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What's Up - Post Reading Activity

Read the following articles. Complete your work in your writing journal.

27.1.2012
The Other Korea [pg 6-7]
Read 'The Other Korea' and complete this activity in your writing journal.

Take a look at this graphic representation.

_______________________________________________________

28.1.2012
Solving a village's water woes [pg 15]
Quote: "I now have a greater awareness of the people around me and their needs. And, I am motivated to help more, in whatever way I can." - Tham Yiqin, Singapore Polytechnic student
Questions:
(a) What did Tham Yiqin do to help the Tao Guo villagers?
(b) Have you done any community service project before? If you have, describe what you did.
(c) How do you feel when you help others?

_________________________________________________________________

29.1.2012
The elephants' tale [pg 21]
Quote: "Just imagine if this adventure keeps growing. Then the Asian elephant could finally face a happy and safe future." - Marc & Mike Spits, father and son who started the Elephant Parade
Questions:
(a) What is the adventure that the Spits are talking about?
(b) In what ways could this project help the Asian elephant?
(c) Why do Asian elephants need human beings to help them?

Read this article too.

Student E's Experiment (Index number 35 to 42 to comment)

Aim:

To find out if water is needed for photosynthesis.

Hypothesis:

Water is needed for photosynthesis.

Materials needed:

1.   2 similar plants.

2.   Water

3.   1 beaker

Procedure:

1.   Have 2 set-ups ready.

2.   Put both plants under the sun.

3.   Use the beaker to pour the water to Plant A every day.

4.   Observe the observation for a few days.

Student D's Experiment (Index number 26 to 34 to comment)

Aim:

To find out if the colours of light affects the germination of plants.

Hypothesis:

No, because light colours do not change the germination because light gives the same energy.

Materials needed:

1.   3 pots of plants

2.   3 different colours of light

Procedure:

1.   Put the pot in a dark place with seed

2.   Use different colour light.

3.   Water them every day.

4.   Wait for a few days for the germination.

Student C's Experiment (Index number 18 to 25 to comment)

Aim:

To find out if plants need water for photosynthesis.

Hypothesis:

Plants need water for photosynthesis.

Materials needed:

1.   2 diagrams, A and B.

2.   Dark cupboard

3.   Iodine solution

4.   Water

Procedure:

1.   Put both set-ups into the dark cupboard to destarch it for 12 to 24 hours.

2.   Take it out.

3.   Water set-up A and do not water set-up B.

4.   Do that for about one week.

5.   Pluck out a leaf from each plant.

6.   Put iodine solution on each leaf.

Student B's Experiment (Index number 10 to 17 to comment)

Aim:

To investigate if light is necessary for photosynthesis.

Hypothesis:

Light is necessary for photosynthesis.

Materials needed:

1.   A cardboard box

2.   Two identical plants

3.   Water

4.   Light

Procedure:

1.   Take out 2 identical plants.

2.   Put 1 of them into a cardboard.

3.   Water them daily.

4.   Put the other one in front of the window.

5.   Observe the changes.

Student A's Experiment (Index number 1 to 9 to comment)

Aim:

To find out whether water is necessary for photosynthesis.

Hypothesis:

Water is necessary for photosynthesis.

Materials needed:

1.   2 identical plants, A and B.

2.   Water

3.   Iodine solution

Procedure:

1.   Destarch plants by placing both plants in dark cupboard for 24 to 48 hours.

2.   Water one of the plants occasionally.

3.   Leave both plants in sunlight.

4.   After a few days, check the plants to see whether water is necessary.

For your Parents' Signatures this weekend

1. Science Plant System and Photosynthesis

2. Maths Whole Numbers (2) Practices 1 to 3

3. Spelling (3)

4. A Blackout in the Cinema

Science Experiment on Photosynthesis (1)

1. The experiment below was carried out by Ahmad to find out how the distance of a light source from a plant would affect its rate of photosynthesis.

a) What is a possible hypothesis for the experiment?

b) Identify the variable(s) that must be changed.

c) Identify 3 variable that must be kept the same.

d) Suggest two changes Ahmad must make to his experiment for it to be a fair test.

e) What must Ahmad observe so that he can make a conclusion to his experiment?

