Round 2 & 3 of Science Olympiad
After a good night's rest and a hearty breakfast, the Punggolites are ready for Day 2 of the competition. There is always time for a quick photo! :)
Challenge 2 was the "Egg Drop Challenge".
Students were tasked to work collaboratively in their teams to design and create a structure to protect an egg from cracking or breaking from a high fall. Students were only given limited materials and 2 hours to complete this challenge.
Here are some pictures of our Punggolites putting on their thinking caps to solve the problem given.
Participants could test out their structures as well before submission.
And yes, there were many broken eggs from participants (including ours) cooking under the scorching heat at RECSAM.
Regardless of the failed attempts, Punggolities as well as other participants didn't give up and continued to construct their structures to the best of their abilities within the given time.
It was an enriching and enjoyable experience for all participants!
Challenge 3 was an impromptu presentation in teams. Participants were given a random topic and they had to speak about it for 3 minutes, up on stage. Each team were given 1 minute to discuss their points before presenting.
A quick but important briefing before the start of Challenge 3.
Some of our students in action!
The teams gave it their best! It was not an easy feat however our Punggolites spoke with confidence!
With that, it's a wrap for Day 2!
Reflections
Challenge 2 was interesting! When we stepped into the room and saw the materials given to us for egg drop challenge, we were quite surprised as we have not done it before.
Initially, we were discouraged as other teams were already starting to build their structure while we were still brainstorming our ideas. However, we decided not to be influenced by other teams and continued to spend time planning and started construction once we were ready. When we tested out our structure for the first time, we were quite disappointed that our egg cracked.
Nevertheless, we were still pleased with our overall performance for today as we persevered till the very end without giving up and bonded more with one another. Working in a team is much better than working alone. - Shermaine 4A
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Challenge 3 was probably the most difficult round for our team as all of us were nervous about the impromptu speaking.
The day before the competition, we were all very anxious about the topics that we would get. As a team we reassured each other and decided that we will be confident and give it our best. We prepared for various topics in Singapore and uploaded our resources into Google Classroom for all of us to see and recap.
Even though the topic we received was unexpected, we used the 3 minutes given to us wisely by quickly listing out as many points as we could with examples. We did our best and we hope for the best when we receive the results on Friday.
From this experience, I have learnt that teamwork is really important to get through difficult situations. I also learnt how to improve on my presentation skills by watching students from other countries. - Srivarshini 4A
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Over the past 3 days in Penang, participating in the Science Olympiad, I've forged many new friendships whilst strengthening current ones, as I am given various opportunity to interact with those whom I do not talk to on a daily basis.
I've also learnt to practice respect, since I have to work in a team, and as a group leader, it is important for me to listen to everyone's opinions and come to an agreement to work towards our goal.
I am grateful for this opportunity which has allowed me to apply my knowledge learnt in school and to push myself to think critically and come up with innovative solutions for the STEM challenges.
- Patricia 4A
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