1) 2 words to describe today’s experiences
Today was touching and interesting. It was an an emotional time when we were participating in the closing ceremony when we had to leave Busan Science High School. Everybody did not want to bid goodbye to each other as we may not see each and every one of the students again. The day was also interesting as I learnt more about some science experiments our SST students and the BSHS students presented to us, such as the coral reef (biorock technology) experiment, the robot olympiad, the solar shock investigation and the investigation of how electromagnets can affect the spinning of magnets. If not for these presentations, I would not have discovered the different aspects of such research, so it was highly enlightening.
2) 2 highlights of the day
We went to Seokguram Grotto on top of the mountain and learnt more about Gyeongjoo. Before we went to the grotto, we went to the lake and took many pictures of the beautiful surroundings. After that, we went to the grotto by trekking for about 15 minutes and about 200 steps, where I learnt about the history of the area and that it stands for "stone cave rock". Apparently, the Japanese went there and took some of the stones but they couldn't rebuild it as there were leakages where water flowed out, so to support the rocks, they built wooden structures so that it would not collapse. Hence, it is not a stone cave anymore, it is more of wood now. This was enriching as I learnt more about the history of the area and about Korea ultimately.
We went to Bulguksa temple where I learnt more about the heritage of Korea. When we went there, we walked through the paths where there were many trees of various colours of red, yellow and green which was really beautiful. There, we visited 2 pagodas where I learnt about a tale of how a very gifted carpenter was tasked by the king long ago to build him a pagoda. The carpenter was building the pagoda and his wife wanted to visit him but the guards wouldn't let her in. She could see the shadow the pagoda cast on the lake. After waiting for a really long time, about a thousand years, she was desolate and committed suicide in the lake. The carpenter found out and after constructing the perfect pagoda, he ran to the lake and the guards told him his wife was dead. So, he tried to carve her face, but it became the face of Buddha, hence he was distraught and jumped in the lake as well which was tragic. This journey was enriching as I learnt more about Bulguksa temple which is a UNESCO heritage site and its deep roots.
3) 2 things I've learnt about Korea
The religious distribution in Korea is 30% Christian, 30% Buddhist and about 30% who do not follow a religion. This religious distribution is rather similar to Singapore as Singapore has a diverse number of races and religions. The difference is that Korea is a rather homogeneous society where mostly everyone is of the same race, Korean. I did not know about this distribution before so it was a good learning point.
I have learnt about the cultural representations in Korea from the visits to the Bulguksa temple and the Seokguram Grotto, as the places all had many halls where there were many statues of Buddha. This actually showed me that many people in Korea were Buddhist and had the same beliefs.
I also discovered more about the heritage of the places as mentioned above, so it really enhanced my cultural knowledge of Korea.
4) 2 things you’ve learnt about yourself
I have learnt that I need to be more on task and have better time management, as I have a tendency to only move at the last minute just before I meet the deadline. This is rather risky and is stressful on my part as well, hence having better time management will allow me to provide work of better quality and will be less stressful for me.
I realised that I need to focus on the task at hand, as there were many times when I was so preoccupied with the activities in front of me that I missed out a lot of valuable information that I could have found out about if I paid enough attention. If I had been receptive of all the information, I would have learnt quite a lot more, so it is quite a pity as it was a wasted opportunity of learning.
5) 2 things you didn’t do so well
I didn't pay attention at times when the teacher asked us to listen up as more information was being shared with us. This was because I was too engrossed with the interesting task at hand. I could do better by putting my priorities right and doing the right things at the right time. This would aid me greatly in absorbing the new and precious information that had been shared with me. I will try harder to pause and listen instead.
I could have asked more questions which had piqued my interest. This is because every opportunity is a learning opportunity and there is always something new and intriguing to be learnt. I should have made use of every precious opportunity and extended my learning by learning new things and some concepts to apply to concepts I already know.
6) 2 things you look forward to tomorrow
I am looking forward to the trip to the Busan National Science Museum observatory as I am sure it will be an interesting experience. I do not really know about astronomy, however I think that it is something worth learning about as it consists of information about the world around us.
I am also looking forward to the trip to Busan Science Centre as the only science centre I have been to is the one in Singapore, and it is surely much smaller than the one in Busan. I am sure that it will be a new and fruitful experience as I will learn a lot there through the science experiments that have been prepared for us.
Connect
Through Varsha's presentation, I learned about how electrolysis can be applied in a real-life situation to solve important problems in the world. Electrolysis was used to supplement the growth of dying corals by attracting ions like calcium and carbonate to be deposited on the surface of the cathode as minerals after using the anode made of materials such as brass, copper and aluminium. Although I have not learned about electrolysis yet in chemistry, I will be able to apply this learning to the topic next year as I will be empowered with the knowledge I have gained from the presentation
Extend
Through the presentation of electrolysis, I learned about how it can be used to attract the different ions in the water to the cathode. Although I do not know about it fully, I think it can also be used for many other purposes. Hence, I will read up about electrolysis in advance during the holidays to fully find out the principle behind it so that I will be able to apply it readily to chemistry.
Challenge
The reason the detailed presentation of the electromagnets on the speed of the spinning top came to be was because of the infinitely spinning top. This really showed me how the most simple things can be the inspiration for a great detailed project that can be developed on so many levels. In the past, I thought it was really hard to come up with an idea to base my project on, from this, I am inspired to use simple and possibly everyday items to be my inspiration for a project.
