Beauty of science through microscopes

Very well, and today we are going to discuss on the most important 'weapon' in science which is the microscope. Microscope is a device that can lead us to a new mini-micro world of organisms. And do you know what we are made from small tiny little cells to form tissue, organ and system? Antonie Philips van Leeuwenhoek was a Dutch tradesman and scientist from Delft,Netherlands. He is commonly known as "the Father of Microbiology", and considered to be the first microbiologist. He is best known for his work on the improvement of the microscope and for his contributions towards the establishment of microbiology. Using his handcrafted microscopes, he was the first to observe and describe single celled organisms, which he originally referred to as animalcules, and which we now refer to as micro-organisms. He was also the first to record microscopic observations of musclefibers, bacteria, spermatozoa and blood flow in capillaries (small blood vessels). 

This is the first microscope he invented. Looks simple, but it can function very well to look at microorganisms. 

 See, there are so many different types of microscope invented by some really great scientist. How microscope works? It mainly based on light and lens. 

And today in this modern world, all the educations institutes like schools are provided with microscopes for the students to explore. 

Teachers and educators should demonstrate the correct method in using microscopes and encourage the students to use it or a right purpose. 

Science is just so beautiful, isn't it? =D

Robots

Hello everyone! =D

I'm very sure in this modern, globalized and technological world, you've heard of "robot". And today we are going to talk about robots. Robot is a  machine capable of carrying out a complex series of actions automatically, and also a machine resembling a human being and able to replicate certain human movements and functions. In other words, robots are very good helpers to us human being. 

There are so many different types of robots that can help us human being in our daily work and activities, especially jobs that are difficult, dangerous or dull. They lift heavy objects, paint, handle chemicals, and perform assembly work. They perform the same job hour after hour, day after day with precision. They don't get tired and they don't make errors associated with fatigue and so are ideally suited to performing repetitive tasks. 

One of the example will be industrial robots. Industrial robots are found in a variety of locations including the automobile and manufacturing industries. Robots cut and shape fabricated parts, assemble machinery and inspect manufactured parts. Some types of jobs robots do: load bricks, die cast, drill, fasten, forge, make glass, grind, heat treat, load/unload machines, machine parts, handle parts, measure, monitor radiation, run nuts, sort parts, clean parts, profile objects, perform quality control, rivet, sand blast, change tools and weld.

As you can see, robots can help us in activities that is dangerous for us to do it. Not only that, there are some robots that are very entertaining. They can dance, play music, sing song, do whatever activities you wish to. It is so amazing! Don't you think so? 

Look at this, it's a dancing and singing robot. She looks like real human don't she? =)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xcZJqiUrbnI&feature=player_embedded

I strongly believe that science will make a country more advanced. Therefore, the generations nowadays should take the opportunity to learn new technologies and apply it in our country. We will have a better tomorrow and better day. =)

Soil

The flow of water through different types of soil

This is a very interesting experiment conducted by my students and me. We designed a fair test to compare how well water moves through sand , clay and garden soil by deciding what to keep the same , what to charge and what to measure.

 First the students get the same amount of sand, clay, garden soil and water.

And then, they pour the water in the differents types of soil.

 Pupils obserb how well water moves through different types of soil. Patience students... =D

Pupils compare how well water moves through sand, clay and garden soil. They have really good observant!

 Last but not least, I guided pupils to carry out the test and record their findings.

And we came to a conclusion, water can pass through sand in the shortest time because sand is loosely arranged and not so packed like clay and garden soil. Clay takes the longest time for the water to pass through it.

Jobs are done! =D

Steve Jobs - APPLE

Steven Paul Jobs (February 24, 1955 – October 5, 2011) is the founder of Apple. He is a great man and his history will remain as  a legend. There are some quotes of his I would like to share with all of you. Without him, the world of technology wouldn't be like how it is today.

'If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on.'


¬Steve Jobs¬

'When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like:’ If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you’ll most certainly be right.’ It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself:’ If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?’ And whenever the answer has been ‘ No’ for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.' 

¬Steve Jobs¬

'We don’t get a change to do that many things, and everyone should be really excellent. Because this is our life.'

¬Steve Jobs¬

'Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose.'


¬Steve Jobs¬

'You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something – your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.'

¬Steve Jobs¬

'Being the richest man in the cemetery doesn’t matter to me. Going to bed at night saying we’ve done something wonderful, that’s what matters to me.'


¬Steve Jobs¬

 'You can’t just ask customers what they want and then try to give that to them. By the time you get it built, they’ll want something new.'

