Knowledge Forum Log In

Hi!Children...here is the URL for you to log in and try.

KB Login

Regards,

Pavithra.

Magnets...

Hi!Children...here a head start for the theme 'Interactions'. Watch the following videos and take down some notes if you want. Hope you enjoy them...


Magic Show

Magnesia..

Magnet Song

Maglev - World's Fastest Train

High Voltage!! - Parental Guidance is advised



Best Regards,

Mdm Pavithra.

Pocket Beanies...

Hi! Children...for those of you have difficulty trying to visualise how the pocket beanies is supposed to be done, here is a picture for you to take a look at and follow. Hope it helps...enjoy the break!

Cheers,

Mdm Pavithra.

An article on Exam Cramming...

Dear Children,

            I would like you to read this article on exam cramming. It pretty interesting and gives you some tips on the correct learning technique. Enjoy!


Regards,

Mdm Pavithra.

Exam cramming is not learning

K Ranga Krishnan

It is common and natural for students to cram ahead of examinations, but unless they have a better concept of the various subjects, they will soon forget what they have learnt in school, defeating the purpose and value of education.

Memory and retention is a key ingredient in learning. The frequent occurrence of memories, thoughts and ideas help with the interpretation and understanding of new experiences and ideas.

There is extraordinary diversity in how individuals behave in this respect. One remembers well; another, poorly. This is true not only when comparing individuals but also for the same individual in different phases of time (morning and evening) and age (young and old).

Memory also varies by content; some can remember music and songs easily, but are remarkably forgetful when it comes to other things. This depends on the intensity of the attention and interest attached by the individual to the content.

Some experiences are more universal - the pain of touching fire is a one-shot seared into memory. For most other experiences, frequent repetitions make possible the remembrance. The mastery of vocabulary, multiplication tables, rhymes and poems is generally ensured only by repetition.

But even then, if the material is not tapped and used, the ability to recall content is lost over time.

The most common way in which students learn is geared towards taking and passing examinations. Students pull all-nighters and cram at exam time. This type of content vanishes fast if it is not grounded by conceptual understanding and later subjected to review. "He who crams fast, forgets fast."

The more the knowledge is used, the more it is retained and helps to grow other knowledge. Conversely, even deeply ingrained content, like one's mother tongue, is impaired if not used for an extended time - I can attest to that from my own personal experience.

This brings up a key issue for learning and forgetting: What do we know about forgetting? German psychologist Hermann Ebbinghaus' experiments on memory loss are interesting.

First, he created a list of 2,000-plus nonsense words, each with one vowel and consonants. He then memorised eight lists of 13 words, waited for some time, then recollected and re-learnt them. He tested himself over periods of 20 minutes, an hour, nine hours, one day, two days, six days and 31 days. He noted how long it took him to relearn the list each time, and then recorded it as a percentage of the original time it took him to learn the list. Forgetting was steep - in 20 minutes, only 58 per cent of the original learning was saved, and over a week, only 25 per cent was retained.

What improves retention - repetition. Moreover, repetition spaced over time works better. This is called spaced learning and has been used in various programmes to improve one's vocabulary.

The education methods in our schools need to take into account of this short-lived nature of memory.

Let's discourage our students from cramming everything just before an examination. Instead, let's encourage them to get a better grasp of the subject matter, so they will not simply learn and forget.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

K Ranga Krishnan is Dean of the Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School Singapore. A clinician-scientist and psychiatrist, he chaired the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Sciences at Duke University Medical Centre from 1998 to 2009. This is part of a weekly series on the way we learn.

A recent Fire incident....

Hi! Children...I read this article from iToday on Fire and would like to share it with you as you have been working on the 'Fire' for your composition. Here you go!

California wildfires: Firefighters prepare for the worst

Massive blaze prompts evacuations as strong winds, hot temperatures create tinderbox

LOS ANGELES - Firefighters are battling to control a brush fire which has scorched homes, vehicles and thousands of acres of wilderness near Los Angeles, prompting evacuations and warnings of worse to come.

Authorities were preparing for a "worst-case scenario" yesterday (this morning, Singapore time) as a blaze dubbed the "Springs fire" menaced the 101 freeway along Camarillo, a city in Ventura County, and raced towards the coast. Smaller fires blazed elsewhere.

The Red Cross set up evacuation centres and about 500 firefighters tried to protect hundreds of homes from the flames. Officials made contingency plans to shut the Pacific Coast Highway and ordered people to leave Dos Vientos and California State University Channel Islands.

"We advise anybody in the area to be prepared. Wildfires are very unpredictable - we don't know what direction it's going to go," Ventura County fire department spokesman Bill Nash told reporters.

"We really want people to be prepared. It's better to do it now before a sheriff's deputy is knocking on your door."

The Camarillo fire started around 6.30am and rapidly spread, consuming 2000 acres of wilderness, its progress reported on the Twitter hashtag #SpringsFire.

"Winds are swirling and twisting, and we don't know what way it's going to turn. We're kind of at Mother Nature's mercy at this point," said Mr Tom Kruschke, another fire department spokesman.

A smaller fire in Jurupa valley destroyed seven buildings, 10 vehicles and a boat but by midday was said to be 50% under control.

Another fire in Riverside County has burnt about 3,000 acres since Wednesday. Two firefighters were injured battling it.

Strong, dry winds and hot temperatures, following southern California's driest winter in years, have turned swathes of wilderness into a tinderbox.

The National Weather Service issued a red-flag "extremely high fire danger" warning for LA and Ventura counties.

"The red flag conditions will continue through Friday afternoon since humidities are expected to remain extremely low with little or no overnight recoveries and daytime temperatures ranging from 90 to 100 degrees." THE GUARDIAN

Cheers,

Mdm Pavithra.

Our visit to the Zoo on 24th April...

3A children visited the Singapore Zoological Gardens on the 24th April to learn more about the diversity among animals. They attended a lecture on how animals are classified according to their characteristics and what makes each sub-group special.

After which, they had their relaxing recess as they watched the Sealion show at Splash Safari. They then took a tour around the west side of the zoo to explore more about mammals and reptiles. Our final stop was at the Otter's residence, before we returned to school in the afternoon. It was a fun-filled experience for me and the children.

Materials Song...

Hi!Children...here's a song on properties of materials! Hope you like it! Enjoy...


Click Me!


Cheers,

Ms Pavithra.