East Zone A*Star Science Fair 2017

The East Zone A*Star [Agency of Science, Technology and Research] Science Fair is an annual science carnival organized by the East Zone Science and Technology Centre @ Victoria Junior College to nurture young research scientists where more than a thousand primary and secondary school students take part in many science-related activities. 

As part of the Science Fair, students also take part in a science research competition earlier and present their research findings to a panel of judges from various A*STAR research institutes such as BTI, GIS, IMRE and IHPC.  In this competition, teams of 2-4 students had to conceptualize an investigative project involving the use of scientific inquiry. They had to perform experiments, collect data and design a poster to present their findings. A total of 89 teams comprising 292 students from 32 secondary schools took part in the competition this year, including top schools such as Dunman High School and Victoria School, and the winning entries were showcased at the carnival on 21 July 2017.

Our school took part in this competition for the first time and sent in two teams.  Despite our first attempt, both teams did us proud by clinching a Bronze award each in their respective categories!  The competition was tough as there was only a total of 3 Gold, 7 Silver, 8 Bronze and 7 Merit Awards given out across 3 categories (Open, East Zone and Lower Secondary) in the competition.

L: Our team which investigated on the use of running water to generate electricity in urban pipe systems of high-rise buildings - (Left to right): ANDRE NEO JUN WEN (3E4), DERICA KON YI RU (3E4).
Not in picture: KWOK YING XUAN JOYCELYN (3E4), TAY QI YING (3E4)
R: Our team which investigated on the effectiveness of tiered filtration with fruit peels in removing anions from water samples - (Left to right): TOH ZHENG TING, NICHOLAS (2E4), JADEN TAN ZI EN (2E4),
TAN XIN YI (3E5), TEO MING ZHEN, RACHEL (2E4)

L: Collecting water samples from Sungei Punggol at the Sengkang Floating Wetland
R: Removing anions using double filtration method in our school science laboratory

Hosting of China Suzhou Twinning Schools

Our school hosted 40 students and 5 teachers from Suzhou Industrial Park Xinggang School and 11 students and 2 teachers from Changshu Foreign Language Middle School on 20 & 21 Jul 2017.  Although it is an annual event, it has always been a wonderful opportunity for our North Stars to make friends with the Chinese students and learn more about the Chinese education system and culture. 26 Sec 3 student buddies hosted the Chinese students with much warmth and graciousness as they attended lessons with them and had recesses together.  The Chinese students also attended specially arranged D&T and NFS lessons and enjoyed the engaging hands-on learning activities, while the China teachers observed an interesting Biology practical lesson conducted by our HOD/Science. The school also coincided the hosting with our commemoration of Racial Harmony Day (RHD) so as to enable our guests to join in the activities.  Our guests attended the assembly programme on racial harmony and visited the RHD Fair showcasing traditional food. It was an eye-opener for them as they had the opportunity to understand the multi-racial and multi-religious nature of our society and national identity and why racial and religious harmony is critically important for Singapore as a nation.

The hosting programme ended with a farewell party organised by our student buddies, which included talent show by our students and the Chinese students and teachers, sharing of learning points by both sides, exchange of little personal gifts among the students, and singing of the song, “Friends” by Emil Chou, as a finale.  All in all, the hosting was a fruitful and memorable experience for our North Stars and another year of renewing and strengthening the warm and close ties between CVSS and the two China schools.