¬Steve Jobs¬

'I’m convinced that about half of what separates the successful entrepreneurs from the non-successful ones is pure perseverance. '

¬Steve Jobs¬

I believe, Steve Jobs' creative fire will continue to burn. And we, the educators play important roles  to cultivate students and get them motivated by great people like him. 

Rest in peace Steve Jobs. =)

Experiment: Absorption of Sponge

In this experiment, the students used different sizes of sponge to absorb water in the beaker. They are divided in to 4 groups to carry out the experiment. 

 Group 1

 Group 2

 Group 3

Group 4

Before they immerse the sponge into the beaker, they recorded the initial volume of the water. After they immersed the sponge with different sizes into the beaker, the observations are recorded. The students came out with a conclusion, sponge is a good absorbent and the absorption of the sponge depends on the size of the sponge.

The students too discussed why the ability of materials to absorb water is useful for certain equipment for example a mop needs to be absorbent to mop up water. This experiment is a success and again, thanks to the students who gave me full cooperation. =) 

Experiment: Springs

This is another experiment conducted in school by the students to investigate elasticity of spring. The objective of the experiment is to let the student to understand that springs return to its original size and shape after being bent, twisted, stretched or squeezed as long as the elastic limit is not exceeded. They also learned that springs stretch differently due to different values of spring constant. They also get to know the uses of springs in daily life.

 The students stretched the spring.

 The spring is being twisted.

 The students stretched the springs and all of them returned to the original size and shape.

The students are very excited to carry out the experiment.  

 The students are squeezing, stretching and twisting the spring.  

 The springs are hung with loads of different weight to experiment the elasticity of  springs.

Different types of spring stretch differently due to length of diameter of spring. the length of spring and the thickness of the spring.

As conclusion, the experiment is successfully carried out by the student with my guidance. The students came to a conclusion based on the observations that is a spring returns to its original shape and size after being twisted, bent, stretched or squeezed as long as the elastic limit is not exceeded, and the extension and compression of spring depend on the length of springs and the diameters of spring. =)

Experiment: Separated Mixture

In the experiment, the students learned that a mixture of substances can be separated by different ways for example by using filter paper, magnet and sieve.

The students are given a mixture of substances for example fine sand, small stones, small polystyrene balls, salts and paper clips. Pupils are challenged to separate the mixture in the shortest possible time.

 These are the apparatus given to the pupils: filter paper, sieve, magnet, small polystyrene balls and paper clips. They discuss in groups on how mixture can be separated.

 They use magnet to separated the paper clips from the polystyrene balls.

The other method will be using water. The polystyrene balls are less dense and therefore they will float on water. However, the paper clips are made from iron and they are denser than water. Hence, they sink in the water.

Next, the pupils are given mixture of sand and stones. 

This video shows the student used a sieve to separate the stones and sand.

Then, the pupils are given salt and sand.

They mixed the mixture with water.

The salt dissolved in the water and the mixture of salt water and sand is separated using filter paper.

The mixture is separated by using filter paper. 

Finally, the mixture is successfully separated by using filter paper.

In conclusion, the students get to evaluate methods of separating the mixture by using different possible methods for example using filter paper, magnet, sieve and water. It is a good and meaningful experiment to educate the students on separation of mixture. The experiment is a success. =)

Science Laboratory

A laboratory is a facility that provides controlled conditions in which scientific research, experiments, and measurement may be performed. In Hin Hua Primary School, it has 2 laboratories, also know as 'Lab 1' and 'Lab 2'. With this facilities, the students can carry out different kinds of experiments to investigate the hypothesis and cultivate their manipulative and scientific skills. There are some pictures on the laboratories in my school. =)

 This is the science laboratory where the stools are located on the table after the laboratory is used by the students. With this, it makes the cleaning of science laboratory easier by the workers.

 These are some equipment used for teaching and learning process (Pengajaran dan Pembelajaran). 

 The materials and apparatus are organized well in the cupboard. The drawers are labelled so that it is convenient for the teachers to prepare materials and apparatus for experiment.

 There is a skeleton model and human inner organs model in the science lab to educate the students on the bones and parts of human body.

 There are also universe models in the science lab to use in teaching basic knowledge on astronomy.

 The microscopes and magnifying glasses are located in a glass cabinet to prevent them from being dusty. 

 There is also a refrigerator in the science lab to locate the materials that need to be stored under low temperature. Some scientific specimens for example dead insects and a dead Pangolin are put in the glass cabinet for the students reference. 

 Last but not least, there is a LCD projector to be connected to the laptops to teach the students using slide shows and videos. 

As a teacher, I strongly encourage the students to use the lab wisely to cultivate their manipulative and scientific skills. However, I hope that they will obey the rules in laboratories to prevent accidents from happening. =)