Reflection

The main purpose of creating this blog is to provide basic knowledge regarding Chemistry to the new Form 4 students. Some basic knowledge that they should know before they go deeper into the syllabus are including the glassware apparatuses in the laboratory, the common general safety signs that can be seen in every Chemistry Laboratory, and a few new terms such as Nobel Prize, elements in Periodic Table and Element  and the name of a few simple chemical formula.

In Chemistry, we have nine topics in form 4 and five topics in form 5 that have to be covered. In Form 4 syllabus, we will cover the basic concepts of Chemistry while in Form 5 syllabus, we will cover more on the applications to the basic concepts that students have learned previous year.  For the certain topics in Form 4 syllabus, there are many concepts that are quite difficult to be taught just by using chalk-and-talk method. 

In this semester, we are required to attend lectures given by Dr. Syarifah Sariah bt Syed Hassan which is Teaching in Education. In her lectures, we are required to create a blog on the subject that we teach back in MRSM. Apart from that, we are also required to create an advanced power point regarding one of the topics from our subject.  In this 2 weeks time, we have gained a lot of new information from our lecturer. The lessons taught by Dr Syarifah really helped us in improving our teaching skills by using advanced power point. 

From my observation, when students do an assessment, most of my students could not answer it very well. It shows that the learning outcomes have not been achieved completely. Based on the Robert Gardner Theory, every student is a unique that have different multiple intelligence. Some students are expert in calculation, some students are expert in doing experiments while some master in writing and listening. Gardner had classified multiple intelligence in a few intelligence like linguistic, logical mathematical intelligence, musical intelligence, bodily kinesthetic intelligence, spatial intelligence, interpersonal intelligent and intrapersonal intelligence.   

Chemistry is said to be one of most difficult subject, so by using a lot of animations and videos, it will help the students to understand and ‘see’ the content of the topic clearly. Research shows that the absorbance of the knowledge by the students is different if teacher is using different approaches. Lectures only give 5%, reading  10%, audio 20%, discussion 75%, practice by doing 75% and immediate use of learning is 90%. Based on that statement, I think the usage of advanced power points and videos will help our students in their learning process.

NEON

Neon is one of the element found in Periodic Table and Element which is located in Group 18. Neon is one of the most important element as it is used as the advertizing lamps all around the world. Below are the general properties of Neon which is taken from here.

Let's see how Neon has coloured our lives.

For more information, please visit Neon - Wikipedia. 

Nobel Prizes in Chemistry 2010

2010

 Richard F. Heck, Ei-ichi Negishi, Akira Suzuki

 (born August 15, 1931) (born July 14, 1935) (September 12, 1930)

discovery of palladium-catalyzed coupling reactions in organic synthesis.

 

Nobel Prizes in Chemistry 2011

2011

Dan Shechtman

(born January 24, 1941)

Nobel Prizes in Chemistry for the discovery of quasicrystals.

Curriculum specifications for Form 4 and Form 5

Curriculum specifications for Form 4 and Form 5

Form 4

Form 5

Did you know? - Scorpions glow under UV light!

Biologist Douglas Gaffin of the University of Oklahoma investigated the 'fluorescence' and found that the creatures can 'sense' light using their tails. The creatures may to have evolved the ability to help them scuttle away under rocks. Gaffin's team 'blindfolded' scorpions, then tested them with various different colours of light -  and found that the tails seemed to function like secondary 'eyes'.

The insects' shell works as a 'whole-body' sensor which relays information about light to the nervous system - so any part of a scorpion can 'see'. The cuticle (casing)  may function as a whole-body light collector which relays information to the nervous system, the researchers wrote. Scorpions may use this information to detect shelter, as blocking any part of the cuticle could diminish the signal.

For more info, please visit Dailymail.

Did you know? - Frog has super skin!

Frogs have very special skin! They don't just wear it, they drink and breathe through it. Frogs don't usually swallow water like we do. Instead they absorb most of the moisture they need through their skin.

Sometimes you'll find frogs that are slimy. This is because the frog skin secretes a mucus that helps keep it moist. Even with the slimy skin, these frogs need to stay near water. Toads on the other hand have tougher skin that doesn't dry out as fast, so they can live farther from water than most frogs.

Frogs shed their skin regularly to keep it healthy. Some frogs shed their skin weekly, others as often as every day! This looks pretty yucky...they start to twist and turn and act like they have the hiccups. They do this to stretch themselves out of their old skin! Finally, the frog pulls the skin off over it's head, like a sweater, and then (this is gross) the frog eats it!

For more info, please visit Allaboutfrogs.

Did you know? - It is possible to die from drinking too much water

On January 12, 2007, a 28-year old Californian woman died from drinking too much water. She took part in a water-drinking contest that was sponsored by a local radio show. Entitled "Hold Your Wee For A Wii," the contest promoters promised a free Wii video game machine to the contestant who drank the most water without urinating. The woman drank 2 gallons of water during the contest. When she and other contestants complained of discomfort, they were laughed at by the promoters and even heckled.

This tragic news story highlights the importance of understanding why drinking too much water can be dangerous to your health. Whenever you disregard your sense of thirst and strive to ingest several glasses of water a day just because you have been told that doing so is good for your health, you actually put unnecessary strain on your body in two major ways:

1. Ingesting more water than you need increases your total blood volume.

2. Your kidneys work overtime to filter excess water out of your circulatory system.

Forcing your body to accept a large amount of water within a short period of time can be fatally dangerous to your health. If you force large amounts of water into your system over a short period of time, your kidneys will struggle to eliminate enough water from your system to keep the overall amount at a safe level.

As your circulatory system becomes diluted with excess water, the concentration of electrolytes in your blood will drop relative to the concentration of electrolytes in your cells. In an effort to maintain an equal balance of electrolytes between your blood and your cells, water will seep into your cells from your blood, causing your cells to swell.

If this swelling occurs in your brain, you'll experience increased intracranial pressure - your brain will get squeezed because the flat bones that make up your skull don't provide much give. Depending on how much water your drink in a short period of time, you could experience a wide variety of symptoms, ranging from a mild headache to impaired breathing. 

For more info, please visit drbenkim.