Mr Guay's Science Video Contest - Results

1st Prize goes to Edmund's (2E) video on Electrical Safety!






2nd prize goes to Daryl's (2F) video on Refraction and Rainbow!






And 3rd prize goes to Edmund (2E) again for his Lemon Battery video:

Play a game + revise at the same time?!?!

Play a game of "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire" and revise the topic on Current Electricity and Resistance!

Click here to play: Who Wants to be a Millionaire - Current Electricity and Resistance by mrguay

You can even create your own customised game from this website!

National Day Photos

National Day 2009

It was nice to see most of us coming to school in red. But what struck me the most today is how enthusiastically everyone sing together when the teachers played the NDP songs.

So here are some of my favorite NDP songs in order, ending with my most favorite at the end of the post.

But I must thank http://www.sha.tc/singapore/ndp-songs for the inspiration and some of the links.

10. One People, One Nation, One Singapore (1990)
An oldie but you can't deny it's catchy and easy to sing. Lack a bit of emotion though.

9. Where I belong by Tanya Chua (2001)
Not too bad but just lack that little magic. And the tune is not that catchy.





8. Stand up for Singapore! (1985)
The first song written especially to commemorate National Day! (before that, we only have 'Chan Mali Chan' and '相信我吧! 新加坡!') Upbeat and catchy but too many politaically correct words inside. And right now, Singapore have come far enough that 'standing up' is no longer enough... the people have to do more than that!

7. Count on me Singapore (1986)
One of the songs that sometime I mistaken it for 'We are Singapore'. Soothing tune, easy lyrics, catchy chorus. But slightly corny and 'fake', yeah?







6. Home by Kit Chan (1998)
A bit melancholic (sad) and a bit slow but otherwise beautifully written. Can't say it's a song for high spirits but if you're one of those listening to this while stationed overseas, I bet tears will roll.




5. Things so Singapore by Ann Hussein (2009)
The unofficial song that had gained internet popularity in this year 2009 NDP. It's nice, but not really a 'group singing' song. I mean, you can't imagine the whole National Stadium echoing with this song, isn't it?

4. What do you see by Electrico (2009)
The first song by a Singaporean band that made it big (relatively in the local scene). The lyrics is meaningful and the tune is nice, just not perfect. It just lack that little something, a climax to the song maybe? The song begins with a question, and at the end, I'm still asking myself what do I see...




3. My Island Home by Kaira Gong (2006)
Erm...disregarding the fact that I actually know the singer in person (briefly, in NUS), I feel that this song has one of the most changes in terms of mood and tempo. Started slow and gentle, and finally crashing with a strong "I believe!" at the chorus, before settling down again.

And hearing Kaira (or Shi Jia) sing live, right in front of you without any mics or instrument, is way much better than what you hear from the CDs.




2. We are Singapore (1987-1988)

This is my most favorite NDP song before the invasion of pop singers and even poppier songs. Still, even after 23 years, you can't deny you actually prefer to sing the National Pledge rather than recite it, just like how they did it in this song.

Extremely easy to sing, lyrics are very easy to remember. Grand and yet not too sombre. Not too slow and yet not too fast like a dance music, I truly believe this is a real gem of a song. And they like it so much that this song was used for 2 years! If you haven't hear this song before, you must give it a try.




1. We will get there by Stefanie Sun (2002)
Besides that fact that I am quite a supporter of Stefanie Sun, I really like the tune of this song. The strong rhythm by the bass sets a good intro, with a gradual increase in instrument and finally peaking at the chorus. Part rock, part pop, which is what I like!

Lyrics wise I prefer the chinese version but I think the arrangement is wonderful and with Stefanie's unique voice, it's actually one of the few NDP songs that can be 'sold' as a top pick pop song.

An old but good video on Electricity

As we embark on the new topic of Electricity, here's quite an interesting video that I found. It can be downloaded freely at http://www.archive.org/details/principles_of_electricity or from my sharing folder: http://www.4shared.com/file/121710609/7af86584/principles_of_electricity_512kb.html.

What's interesting about this video is that it's made in 1945 by a country that first entered the Nuclear Age.

