Gold Awards in 21st ASJC International Elementz Fair 2020

The International Elementz Fair is an annual event organised by Anderson Serangoon Junior College to promote the learning of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) through student-initiated projects to study the impact of science on society.

A total of 111 teams across secondary schools, junior colleges and schools from the ASEAN region took part in the fair this year.  Our school sent in two teams comprising Sec 3 students and both teams achieved the Gold Award for their innovative and outstanding projects!

Students were tasked to conceptualise an investigative-type project, perform experiments, collect data and design a poster to present their findings. Despite changes in the judging format due to Covid-19 circuit breaker measures in the midst of the competition, our students were resourceful and adaptive, and persevered to complete their projects and presentation via virtual-conferencing.

Team 1, comprising Neo Kai Qi (3E6), Ling Yi Jun (3E5), Marianne Poh Sze Min and Gunawan Hui Si Venice (both 3E3) investigated on an alternative energy source from fruit peel.

Team 2, comprising Taha Jalil, Keane Tan Ee Hunn, Ang Wei De Victor and Hadriel Lim Jun Kang (all 3E3), investigated on the efficacy of biosorbent in purifying water.

Silver and Bronze Medals in 2020 National University of Singapore (NUS) Geography Challenge

The NUS Geography Challenge is an annual Geography competition jointly organised by the NUS Department of Geography and the NUS Geographical Society, with support from the MOE. It aims to ignite the passion of secondary school students for the subject of Geography and inspire them to develop a heightened geographical perspective of the world around them. The theme for this year’s challenge was ‘Operation Climate Change: Time for Action’, which invited students to critically analyse issues surrounding climate change, and brainstorm innovative ideas to fight against climate change collectively.

Nearly 90 teams and 415 students from secondary schools participated in this competition. Our school sent a team comprising Tee Hong Xun (4E4), Wee Kai Jie, Bryan (4E4), Teo Wen Xuan Nicole (4E4), and Nur ‘Azimah Binte Mohamad Idrus (4E4), who were all selected from our inaugural batch of Full Geography students. The students were involved in two rounds of the competition:

• The creative component round, which tasked teams to highlight how individuals can play a part in combating climate change through an attempt at a sustainable lifestyle. This was documented in a poster, together with their reflections.
• The individual component round, where students sat for a quiz which assessed them on Geography topics curated from the International Geography Olympiad syllabus.

Despite the challenges and inconveniences brought about by COVID-19 and the circuit breaker measures, our students persisted in their preparation for the competition. They even had to sit for the gruelling individual component round online during the May school holidays. Their efforts paid off as the team has done well, with two members of the team - Tee Hong Xun and Wee Kai Jie, Bryan - attaining the Silver and Bronze medal respectively. This places them among the top 30% of all participants in the competition.  In addition, Hong Xun has been invited to take part in the 2021 Geography Talent Development Programme (TDP) organised by the Geography Unit of MOE’s Curriculum Planning & Development Branch.  The TDP is an annual programme for selected Geography students to deepen their mastery of the subject through seminars, field-based learning and career exploration sessions. TDP participants will learn from academic experts, industry professionals and one another. At the end of the programme, four TDP participants will be selected to represent Singapore at the International Geography Olympiad in 2021 Pictures in clockwise direction: Azimah restyled an old pair of denim jeans into a fashionable tote bag for school; Hong Xun attended reunion dinner with a set of clothing that he swapped with a schoolmate; Nicole turned an empty milk carton into a petite coin purse for her sister; Nicole shopped for a pencil case that had been repurposed from a pair of sneakers;Bryan stitched his dad’s unwanted shirt into a trendy book cover to protect his classmate’s exercise book from daily wear and tear.

ITE Robotics Challenge 2020

A total of 82 teams from 16 schools participated in the annual Robotics Challenge organized by ITE College East on Tuesday, 4 Feb 2020. Our school sent in five teams to participate in 3 categories: Obstacle Challenge, Tracing Challenge and Creative Design Challenge.

One of our teams, “Aeroknights”, emerged 2nd runner-up in the Creative Design Challenge category with their “Auto-Buoy” robot in their maiden attempt.  The theme for the Creative Design Challenge was “Robotics to improve our everyday life”. There are three parts to this challenge: i) the design concept of the robot with a mock-up; ii) 300-word summary report and iii) a presentation of the design concept.

Members of the team, Koh Tze Wang (3E6) and Rifqi’ Aqil Bin Mohamad Rafi (3E5), spent many afternoons in the Design Studio and D&T Workshop to work on the design and build a mock-up of the Auto-Buoy, a drone equipped with a lifebuoy to rescue people at risk of drowning in open sea when they are too far from the shore for the lifeguard to react in time.  The Auto-Buoy can be deployed on the shore and activated by pointing the sensor to lock in the location of the person in distress at sea.  It will fly towards the person and eject the lifebuoy on board within an arm’s length of the person to allow him to hold onto it before it ‘drags’ the person back to shore.