Common Mistakes - Countable and uncountable nouns

Very often, pupils are not sure if certain nouns are countable or uncountable. Here are some common mistakes made by pupils:

(1) My parents have bought some new furnitures for our new house.

Correct ans: My parents have bought some new furniture for our new house. 

(2) There are some sports equipments in the Physical Education room.

Correct ans: There is some sports equipment in the Physical Education room.

(3) We had five luggages when we went to Europe for a holiday.

Correct ans: We have five pieces of luggage when we went to Europe for a holiday.

Teacher Serena's Explanation: 

Furniture, equipment and luggage are some examples of uncountable nouns and always take a singular verb.

If we need to refer to individual items, we use words like "item" or "piece", for example, a piece of equipment, an item of furniture.

Informative Video on DNA and genes

Found an informative clip that explains what DNA and genes are. It is clear and easy to understand. Good for kids who want to learn beyond the Science syllabus! Highly recommended.

Open House Day on Chinese New Year (24 Jan - Tue)

Good news for all non-Chinese parents! The National Heritage Board museums will be having an Open House on 24 January(Tuesday) with free admission to the museums. 

(A) National Museum

You can take your kid to visit the Singapore History Gallery, Singapore Living Galleries and the Quest for Immortality - The world of Ancient Egypt exhibition. There will be a special activity called Fold it, Paste it, Bag it! Participants can learn to manually fold and decorate a retro brown paper bag complete with using starch, cardboard, the signature red and white twined strings and auspicious Chinese paper cuts. 

(B) Singapore Philatelic Museum

You can view the "Imagine Dragons Exhibition". There will be stamps and interactive displays and you can discover what makes these mythical beasts tick and the roles they place in different cultures of the world. Kids can create a unique colourful dragon "hand" puppet. There is even a guided tour during which you can get to learn facts about stamps.

Refer to the list of NHB museums below and search for more details on their Open House activities on the internet. 

List of NHB Museums

• Asian Civilisations Museum
• Memories at Old Ford Factory
• National Museum of Singapore
• Peranakan Museum
• Reflections at Bukit Chandu
• Singapore Art Museum
• Singapore Philatelic Museum 

~ Serena's Greenhouse

DNA and chromosomes

The P5 kiddos in my P5 Science classes have just completed the topic on Cells during the school holidays.
I have shared with them some information on DNA and chromosomes that is beyond the syllabus.

(1) What is DNA?
DNA stands for deoxyribonucleic acid. It is found primarily in the nucleus of cells. It is the material that transfers genetic characteristics from one generation to another in living organisms.

A DNA molecule is made up of a series of nucleotides arranged in 2 strands that resemble a ladder and twist to form a double helix.

Nucleotides are made up of a base, a sugar and phosphate. The 4 bases are adenine (A), guanine (G), cytosine (C) and thymine (T). The 4 bases pair with each other (A with T and G with C). How they are
ordered or sequenced provides information needed for the growth and development of our bodies.

(2) What are chromosomes?
It is a structure within the cell nucleus. It is made up of a single coiled piece of DNA. Human cells have 23 pairs of chromosomes. 23 chromosomes come from our mother while 23 chromosomes come from our father.

(3) Sex chromosomes determine our gender
What sex / gender a baby will be is decided when the egg and sperm unite. Each egg and each sperm have one sex chromosome.

There are two kinds of sex chromosomes - X and Y. Eggs carry only an X and sperm carry either an X or a Y

X+X means the cell will develop into a baby girl.
X+Y means that it will develop into a boy.

Image: How sex chromosomes determine our gender

Animated Interactive Clip on Digestion (Lower Block Science)

Found an informative animated clip on digestion. The clip contains some information that is beyond the syllabus.

There is also a transcript on the clip on the webpage. Check this weblink:
http://www.sciencelearn.org.nz/Contexts/Digestion-Chemistry/Sci-Media/Animations-and-Interactives/Digestion-of-food

Science in Seconds - Flameproof Balloon?

Cool Science in Seconds - Activity 2: Flameproof Balloon? 

Materials / Apparatus:
- A balloon

- Tap water

- Matches

- 1 candle

Steps:
(1) Fill the balloon with water until it is about the size of a grapefruit. You can do this by fitting the mouth of the balloon over a tap faucet and filling it with tap water.

(2) Tie the mouth of the balloon in a secure knot and shake it so that any excess drops of water fall off.

(3) Lit the candle.

(4) Hold the balloon by holding the knotted end and move it into the flame for a few seconds.

Observations:

The balloon seems to be flameproof!

Teacher Serena's Explanations:

This experiment tells us about heat absorption. 

If we hold a balloon filled with air in the flame, it will burst. Why is this so? The heat of the flame will weaken the rubber until it can no longer withstand the pressure of the air inside.

Why does the balloon in our experiment not burst? Water absorbs heat very well. The water inside the balloon absorbs the heat of the flame. Hence the balloon does not burst. 

~ Serena's Greenhouse

Weekly Planner for Kids

Hi, everyone! Happy New Year and have a GREAT year ahead! After taking a break for one month, I'm back! 


I have always been a firm believer of the importance working out a weekly planner at the beginning of the year. This will enable the pupils to think through the school activities and enrichment classes that they are involved in and how much time they have left to complete other tasks such as homework, projects and revision. 


Here are some simple steps that you can follow:
(1) List down the planned school activities (Supplementary lessons, CCAs etc) and enrichment classes (Ballet/Music/ Swimming classes, tuition etc) that you are involved in every day.


(2) Mark these activities out in the weekly planner.


(3) On the weekly planner, mark out daily routines such as mealtime, bathing time, exercise time etc 


(4) Allocate time for completing homework and revision. Generally, studying in 1-hour blocks (50 minutes of study with a ten-minute break) is more effective. Mark out the blocks for homework and revision separately. 


You MUST always allocate time for daily revision. During this revision period, you will review the concepts that you have learnt in school for the day to check your understanding. Flag out those concepts that you do not understand to check with your teacher the following day.


Tip:
- Be aware of your peak periods of concentration. When you are the most alert, schedule time for studying or reviewing the subjects that you are weaker in. 


Useful templates to download:
http://pbskids.org/itsmylife/school/time/print_weekly_planner.html
http://web.mit.edu/uaap/learning/teach/time/weeklyplanner.pdf


~ Serena's Greenhouse