For those that can't wait, you can watch it from youtube too but in 2 parts:

Kranji's blog

Check it out!

http://kranjibuzz.blogspot.com/

Thank you 2F!

Thank you for this wonderful wedding gift!

Interclass DOTA friendly match

As requested by some of you (and I secretly wanted to do this anyway...), presenting....

http://mrguaydota.aceboard.com/

Go to the forum so that I/we can plan the game schedule. Registration required for forum access, so please use a valid email address.

Update 11 Jun 2009:

Thanks for supporting the interclass games. Now back to your holiday assignment! :)

Mr Guay’s Science Video Contest

For the June holidays, I decided to organise a Science Video Contest! All my current students (Sec 2 - Sec 4) may apply.

Aim
To foster and cultivate the spirit of learning and self-discovery; to stimulate creativity and enhance the learning experience of Science.

Objective
Create a short video that is related to Science (preferably but not restricted to Physics).

Let your creativity flow! There’s no restriction to the format or style of video. It could be a video of you demonstrating an experiment, a magic trick, an illusion. Or it could be a collection of video clips/pictures that is related to the topic you are showing. It can even be a MTV, a comical skit or a cartoon, as long as it is related to Science!

Prizes
1st: $50 voucher
2nd: $30 voucher
3rd: $10 voucher

Requirements:

• Individual or group effort. Multiple entries allowed.
• Clear explanation on the scientific principles. Explanation can be done in the video OR offline (e.g. a writeup or report).
• Sources of information or materials used must be clearly cited
• Allow your video to be uploaded to youtube for sharing/viewing
• No restriction on video format, length, music used etc.
• Judges decision is final.
• Judging based on content (40%), creativity (30%), explanation (20%) and quality of video (10%)
• Date of submission: 10 Jul 2009
• Register by 29 May 2009. Registration is free!

Here are some examples from youtube:

Mr Guay’s videos:

1. Moments: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2hr7LlEOv48
2. Mirror size and distance: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WEV8LNn0szI
3. Egg in a bottle: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_KA1d0voy74
4. Fun with electrical fuse: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=70arPvsHKkk
   

Examples from other users:

1. Build an electric motor: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=it_Z7NdKgmY
2. Crushing can experiment: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QVayky_b-6U
3. Floating tea bag: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TbkEfYohXTA
4. Siphon: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O3F9hx5CjPY
5. Boiling with ice: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XTJZZY1a0XE
6. Magic balloon: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ucD8_y7VdvM
7. Cartesian diver: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JGo7ECXCNgs
8. Rolling back up incline: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7bXHP9OmVo
9. Static attraction: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WZPkCOySCWc

Sign up now! :)

Sec 2 Exp Sci(Phy) consolidated results

It wasn't an easy paper (I've already told ya!) but I always believe there's no such thing as a 'difficult' paper, just unprepared students. Good job 2F!

Meridien JC obtain gold in SYF...and puts up video with mr guay?!?!

MJC got gold for their guitar ensemble...and at the end of their blog post, they posted a video featuring none other than yours truly!

The link: http://gemeridian.blogspot.com/2009/04/gold.html

Maybe Kranji should have a guitar ensemble too? Since almost half the school learned some form of guitar in lower sec...

Video for sharing - Chicken a la Carte

Got this in my email, posting it here for sharing.

View this movie at cultureunplugged.com

Java Applet to show Principle of Conservation of Energy

Quite a no. of students are interested in getting this applet, hence I'm posting the link here:

http://phet.colorado.edu/simulations/sims.php?sim=Energy_Skate_Park

It's totally free. Try it!

Total Internal Reflection

A rather good video from Harvard, showing a professor explaining total internal reflection. Enjoy!

Singapore Paper Plane Challenge

Free on 15th March? Have plenty of unwanted A4-size paper?

Contribute to a Singapore World Record! Fold as many Nakamura Lock paper airplane and head down to Singapore Science Centre on 15th March 2009. For more information, go to the official website: http://www.science.edu.sg/ssc/ibrowse.jsp?artid=8572&type=19&root=0&parent=0&cat=470

Watch a video on how to fold this paper airplane.