Fill in your responses here.

Spelling 3 26.1.2012

1. Silence descended upon the audience.

2. The much anticipated movie started after a few trailers.

3. It was the most humorous movie we ever watched.

4. The lights on the walls and along the aisles went out.

5. Irate audience shouted in frustration.

6. Pandemonium broke out.

7. What an unforgettable experience!

Maths Challenging Sums (3)

1. Susan bought 28 packets of sweets. Each packet had 12 sweets. She gave away 80 sweets. She then repacked the remaining sweets equally into 8 packets. How many sweets were there in each of the new packet? (3m)

2. Joe had a ball of string of length 27 m. He cut 4 m of the string to tie up some parcels. The remaining string was then cut into 4 equal pieces. What is the length of each piece of string? Express your answer as a mixed number. (3m)

3. Mrs Wong had two similar jugs.  The first jug had 1l of water and the second jug had 5/9l  of water. What amount of water must Mrs Wong pour from the first jug into the second jug so that both jugs had the same amount of water? Express your answer as a fraction.  (3m)

Supplementary Class Details

Dear All

Please take note that supplementary classes will commence next Monday.

I have divided the class into two groups: Group A and Group B

Group A will have their supplementary classes on Monday afternoons while Group B will have theirs on Tuesday afternoons.

The consent forms will be issued tomorrow.

Group A
1. Nicholas
2. Hui Ting
3. Shi Hui
4. Dong Wang
5. Chun Yuen
6. Nabilah
7. Owen
8. Ernest
9. Jayden
10. Jevon
11. Ivan
12. Bryan
13. Sherlene
14. Jessie
15. Yelong
16. Natalie Tan
17. Sabrina
18. Jun Yang
19. Megan
20. Alisha
21. Marcell

Group B
1. Glenn
2. Zhi Qing
3. Regis
4. Misha
5. Isaiah
6. Zheng Quan
7. Wei Ting
8. Tevin
9. Stanley
10. Justin
11. Max
12. Natalie Marisca
13. Zi Yang
14. Jonathan
15. Ben
16. Jerron
17. Alvis
18. Ryan
19. Darryl
20. Alton
21. Regan

Yours
Mdm Toh

Continuous Writing (1) - Attention Regan and Zheng Quan

Some general writing tips...

All stories begin with an introduction. A good introduction tells the readers what to expect. It contains information like 'who', 'where' and 'when' of the story.

It is important to name your main characters.

You are advised to keep the number of characters to four in your composition writing.

The focus after the introduction is on the 'what'.
- what happened to the characters
- what problem(s) the characters faced
- what was done to resolve the problems
- what happened in the end

Regan and Zheng Quan, your classmates wrote a composition based on the given situation below in class today.

You were alone at home one night, watching television when suddenly a blackout occurred.

In your composition, make use of the points below. You may include other relevant points.
- what you did the moment the lights went out
- how you felt at first
- what you decided to do
- what happened in the end

Spelling 2 19.1.2012

1. I was cruising along the second lane of TPE at about 90 km/h, heading home.

2. The new traffic regulation has mandated that passengers below 1.35m have to be in safety seats.

3. I spotted a brown furry heap of what I thought was a carcass.

4. I swerved to avoid running over the dead body of a dog.

5. The car flew into a rage and unleashed its menacing monstrous side.

6. I focused all my attention intensely on steering the car back to its course.

7. The rampage went on for what seemed like an eternity.

8. I could have easily rammed the vehicle to the barricade.

Test for Starch in leaves

Planning An Experiment

Click on this link to input your experiment that you discussed in class today.

