Caught in the Act!

Something for you guys to muse about. That's how one of my cats sleep. ;) Caught him in the act.

U8: Food Chains & Food Webs

Key Learning Points:

• A food chain shows the food relationship between organisms.
• A collection (connected together) of more than 1 food chain is call a food web.
• Plants are producers because they can make their own food.
• The rest of the organisms in the food web/chain are consumers - they consume or eat other organisms.
• All organisms obtain their energy either directly (like herbivores) or indirectly from plants.
• A prey is an animal that is being hunted or eaten by other animals.
• A predator is an animal that hunts or eats other animals.
• Herbivores are animals that eat plants only. All herbivores are preys.
• Carnivores are animals that eat animals only.
• Ominovores are animals that eat both plants and animals.
• Carnivores and omnivores can be both a prey or predator.
• All food chains/web are in balance. The producers form the largest population.
• Removing or introducing organisms into a food chain/web can cause an imbalance, thereby may result in extinction of certain groups of organisms.
• At the tail end of a food chain/web, the population of that organism is the smallest.
• Example: Grass ==> Grasshoppers ==> Chickens ==> Snake (You'll expect grass to have the biggest population while the snake to have the smallest population.)

U10: Volume

Key Learning Points:

• Volume = Length x Breadth x Height


• Sometimes, base area or area of one side of the container is given instead. Thus Volume = Area x Height


• A square box is a cube. There are 6 (square) sides and all the sides have the same length.


• 1 litre = 1000 ml or 1000 cm-cube

Do be familiar with your multiplication table:

• 1 x 1 x 1 = 1
• 2 x 2 x 2 = 8
• 3 x 3 x 3 = 27
• 4 x 4 x 4 = 64
• 5 x 5 x 5 = 125
• 6 x 6 x 6 = 216
• 7 x 7 x 7 = 343
• 8 x 8 x 8 = 512
• 9 x 9 x 9 = 729
• 10 x 10 x 10 = 1000
• 11 x 11 x 11 = 1331
• 12 x 12 x 12 = 1728

Sciber Diver

6 Excellence!

I've included a new link "Sciber Diver". In it, is a collection of websites that are relevant to your Science topics for PSLE. Do check them out as part of your revision too!

Homework / Tasks for T2W6

Tasks for this weekend of T2W6:

• Math Work book (Pract 2 - up to qn 6)
• Math Worksheet (Volume)
• Science Process Skills Worksheet
• Bring money for photograph orders

Don't forget to study for the upcoming TESTS:

• Monday: Math Test (Circles and Area)
• Tuesday: No Science Spelling
• Wednesday: Listening Comprehension Exam + Math Test (Volume)
• Friday: Science Test (Food Chain)

Do note that there'll be no revision classes on Monday due to the P4 and 5 Oral Exams, and that next Thursday is Labour Day (holiday!).

Well done!

To those who were tested by Mrs Kumaran, here's what she has got to say about you guys:

"6E pupils have done well and they are very polite. Well done!"

Kudos to a job well done, 6E! :)

Oral Exams Tips

Reading Aloud (10 marks)

• Greet the examiner - set him/her in a good mood first
• Read loud and clear
• Do not read too fast or too slow
• Change your tone; add in your emotions while reading (so that you will not sound like a robot)
• Remember to pause when you come across a comma or a full stop.
• For words which you are not sure in pronouncing, just try your best to read that word, and read as per normal (no stopping, same speed) so that you will not draw too much attention to that wrong 'word'.

Picture Discussion (10 marks)

• Firstly, describe the place shown in the picture (e.g. "This picture shows a school canteen.")
  Start from one side (left or right side), describe what you see in the picture
• Add your comments about what you have just described (e.g. "The boy looks grumpy. I think it is because he does not have enough money to buy his food")
• Give your own suggestions or explanations to that situation you have described (e.g. "That boy should have checked his wallet for enough money before going to school.")

Conversation (10 marks)

• Treat the examiner as your friend or relative - chat with him/her
• Make sure you talk about the given exam topic and not about other topics
• Speak up loud and clear
• Talk more than the examiner
• Thank the examiner

Remember:

Oral exam is the time for you to TALK! No talk, no marks! What sets you to be different from the rest (and therefore earning high marks) is to say different things from others.

Have a good rest, drink lots of water and GOOD LUCK!

Beware - Octopus Drivers!

Octopus driver? Driver-less cars? Are they for real?

Do you have the answers now? Does the author literally mean what he had written?

The above article was taken from The Straits Times (18th April 2008)'s Forum section. I hope that you guys appreciate such creative writing. It does make one's writing more interesting. However, one must be able to choose the right object to represent the issue. :)

The "Polar Bear" Game

Hope you guys had fun with this game during the IPP. This game is still commonly played even by adults.

Besides the fun and suspense, I hope you guys had also learnt about the values of integrity and honesty, as well as being able to differentiate right from wrong. In addition, you can also pick up certain skills in observing people's actions (especially when they are telling lies).

