My science ACE and my term test

  This term I opted for science ACE. The science ACE category comprised on 1 science trip reflection, and a brochure about how gas masks work. For the science trip, I decided to visit Singapore Science Centre with my friends.

Here is are a few screenshots of my science ACE field trip report.

The science trip was very fun and interesting. It did not change a bit since I last visited it when I was primary 3. However, I could re experience many interesting scientific facts. The best part of Science Centre was that you can try out the different tools and learn how it works by yourself, instead of just watching it and trying to learn. My friends and I had a lot of fun there, and hence, it was an interesting experience. 

Here are screenshots of a brochure I made about how gas mask works. 

Overall, I think I did a pretty good job in the brochures since I made a lot of research and tried to explain as much details as possible. The brochure was quite informative- although the brochure is quite short, around 4 pages, I managed to squeeze the details inside, without missing any of them. It was a difficult thing to do, but through this experience I learnt how to effectively use words and summarize long passages into simple, yet detailed paragraphs. This topic itself was quite interesting. It involved many chemical procedures, and the best part was I could link this topic, to biology. The gas mask gets rid of the unwanted substances by filtering. The filter is very fine and have a large surface area, so that it can catch more unwanted substances. I could recall a similar method being used in biology, inside our own body. The villi in our intestines, the air sacs in our lungs and the taste buds on our tongue all uses this method. I was fascinated to learn that science is all linked to each other, to a certain extent. This topic itself may seem like chemistry, but it can actually be seen as biology in some extent too. 

<Term test>

To start with, I am not really happy about my science grade in term 3. I just got the marks to get an A2, which is very unfortunate for me since I wanted to get an exemption for EOY exams. This term's test topics were chemistry and mirrors, reflections and refractions. I believe that the reflection and refraction part was generally okay: I did not get a lot wrong. However, it was chemistry that took all my marks. This test was really hard. There were chemical equations that I never saw before, and thermal decomposition? Did I even learn it? What about the chemical equation for critic acid CH3COO3 and nitrate? I was so confused during the test, and therefore, I didn't get the marks that I wanted to get. Overall, my class did not do so greatly as well, but I was really regretful about how I did not study enough for atoms and ions. If not, my chance of getting exemption was still there. After this experience, I promised myself never to be overly complacent (After reading the notes once I was confident that I could do well for this term test), as well as to study this topic more carefully and thoroughly next time during the End Of Year paper. 

global warming: is it real?

  Global warming has remained to be a controversial issue in the modern society. Some people believe that global warming is real while the others claim that there is no evidence to show that it is a real phenomenon. There are both arguments for and against the statement that global warming is happening.

  To start with, there are arguments against this statement. A lot of scientists and climatologists show skepticism and do not believe that human activities can affect the Earth temperature significantly. Over 1200 scientists have signed petitions that suggested that global warming was just a virtual phenomenon and was not real. Moreover, some of our reliable data shows no sign of global warming. The satellite and weather clouds, which can measure up to 0.01 degrees Celsius, show that the atmosphere do not show temperature increase over the past 20 years. The reason why some studies show that Earth's temperature is rising is that only the land temperature shows a global warming trend, due to the urbanization. Another argument is that the increase in temperature only occurred in some specific parts of the world, not the entire globe, hence it cannot be seen as "global warming". Last but not least, the computer measurement of global warming trend may not be accurate, as it is a rough calculation.

  However, there are also arguments for this statement. The scientists of NASA have researched that during the last decade, there have been unusual natural phenomenons and extreme weather approached frequently. For example, in the United States, there were more frequent storms and rainfalls. Recently, a draught burst out in the same country, causing its crops to wither. This shows how the weather became extreme and fluctuates very frequently. Moreover, the research shows that  the Earth temperature has been rising since 1880, and the warmest 10 years of the 20 years came from recent years, which means that the Earth's temperature is growing warmer and warmer. The oceans have also absorbed significant amount of heat, the temperature increasing about 0.302 Degrees Fahrenheit.

  In addition, the amount of ice melt in Canada, Greenland and the arctic pole region shows that global warming was indeed a real phenomenon. These regions both lost 150-250 cubic kilometers of ice each every year and in 2012, the amount of ice in the antarctic region has reached the lowest in the history. This also destroyed the habitats of arctic animals, such as penguins or polar bears. Not only ice in these regions is melting, but the glaciers are also retreating at a rapid speed. In Alps and Himalayas, the glaciers have decreased more than half of its original size since the last few decades. This resulted in the increase in sea level, which rose around 17 centimeters, the biggest increase in the past 1300 years. THis is nearly double of the increase of sea level of the last century.

  In my opinion, although there are some evidences that shows that global warming is not a real phenomenon, I think it is really happening and influencing our daily lives. The weather pattern has been irregular in the recent decade, from raining to drought. For example, the United States have been suffering from intense droughts which in the south east Asia region, there have been a few hurricanes recently. Hurricanes are caused by intense heat in the sea water, which builds up energy to form a massive group of wind. Moreover, in Korea, the fishermen were only successful in catching fishes that swam in the warm current, instead of fishes that swam in the cold sea water. Hence, it can be inferred that the sea is gradually becoming warmer, by global warming.

  I think that in order to prevent global warming to keep continuing and devastating the Earth, we should all make much effort to save the environment. This beautiful Earth is not one person's possession: it is shared among the 65 billion other people and many species of plants and animals. However, there are several selfish people who do not understand this value and tend to irresponsibly react. For example, they throw litters on the floor and waste food, causing pollution, leading to environmental problems. These are selfish act that would eventually bring consequences that would not only destroy their own, but also other people's environment. Hence, we must spend much time and effort in saving the environment. It may start from small actions such as picking up litters from the floor: but every of the actions count and gradually help to conserve the environment. The quote, " Every little makes a mickle" has always proven itself to be correct.

Even if global warming may not be real, we should be always aware of what we are doing and how our activities can affect our surroundings. Let's say that global warming is not real: does that mean that we can just ignore the environment? The answer is, definitely no. People should care more about the environment and be aware of what they are doing. This Earth is our only home and there is no where to go if the world is environmentally destroyed. The mother nature has provided the humans with countless of benefits since the beginning of human history. However, it is apparent that we humans do not appreciate her help. It is time that we do something for Earth. Let's put our efforts together to prevent global warming.