2011 Mathematics & Science Exchange Programme at AB Paterson College

Teachers:
MRS CHEW FOO KIM, MS JACLYN THANG
Students:
KERK PER-LYN, VANESSA | AMALINA BTE ABDUL HALIM | SANDY YU NAING | SARAH NG SHU QI | SHERILYN YEO JING YI | TANYA PURI | YEO SHI HUI GRAYCE | TAN ZHI HAN | WANG KAI QI | ADABEL TAN KAI YING | ONG YONG XIN | CLARICE YEOH HWEE LI | GOH POH TING PRISCILLA | HUANG MINGMIN EUNICE | HEW QIAN YU | NADIA BTE MOHD HAMZAH | S ROSHINI

Monday, November 21, 2011

Day 3: Mathematical Modelling Forum



We are Group Two, consisting of Grayce Yeo, Amalina, Eunice Huang and Adabel Tan. (Y)

We planned the night before to wake up earlier to cook our breakfast because we did not have enough time to prepare the day before. We had even planned our menu for the rest of the week, for example, noodles, bread and TASTY soup. We have also allocated manpower such that everybody contributed to the household chores and nobody would just be lolling around while the others are doing work. We improved OVERNIGHT!!!!!





Arriving at A.B. Paterson College

A.B. Paterson College

We went to A.B. Paterson College after breakfast and one of the speakers posted a question to us. The scenario was:
A man was wearing a mask while waiting at home. Someone is coming. What is happening? (Yes or No questions could be asked.)
Many people assumed that the scenario was related to some fancy dress theme or fencing and that the home was a house. When in actual fact, the scenario refers to the game of baseball, where the man was a catcher, wearing a mask while waiting at the home base. The other man was the batter at third base running towards home.

This illustrated the importance of making the right assumptions. We cannot think in one direction but put our heads together to think of other possiblities and from different points of view.

We were also introduced to the fundamentals of Mathematical Modelling as shown in the photo below.
It is a skill and a habit that improves with practice.


Mathematical Modelling Process



One of the notice boards in class yay!

After the lecture by Mr Peter Galbraih from University of Queensland on Mathematical Modelling, we were then broken up into various classes, where we were made to socialise with students from other schools, which include Dunman High, Raffles Girls', Ngee Ann and the A.B. Paterson students. Some of us found it difficult to mingle with the other group members initially but we managed to get to know each other better through icebreaker games. Since other students from other schools have learnt different things, we found that we could learn more things from them through the group discussions and interaction.

The Australian students were very open and friendly, allowing us to feel more comfortable while interacting with them. This reminds us of how we should welcome the foreign visitors coming to our school in Singapore. We feel that we should also welcome them in a more friendly way.

Another interesting fact about the A.B. Paterson College is that the students have to learn Japanese and Spanish as a second language. Some of the students found it stressful but personally we find that it is a useful skill that we can use and even further develop in the future.

There was a local student by the name of Rachel Lee whom we ALL met because she was confident and courageous enough to approach all of us by herself, as well as introduced herself and chatted with us throughout the day. She also brought us on a tour through the whole school. We should definitely learn to be more self confident and willing to step out of our comfort zone to welcome guests and make new friends.


The 3m deep swimming pool where the students have to dive in.

Towards the end of the day, we could have a choice between swimming and basketball but we did not have swimming gear with us so we had to choose basketball. Despite the fact that basketball was offered initially, the teachers at A.B. Paterson willingly set up other games for us, like volleyball, badminton and captains' ball to accomodate to our needs. We really appreciate their hospitality.


YUMMY DESSERT for dinner!! :)

In addition, we noticed that the food that they catered for us were mainly Asian cuisine with rice. They were trying to cater to our taste and our habits. We should similarly extend such hospitality to our foreign guests when they visit us.

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