Anyway, I hope that this game stays in your mind and be part of your memories of 6 Excellence 2008! :)

Homework / Tasks for T2W5

Tasks for this weekend of T2W5:

• English Practice Paper 3 (Sect. K only)
• English Practise Paper 4 (Whole paper)
• Math Revision Test (Sect B only)

Don't forget to study for the upcoming TESTS:

• Monday: Science Test (Char. of Environment)
• Tuesday: Math Test (Pie Charts)
• Wednesday: English Spelling (All pages)
• Friday: EL / MT Oral Exams (from 2pm onwards)
  

U9: Area and Perimeter

Key Learning Points:

• Perimeter = Add up all the exposed sides
  
• Area of Rectangle = Length x Breadth
  
• Area of a Square = Length x Length
  
• Area of a Triangle = 1/2 x Base x Perpendicular Height
  
• Area of a Circle = 'pi' x radius x radius
  
• Break up the irregular figure into shapes which you are familiar with.
  
• Fill up the missing dimensions.
  
• Apply the respective area formulae.
  
• Add up or subtract the areas (depending on the questions)

Do be familiar with your multiplication table:

• 1 x 1 = 1
• 2 x 2 = 4
• 3 x 3 = 9
• 4 x 4 =16
• 5 x 5 = 25
• 6 x 6 = 36
• 7 x 7 = 49
• 8 x 8 = 64
• 9 x 9 = 81
• 10 x 10 = 100
• 11 x 11 = 121
• 12 x 12 = 144

U8: Pie Charts

Key Learning Points:

• A complete pie chart represents one (1) whole of the data being measured.
  
• It can also mean 100% of the data which it is measuring on.
  
• Like a circle, the complete pie chart will have 360 deg angles in the centre.
  
• Thus the size of a pie chart slice can be measured by its angle. For example: A 90 degree angle of a slice of pie chart would mean 90/360 = 1/4 (1 quarter).
  
• Read the questions carefully. They may be asking for actual data figures, fractions, percentages or even ratios.

U7: Characteristics of the Environment

Key Learning Points:

• The environment is made up of all the living and non-living things around us that affect our lives.


• We need to study the characteristics of the environment because it affects the survival of organisms.


• The 7 characteristics are "S.O.F.T. L.A.W.":

Soil

Other organisms

Food

Temperature

Light

Air

Water

• "W.A.L.T.S." are physical characteristics.

• We can use devices such as dataloggers to capture / record data regarding physical characteristics.

U4: Industries in Singapore

I know it was quite a rush during the last period trying to cover this heavy topic. Just to briefly summarise again:

• After gaining independence, Singapore was facing a high unemployment rate (too many people but too few jobs to go around).
• This led to people getting poor, not having enough food and lots of other social problems.
• The solution would be to create jobs by setting up industries and factories.
• However to attract investors to come and set up factories, Singapore needed to promote itself as a suitable place to them.
• First step would be to prepare the place (build roads, set up electrical and water systems etc)
• Next, it would be to try and advertise/promote the country globally so as to attract investors.
• The various industries include tourism (think about tourists), financial (think about banks) and Biomedical Science (think about scientists, researchers and engineers).
• All these help Singapore to "Earn Money" for everyone.

A Terrible F1 Accident

Will we be seeing more of this when Formula 1 (F1) comes to Singapore on 28th Sep? :o

Photo Taking Session + IPP

6 Excellence!

Don't forget about tomorrow's class photo taking session. Do have a good sleep tonight and if you have not had your haircut yet, please do so soon.

For this coming Thursday, we'll be having our IPP exercise! Yes, time to 'sweat' it out in making our classroom dark and air tight!

Homework / Tasks for T2W4

Tasks for this weekend of T2W4:

• English Journal (Fri to Mon)
• English News Article Comprehension (2 pages)
• Math Revision Test (Section A only)
• Science Worksheets 1 & 2

Don't forget to study for the upcoming TESTS:

• Tuesday: Science Spelling (Characteristics of the Environment)
• Wednesday: English Spelling (All pages)

Circles and friends

The first person to give me the correct lyrics of this song shall earn 50 points for his/her group!

Potential Energy

Specifically, we're talking about gravitational potential energy

U7: Circles

Key Learning Points:

• The diameter of a circle is a straight line that starts from one point on the circle's perimeter, cutting through the centre of the circle and reaching the other point on the perimeter.
• The radius is a straight line drawn from the centre of the circle to the perimeter of the circle
• Thus 2 x radius = diameter
• Circumference is the perimeter of a circle
• Circumference = 'pi' x diameter or 'pi' x (2 x radius)
• 'pi' is generally taken to be 22/7 or 3.14 (questions will tell you which 'pi' to use)
• Area of a Circle = 'pi' x radius x radius

Generally, be careful with the units in this topic and if possible, try to use 'pi' as 22/7 as it is neater and does not contain decimals.