Here are your responses. Take a look. One group has done up a very good plan. Well done!

Red Packets for Joy

It's Chinese New Year in less than a week! Can you smell the festivities in the air? Read this article about red packets. After reading the article, share with me about your thoughts about Chinese New Year here.

Brian put a drop of iodine on 4 different items using a dropper. The results were recorded in the table below.

Item	Colour of Iodine on different items
A	Blue-black
B	Blue-black
C	Yellowish-brown
D	Blue-black

Which of the following correctly represents the items tested?

	A	B	C	D
(1)	Noodles	Mashed Potato	Fish	Bread
(2)	Banana	Cake	French Fries	Cooked Rice
(3)	Carrot	Potato	Cake	Noodles
(4)	Cooked Rice	Fish	Pork	Potato

Solutions to Challenging Sums 2

Hi, I apologise for not having gone through these challenging sums with you in class.

Watch the videos for the solutions.

1. Mei Shan bought 69 kg of sugar. She packed an equal amount of sugar into 8 bags and had 4 kg of sugar left. What is the mass of sugar in each bag? Express your answer as a decimal correct to 1 decimal place. (3m)



2. A container holding liquid X weighs 4.95 kg altogether. The same container holding liquid Y
weighs 8.95 kg altogether. Liquid Y weighs twice as heavy as liquid X. Find the weight of the
empty container. (3m)



3. The total mass of 2 bags of rice and a packet of sugar is 12.25 kg.  The total mass of a bag of rice and 2 packets of sugar is 8 kg.  What is the mass of a packet of sugar? (4m)



After viewing the solutions, please complete your corrections (if any). Please clarify if you are still in doubt.

Pg 18, Practice 5 - estimation (multiplication and division)

Sadly, there are only 4 pupils who aced today's work.

The main problem lies in not making a good estimation when dividing. To give a good estimation, we need to have our times table at our fingertips. Rounding off to the nearest thousand before dividing may not give us a nice number.

Compare two of your friends' work below. Do you see what I mean?

Our Class Leaders

The following have been appointed as class monitors and subject monitors.

Class Monitors: Jevon and Owen

EL Monitors: Misha and Wei Ting

Math Monitors: Dong Wang and Natalie Tan

Science Monitors: Tevin and Stanley

PE Monitors: Marcell and Isaiah

CCE Monitors: Hui Ting and Sabrina

ICT Monitors: Ye Long and Benedict

If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.
John Quincy Adams

Road Safety

Hi all, following up on Ms Chua's talk during her assembly about the nine-year-old boy who died in a tragic car accident, please read the following articles.

1. Dead boy's parents want road made safer in Sembawang 

2. New Car Seat Rule

In your writing journal, share your thoughts about why we need to ensure safety on the road all the time.

- Have you had any terrifying experience as a pedestrian, a passenger or a cyclist?

- How do you think the dead boy's parents feel?

- Do you think many accidents can be avoided?

- What do you learn from these two articles?

Practice 5 - Rounding off to the nearest thousand and estimation

(1) 7000 + 7000 = 1400 True/False
Why?

(2) 8000 - 6000 = 14 000 True/False
Why?

(3) 473 075 when rounded off to the nearest thousand is 473 100 True/False
Why?

Can you explain why the above are true or false? Comment.

Starch Test

Here are 2 exemplary pieces of work from your classmates.

Situational Writing 1 - Giggle Poetry

Tips in SW:

1) Your information presented must be

- Accurate (win the top prize of $500, instead of win the prize of $500)

- Complete (15 February 2012, instead of 15 February)

- Explicit (win the top prize of $500 instead of win $500)

2) When asked about how you feel towards a certain situation, make sure you state your feeling but not your opinion.

Feeling

I am so excited about the contest!

Opinion

I feel that this is an interesting contest.

I think this contest will get our creative juice flowing.

3) Do not spend too much time writing down information that are not required. You should not spend more than 15 minutes in an SW task.

