See you next week !

We wanted to spend a longer time at the animal farm but unfortunately, it started to drizzle.
We had no choice but to leave without feeding all the animals. As all the children want to come back again, I made a pact with Leo. If he gets a band one in Science for CA1 next year, I will bring everyone back to the farm. We shook hands and it was a deal.. See you next week !

It likes me !

Everyone loves this white and black rabbit.
Leo insists that this rabbit can recgonize him as he has been here before.
Linus loves it as it responds eagerly whenever the children go near it.
The rest of the rabbits were lying down while eating but this one stands on its hind legs like a little dog ! So cute indeed...
Can I bring it home, please ?

Feeding the animals

No outing to an animal farm is complete without feeding the animals.
Ever wondered why children loves feeding animals than feeding themselves ?
Yes, the rabbits and hamsters are so cute and adorable, no one is tempted by the sweets and biscuits on display, they only focused on the animal feed ! Each of them bought rabbit food as they are the most adorable among the lot !
Drinks anyone ? Obviously not..

Outdoor Classroom @Animal Resort

Yes, this is the outing that everyone has been looking forward to !
After two days of learning about animals and plants' life cycles, it is time now to go outdoors and see "the real stuff" for themselves ! Here, Linus, Marcus and Leo are drawing life cycles of all the animals they can see at  Animal Resort.
The Outdoor Classroom concept aims to reinforce what they have learnt !

How do you measure mass and volume ?

Measuring mass seems straight forward. You just put the object on a weighing scale and you have it ! How about measuring volume ? First, you put an amount of water into a measuring cylinder. Next, you put in the object which you want to measure. The increase in water level is the volume of the object. As both solids and liquids cannot be compressed, the water displaced by the object is the volume !

What is matter ?

Matter is anything that has mass and occupies space.

What is mass ? Mass is a measure of the amount of substance an object has.
What is weight ? Weight is a measure of the force pulling an object downwards.
What is volume ? Volume is a measure of the amount of space an object occupies.

Time for rest and recreation

After a whole day of seeds, seedlings and plants, its time for the buys to relax and have some fun before heading home. Today, we managed to book the table tennis room. The boys took turns to play table tennis and badminton orderly. No one tried to hog their favourite game ! I think they have got used to the idea that they are a team now and no one gets left out !

Germination of a seed II

Linus is showing off his seeds which he can't wait for them to germinate. First, the roots will grow so that the young seedling can get water from the soil. Next, the shoot will grow from the seed. As the young seedling is not able to make food yet, it gets its food from the seed leaves. As the seedling grows bigger and starts to make food on its own, the seed leaves will shrivel and drop off. Isn't nature clever ?

How does a seed germinate ?

Here, the children are learning how to germinate a seed. Each of them picked 4 seeds of their favourite flowers and pushed them into a pot of soil, about 2cm below the surface of the soil. After that, they cover up the seeds and add a little water to the soil. For a seed to germinate, it needs water, warmth and air. Does it need sunlight ? No, it does not as the seed cannot make food at this stage yet.

Life cycle of a plant

Today, the children learnt that there are also female and male parts of a flower. As flowers cannot move, how do they get fertilized ? They need the help of bees ! The bees will fly from one flower to another, moving pollen from the male part (stamen) of one flower to the female part (pistil) of another flower. The flowers get fertilized and bears fruits ! This is why bees are so important ! Remember the Bee Movie ?

Life Cycle of a frog

The children are watching a video clip on the life cycle of a frog. Frogs do not fertilize their eggs internally like chicken. They fertilize them externally. First, the female frog will lay her eggs in a corner of the pond, among the stones. The male frog will find them and fertlize all the eggs together. The eggs are protected by a layer of jelly like substance and left on their own ! Hopefully, some of them survive...

Life Cycle of a Chicken II

Egg -> Chick -> Adult Chicken and the cycle repeats itself..
Egg -> Chick -> Adult Chicken -> Roast Chicken ???

What will happen to the chicken ?
If we eat all the chicken in the world, the life cycle of the chicken will be broken and the chicken will become extinct !

Life Cycle of a Chicken

Leo, Linus and Marcus are watching a video clip on the "Life cycle of a chicken".

Ever wondered why we have never cracked an egg and find a chick inside ? The farmers do not want to give you the shock of your life. They keep the roosters away from the hens so that the eggs laid are not fertilized. Therefore, there is no embryo growing in the eggs which you buy from the market.

How does a chick breathe ?

Ever wondered how does a chick breathe in the egg ?