U6: Living Together

Key Learning Points:

• An organism is a living thing
• A population is a group of similar organisms that lives and reproduce together in the same place
• A habitat is the place where an organism or a population live, reproduce and finding food and shelter
• A community refers to many populations staying together in the same habitat
• All organisms in a community are interdependent, that is, they depend on each other for survival
• Be able to identify the types of organisms in the various habitats and communities

Examples of interdependence include:

• Green plants provide oxygen to animals during photosynthesis
• Animals and other plants provide carbon dioxide to the green plants during respiration
• Plants provide food and shelter to animals
• Animals' waste droppings fertilise the soil to help plants grow healthily

Terrariums:

• These are transparent enclosures where a mini-habitat is created for selected plants and animals of the same community
• The main purpose is to allow us to examine how each of the organisms affect/depend on each other for survival
• The observations are quire accurate as a terrarium roughly represents what that would take place in a real community / habitat

U5: Forces

Key Learning Points:

In this chapter you've learnt about the 4 types of forces.

(a) Frictional Forces (Or Friction)

• This force exists whenever 2 surfaces come into contact with each other
• Friction opposes (resist) motion and can cause wear and tear as well as producing heat (thereby causing overheating in machinery)
• However without it, we will not be able to walk properly or hold onto things
• We can never eliminate friction but we can reduce them
• Methods include adding lubricants (oil or grease), rollers and wheels, ball bearings or powder

(b) Gravitational Forces (Or Gravity)

• This is the pulling force of the Earth on all objects, which is measure by our weight
• It is different from mass, which is how much matter an object has
• Thus weight is NOT EQUAL to mass
• Gravity can work against us (e.g. climbing up stairs require more force to overcome gravity) or work in our favour (e.g. going down a slope)
• The gravity on the moon is 1/6 of the Earth's gravity. Thus we would weigh lighter on the moon than on the Earth

(c) Elastic Spring Force

• This force is present in springs or elastic bands
• When a pulling force is applied, the spring or elastic band is stretched. Upon releasing, the elastic spring force will cause the spring or elastic band to return to its original length
• The original length of the spring will be when there is no force/mass attached to it
• The extension of the spring is the result of a pulling force exerted on it

(d) Magnetic Force

• These are the forces of attraction and repulsion of a magnet
• Like poles of a magnet repels (pushes away) while unlike poles attract (pulls together)
• Magnetic materials can be attracted to a magnet, regardless of the poles
• E.g. Steel, Iron, Nickel, Cobalt, Manganese
• Magnetic material are not magnets. They need to be magnetised first either by the stroking method or the electrical method (resulting in an electromagnet)

U6: Time & Speed

Key Learning Points:

(A) Time

• Time is like the name given to any moment. E.g. 4.45p.m., 9.45a.m. etc
• It is fixed at any one time
• It can be written in the 12 hour clock or 24 hour clock
• In the 24 hour clock, 0000 is midnight, that is, the start of a new day. Thus in the 24 hour clock format, the time starts from 0000 to 2359.
• Duration is a measurement of how much time an activity takes. E.g. 1h, 5h 30 min, 45s, 38min etc
• NEVER add or subtract time and duration together as they are 2 different things! E.g. 1.45pm + 15min = 2pm WRONG!!>
• When dealing with time and duration, always draw a timeline to represent your workings

(B) Speed

• This means how fast an object or person is travelling at any unit (1) time
• Distance = Speed x Time
  
• Before you apply the formula, always make sure that the units of each of the above parts are 'talking' to each other.
• Meaning to say, if speed is given as km/h, make sure that the distance must be in 'km' and time in 'h'. (Do the necessary conversions e.g. 1km = 1000m and 1h = 60min)
• After solving for the answer, double check that your answer has the same unit as what the question wants. E.g. if the question wants you to give time in hours, make sure you convert your time from minutes to hour.
• When finding Average Speed, find the total distance and divide it by the total time taken.

This topic is not that difficult as long as you are very careful and alert with the units and the way you present your workings. All speed questions must have these 3 parts (Distance, Speed, and Time). All you need to do is to find them, make sure the units 'talk' to each other and apply the formula and some common sense into it.

Project Work Survey @ LEAD

6 Excellence!

Please log on to your LEAD to do a survey on the Product Package Project. It can be found in your Assignments section.

Homework / Tasks for T2W3

Tasks for this weekend of T2W3:

• Math Daily Problem Sums (Q35 to Q40)
• Math Practice 1 (Circles)
• English News Article Comprehension (2 pages)

Don't forget to study for the upcoming TESTS:

• Monday: Science Test (Living Together)
• Tuesday: Science Spelling (Living Together)
• Wednesday: English Spelling (Pg 1, 2, 3 and 5)

Announcements:

• No Health Ed and Assembly on Monday (7 Apr) - Convert to Maths Lessons
• No revision class on Monday (7 Apr)
• International Friendship Day Celebration on Thursday (10 Apr) - 1st 2 periods
• Sports Day on Friday (11 Apr)