Below is a suggested response.

Dear Amanda

I came across a poster on a limerick writing contest and would like you to take part in this contest (1m). Since you write lovely poems, why not send in a limerick by 15 February 2012 (1m) and stand to win the top prize of $500 (1m)?

Results of the contest will be published in papers (1m) on 14 March 2012 (1m). Winners will be notified by post. I am so excited (1m) about this contest and will be working on the poem right after I send this email to you!

Your best friend

Zen

Math Practice 4 - Comparing Numbers

Feedback:
I would say the mistakes made in this practice are largely due to carelessness. They can be avoided if careful checking has taken place.

Hey! Check out this cool website on how to colour your flowers!

Remember our experiment on the chrysanthemum to show how water is transported in plants?

Check out this cool website! Click here.

Spelling 1 - 11.1.2012

Our Top Spellers are:

Marcell

Megan

Isaiah

Wei Ting

Stanley
Alton
Tevin

Zheng Quan

Regis

Jessie

1.            The tired boys plodded up the slope.

2.            Paralysed with fear, we stood frozen in our tracks.

3.            My mind was racing with a train of questions.

4.            My vision became blurred and I fainted.

5.            It was a pleasing sight to see snow falling from the sky.

6.            We heard muffled voices coming from next door.

Make this better!

#1 - What is wrong?

Good job done, Zheng Quan! Clear and complete explanation.

#3 - Oops, please tilt your head to read this...

#4 - Another great piece of work :)

#5 - Can you help improve on the explanation?

#6 - what are the missing points?

#7 - Oops again...but why is this explanation incomplete? What are the missing points?

#8 - What is the misconception here? What should it be?

Maths practice 3

Points to note:
1. When asked for value, you can present your answer in any of the following:-

Eg. The value of the digit 5 in 165 836 is ______.
i) 5000, (in numeral, the most straightforward answer)
ii) 5 thousands and (numeral-place value format)
iii) five thousand. (in words)

2. When asked what a digit stands for, it is the same as what the value stands for.

Eg. The digit 5 in 184 598 stands for _____.

The acceptable answers are:-
i) 500 (the most straightforward, in numeral)
ii) 5 hundreds (numeral-place value format)
iii) five hundred (in words)

3. Place values are always expressed in plural form:

Ones, tens, hundreds, thousands, ten thousands, hundred thousands, millions...

Check if you are awarded stickers in this practice! :)

Maths Challenging Sums (2)

Date your work.
Title: Challenging Sums (2)
Calculators allowed


1. Mei Shan bought 69 kg of sugar. She packed an equal amount of sugar into 8 bags and had 4 kg of sugar left. What is the mass of sugar in each bag? Express your answer as a decimal correct to 1 decimal place. (3m)

2. A container holding liquid X weighs 4.95 kg altogether. The same container holding liquid Y
weighs 8.95 kg altogether. Liquid Y weighs twice as heavy as liquid X. Find the weight of the
empty container. (4m)

3. The total mass of 2 bags of rice and a packet of sugar is 12.25 kg.  The total mass of a bag of rice and 2 packets of sugar is 8 kg.  What is the mass of a packet of sugar? (4m)

Health Matters - Health Booklets

Dear all,

Bring your Health Booklet to school tomorrow. The annual health screening is due soon. This year, you will be immunised and the Health Team needs your parent's consent on that. More details will be furnished later.

Yours
Mdm Toh

Maths practice 2

Feedback
1. Overall, there's an improvement in Practice 2 from Practice 1. Well done.

2. 50 000 written in words is fifty thousand NOT five ten thousands.

3. Some of you have a tendency to leave out the word 'thousand'.
Eg. 8 147 600 should be

eight million, one hundred and forty-seven thousand and six hundred.

It is not
eight million, one hundred and forty-seven and six hundred.

Do you see the difference?

Congratulations to all those who have done well. Keep up the good work!