A chick can breathe in an egg because the egg shell is porous. This means that exchanges of gases can take place through the egg shell.
There is also a tiny air pocket inside the egg to provide oxygen to the chick.
The children are shaking the egg to feel the air pocket inside.

P4 Headstart Science Camp Dec 2010

Today is the first day of our P4 Headstart Science Camp. Boys love science and everyone has been looking forward to this. The topic today is "Cycles".
What are cycles ? Cycles are series of events which repeat themselves over and over again. Examples are the Day-Night and Spring-Summer-Autumn-Winter seasonal cycles.

All good things come to an end

In the blink of an eye, we have come to the end of our P4 Headstart Math Camp.
Here are the boys smiling from ear to ear, showing off their "loot".
I think they looked as if Christmas has been brought forward !

Yes, this is the true spirit of ClubNAKO, where only fun matters...

Outdoor Classroom @Fairprice

The boys were extremely focused on their mission. They will be able to bring home everything they would like to buy if they get all the sums correct. There will be no chance given. They took it very seriously and you could see the agonising looks on their faces at the cashier. When the total amount flashed before their eyes and they got it right, the smiles on their faces were worth a million dollars !

Outdoor Classroom @Fairprice Finest

As usual, our camps always end with an Outdoor Classroom session.
This time, the children were given a challenge to apply what they have learnt in a real life situation. If a sum of money is to be shared between 3 children, there will be $2 left. If shared between 4 children, there will be $1 short. What is the sum of money ? The boys worked together and got it right !

Leo the Teacher

Leo was very excited to teach Marcus how to do a 2-digit division. He was so full of confidence and immediately wrote "Leo Cheong - Teacher" on the white board.
Beaming from ear to ear, he carefully went through the steps of how to do a 2-digit division and Marcus understood at once !
That's a really good teacher !

Highest Common Factor : HCF

Today, the boys learnt factors, which is a totally new concept to them.
They both picked it up right away and were also more comfortable with the division ladder today. Linus finally joined us today, after a bolt of mysterious fever which disappeared as quickly as it came. He is picking up the More Than and Less Than Models, an essential basic concept even for P1 !

The great outdoors !

After a whole day of divisor, quotient, remainder, divisibility and LCM, the boys had a well deserved game of badminton before Leo heads  home. Both boys loved the game and they are actually quite good at it !
Leo wanted to play table tennis too but unfortunately, we had no green light from his mother...
Still, they had a great time outdoors and that is really important for children.

Its private...

What are they looking at ?
With internet access easily available these days, the boys are exposed to anything imaginable under the sun. They are a generation of internet savvy kids !
Even Linus is able to switch on the computer, log on and serve the internet on his own without any help at all !
Its a whole new world...

Lowest Common Multiple : LCM

What is the lower common multiple of 3, 8 and 7 ?
Do we have any common multiple yet ?
We need to find the lowest common multiple.
Are we there yet ?

This is going to take forever.
Is there an easier method than this ?
Yes, use the division ladder !

Divisibility

Quick rules to remember:

A number is divisible by 2 if the last digit is an even number.
It is divisible by 3 if the sum of all digits is divisible by 3.
It is divisible by 4 if the last 2 digits make an even number.
It is divisible by 5 if the last digit is 0 or 5.
It is divisible by 6 if it is divisible by 2 and 3.

What is rounding off ?

Today, the boys learnt a new concept of rounding off.
Numbers can be round off to the nearest 10, 100  or 1000 so that they can do mental calculations to check on their final answers.
Careless mistakes of addition instead of subtraction were immediately spoted when compared to the quick estimations.
Useful, isn't it ? Yes, we rock !

Numbers to 100 000

In P3, the boys have learnt numbers up to 10 000. Next year, they will be learning numbers up to 100 000. Yes, its only one more zero, no big deal, isn't it ? Everything else remains the same.

Concepts of places and values were reinforced and yes, that sounds familiar indeed, let's discuss, shall we ?

Metal Fight Beyblades !

Noticed the ignored football and snooker games which the boys once loved ?
They are now forgotten and left aside, at least for the moment..
Yes, the craze this time round is metal fight beyblades of course ! Both Marcus and Leo bought the rare designs from Japan and they have not forgotten their brothers too ! Sweet, isn't it ?

P4 Headstart Holiday Math Camp

Today is the start of our P4 Headstart Holiday Camp. After a long November holiday break during which some of the lucky boys went to Japan with their teachers for a holiday, it is now time to start a light regime of learning in preparation for P4 next year. Besides Leo and Marcus, Linus is also joining in the camp in preparation for P1 in Catholic High next year !