara Lavanya Apollos

challenging as we could not find some of the materials which we needed. Also, some of us were uploading materials into the platforms for the first time and were unsure of how to do it, or where to submit it. By the end of it all, though, almost all of us developed a knack for finding out where our materials were located and we were uploading our completed assignments with ease. E-learning prepares us for any period of time during which we may not be able to attend lessons in school. During NUS High Schools e-learning, we developed a capability for learning off the computer screen, removing our dependency on seeing a teacher face-to-face. Even if we may not be able to go to school, learning can still go on.

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oure sitting there with a sparkly new iPhone in your hands. Youve heard quite a bit about its incredible technology and its breathtaking functions, but what youre really excited about are the applications youll be wasting your time on. A quick visit to the Application Store, with its over 200,000 applications, sends you staggering.

iPhone Apps Galore Y


This is no good. You need a proper guide.

by Jefferson Chew & Ephraem Tan

Nan

Thats why weve come together to wade through a rather decent amount of applications, watching online reviews, probing, spending countless hours playing a bunch of games, all for your benefit, coming up with five apps we think are pretty worth it.

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SPOTLIGHT: NUS High This handy application was developed by Sidwyn Koh (M10607), and is a very useful tool for all of us here. It includes a staff directory, so that you dont have to keep checking that list outside the staff room, a timetable to organize your modules, wireless login, and some useful links that direct you to eSpace, LINC (the library catalogue), et cetera. Theres even a little letter that will make feedback to Sidwyn easy. And its free! The NUS High App is available at http://bit.ly/nushighapp and the trailer video is on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HHTFxNJq9yc.

Fruit Ninja
A simple, addictive game where the objective is to slice fruits while avoiding bombs with a blade. The game is set against a dark wooden-board background. Fruits (and bombs) are thrown up into the air. Slicing fruits awards you points, while dropping them earns you crosses. Three crosses and youre out. Slicing a bomb ends the game immediately. Slice multiple fruits in a single strike to gain combos, and hope for random criticals. Different achievements unlock different awards, like different blades and backgrounds.

Doodle Jump
A game where you lead an adorable four-legged doodle higher and higher up the platforms,avoiding black holes and monsters, and collecting rocket boosts and helicopter beanies. As you get higher and higher, the game becomes progressively more difficult, with different platforms like disappearing ones, moving ones and burning ones. Available in several themes, such as Underwater and Outer Space.

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Doodle God
Doodle God/ Alchemy is an interesting game in which you start off with four elements, and combine them together to create new elements, like ash and coal, and ultimately form complex elements like wizards and dinosaurs. Its guaranteed to have you hooked in minutes, and you wont rest in peace till youve discovered all the elements.

Mirror HD
A simple application that turns your phone into a portable mirror, wherever you go. In this case, you can actually check whether people are telling the truth when they say theres nothing stuck to your nose! And, unlike normal mirrors, your reflection is from a third-person view that is to say, how someone else would see you.

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By Ian Seet

Square Cube Law

Giant ants indicted for breaking square-cube law Fig 1.0: That one is the giant ant. The other one is the normal ant.

colony of giant ants was indicted yesterday on several counts of breaking the square cube law. Though claiming to be nationals of the Martian empire, the Martian embassy did not intervene on behalf of their alleged citizens. The ants landed in an undisclosed area of Singapore three days ago, destroying a pair of mental institutions before being incapacitated. The century-old institutions are famous for housing over three thousand deviant inmates of both genders between them. The owner, an expatriate by the name of Thomas Bingley, said his estate would not press charges since the whole place was one huge insurance scam anyway, so its all fine and good, eh? However, the ants were found to be in clear violation of the square-cube law, which states that the strength of a material is proportional to its cross-sectional area whereas its mass is proportional to its volume. As such, the giant ants should have collapsed under their own weight, or asphyxiated when their spiracles could not supply enough oxygen to their internal organs. Their failure to do so represents an egregious breach of the laws of physics which cannot be tolerated, says the Minister of Classical Mechanics. Do you remember what happened the last time the laws of physics were broken? Thats right, someone came up with rocket launchers! Those things experience zero recoil thats a violation of the conservation of momentum!* Do you realise what would happen if more people broke the square-cube law? Thats right, itll be like we walked through some inter-dimensional portal where life on Earth mimics everything we see on Japanese television! The ants have been placed in a maximum security detention centre while awaiting trial, because it appears that they are invertebrate escapers. If convicted, they can be sentenced to up to six years of physics lessons at the Correctional Facility of Maths and Science, regarded by many1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10... as a fate worse than death depending on the correctional officer on duty and how much moderation is granted.

Fig 1.1: Giant robots the size of galaxies, overgrown tyrannosauruses with radiation-breath and mouse-sized rodents with a capacitance of several kilofarads are among the Japanese Armys counter-physics weaponry. NIPPON BANZAI!
*Yes, the author is aware that rockets launchers do not actually violate the conservation of momentum since they expel reaction mass in the opposite direction. However, it is unwise to contradict the government in large font.

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