WebQuest on Animal Adaptations

Adaptations Adventure WebQuest

Some useful links to replace those that are not working in the webquest:

How animals have adapted to their environment

Animal Adaptations powerpoint
This is the same powerpoint presentation that is stored in the 6R folder in the projects area.

Amazing Animals
This website is good for those looking for adaptations of a particular animal.

Camouflage field book

Environment

here is the website which we have used for our lesson on Environment:

ActiveScience - GSK

if you can find websites that are similar or even better, do drop me a note and i'll put up the links after looking through them.

one of best websites on our local environment is none other than habitatnews. i've never failed to be amazed by the variety of flora and fauna that could be found right here in singapore. do check it out!

Pen spinning

something caught my eye the other day while i was invigilating the P6 classes during CA1 exams... a handful of kids were trying to spin their pens and making quite a din with their pens dropping all over the place...

even though pen spinning is not a required skill but still it makes for a neat trick to impress your friends :)

take a look at this video where 'cool' kids spin their pens like magic!



now while pen spinning looks fun and meaningless, there's science behind it as well! you need to find a pen that is somewhat longer than average and has its centre of gravity in the middle to make it easier to twirl around your thumb. if you are keen to learn how to spin your pen, watch the following video.

Build a roller coaster!!

Hi kids, i found these websites where you can build your own roller-coaster.

*Warning: you might suffer from giddiness :p

1. http://www.learner.org/interactives/parkphysics/coaster/
2. http://www.abc.net.au/spark/games/rollercoaster.htm
3. http://www.sci-quest.org/home/just_for_kids/coaster.phtml
4. http://www.mhhe.com/physsci/physical/giambattista/roller/roller_coaster.html

14 challenges for next 50 years

Experts believe solving these problems will make life better for mankind:

1. Make solar energy affordable.
2. Provide energy from nuclear fusion.
3. Develop methods to capture carbon dioxide produced by burning fossil fuels and tackle global warming.
4. Manage the rate at which human activity removes nitrogen from the air, worsening global warming.
5. Provide access to clean water.
6. Restore and improve urban infrastructure while preserving the environment.
7. Advance health informatics so that doctors can track carefully patients' biological information.
8. Engineer better medicines.
9. Reverse engineer the brain and determine how it works.
10. Prevent nuclear terror by finding ways to protect energy sources.
11. Secure cyberspace from identity thefts and viruses.
12. Enhance virtual reality so that it can be used for training experts and treating patients.
13. Advance personalised learning by using Internet courses or virtual reality.
14. Engineer the tools for scientific discovery.


Which do you think is the most important?

Materials and Manufacturing

Challenges in the aviation industry

GLOBAL CHALLENGES:
Materials and manufacturing

• Titanium

Titanium is used in the aerospace industry because of its lightness, but cutting it to shape is challenging.

The tool bits of machines used to cut and shape the metal wear out easily.

Shards of titanium - the waste from the cutting process - have been known to stick to the piece of titanium being cut and become obstacles to manipulating the material.

Titanium has to be cut slowly, which does not augur well for an industry already plagued by delays in delivery of planes.

• Magnesium

This could be used as aircraft material, but it oxidises easily and is not easy to manipulate.

• Self-healing material

Aerospace researchers want to develop a material which, when cracked, can release an adhesive to seal the crack by itself.

• Composite material

This is getting popular in the industry for the external body of the plane.

But not much is known about how electricity is conducted by composite material, unlike metal whose properties are established. Information on its conductivity will have implications for flights amid lightning storms.

• The process

Research is being done on how components, damaged as they are delivered from the manufacturing plant, can be repaired.

• In operation

Titanium and nickel are valued in aerospace for their ability to withstand the high temperatures and pressures of combustion in aircraft engines, but technology in advanced cooling systems is also needed to prevent overheating.

• Inspection and testing

Composite materials are also becoming popular in the making of the external body of the plane, but engineers need to find a way of detecting cracks in a material which is made up of a mesh of different materials.

• Repair and maintenance

Every hour an aircraft is not in the air is money not coming in for airlines. The challenge, therefore, is to develop new techniques of maintaining and repairing aircraft parts without having to take them to a hangar elsewhere for disassembly.

A towering sight off the east coast

The following article is taken from Straits Times Interactive website

THOUSANDS of people from the city centre to Changi were transfixed yesterday afternoon as a large water spout appeared off the east coast.

The water funnel rose majestically from the sea, and sent people scrambling for their cameras and cellphones.

In fact, the water spout broke all previous records for reader reaction at The Straits Times' online portal Stomp, with 150 SMSes, MMSes and e-mails streaming in within 10 minutes.

In all, Stomp received more than 500 images and videos from readers, who used various terms to describe the phenomenon: a tornado, cyclone, hurricane and even 'a finger of God'.

The spout was large enough to be spotted from Marina Bay, Shenton Way, Kallang, Bedok, the East Coast and even at Changi.

Staff at Equinox Restaurant - atop the 226m-tall Swissotel The Stamford hotel - were amazed by its size.

Its manager, Mr Mutto Kawary, 30, said the huge column seemed like it was more than twice the hotel's height.

The National Environment Agency (NEA) said in a statement that the spout appeared at about 2.30pm off Marine Parade and lasted about 30 minutes.

Mr Benjamin Li, 24, said he saw an aircraft in its vicinity and feared for the plane's safety. The account executive was in his 31st-storey office in Springleaf Tower in Anson Road.

'Everyone went quiet,' he said. The plane emerged unscathed.

Water spouts appear when a type of cloud, cumuliform, forms during thunderstorms, creating low-pressure pockets. A column of water is then sucked up towards the base of the cloud.

The NEA said water spouts are common in tropical waters and there are usually one or two sightings off Singapore in a year. The last spout was seen in August last year.

Spouts seem to dissipate fairly quickly. While they can pose a threat to small boats in the water, they usually weaken and vanish when they come nearer to shore.

andreao@sph.com.sg


The pictures below were taken by friends: