STAR Plus

In 2005, the School pioneered an initiative to keep abreast of the changing educational scene in Singapore, that of developing a holistic education for the Whole Child. In the light of some schools going IB, School Leaders felt the need to meet the needs of ability-driven students who come to the school with high PSLE scores.When it was first mooted, the STARPlus programme explored ways to challenge this special group of students towards academic and social excellence. In essence, the programme strives to develop in these students the abilities to Stretch the mind, to Think creatively, logically and responsibily, to Acquire knowledge and skills, wisdom, good attitudes and habits, and to Relate to self, community and God. Since then, the potential of these students have had a positive impact on the school teaching and learning environment. The group of teachers who have explored the potential of this programme are also affirmed that it can move to a new level of excellence, hence the name – STARPlus

STAR Plus employs aspects of Homo Faber, Interdisciplinary Approach to develop research, oral communication skills and reflection. To nurture a spirit of inquiry, Philosophy was introduced as a subject in the STARPlus’ curriculum. The learning experiences are then expressed in Action Research and in the Odyssey of the Mind Competition. Two teams participated for the first time last year and one won the second prize. Action Research has provided opportunities for the students to showcase their talents in project work reflecting an integration of cross-curriculum themes, for example,

How has Science affected the World of Sports (2005)
Reflecting Math in Art or Reflecting Art in Math (2006)
Battles and Borders (2007)                                                                   Drama and Pros in the Art (2008)

As the School moves in tandem with the country’s goal of developing a nation of thinkers, the team of teachers and students on this programme will be reviewing, refining and reflecting on its goals and intended outcomes. STARPlus will explore possibilities to develop the potential of ability-driven students on an educational journey and adventure so that they “Be” - thinkers, problem-solvers and community contributors.

Students’ reflections on the STARPlus Programme

“A fun and fulfilling experience, made new friends and forged unforgettable bonds with them” Sarah Tan

‘The Odyssey of the Mind project taught me many skills like team work and time management.” Anne Xue

“It has helped me to learn beyond the classroom, I have also learnt to always think out of the box, be creative and practise flexibility.” Kathleen Tan

“Expectations of the teachers were set very high but it forced me to perform at a better and higher level and taught me to deal with stress.” Rebekah Broughton

“Philosophy lessons were also very interesting and they got us thinking about issues. ” Florence Yun

Samples of Action Research Sec 1/1 2006 Click on photos for larger image

An update on STARPlus activities - Science Excursion

On the 31^st of January 08, twenty girls from Sec 2/1 and 2/2 attended a science workshop held at the Singapore Polytechnic called ‘Fascinating Fish, Glorious Guppies’. The workshop taught us many interesting facts about various fishes and their adaptations.

During the workshop, I was surprised to learn that Singapore is the number one exporter of guppies in the world.  However, guppies are not a local species. They were originally brought in from South America to get rid of mosquitoes.

My classmates and I saw many varieties of fish such as red tilapia, sultan fish, snakehead fish as well as lots of multi-coloured guppies. I was amazed to learn that snakehead fish can survive even when the pond that they live in dries up. These extraordinary fish can wriggle through the ground until they find another water source.

We were also taught how to tell if a fish is fresh. There are three important things to look out for.  The skin must be firm, the eyes must be clear and the gills must be bright red.  We were told that in a wet market, we would be able to tell if the fish is fresh or not by using these three signs.  However, in the supermarket you are only shown a small slice of the fish which may very well be rotten!  We were also shown squids and other crustaceans.  I had no idea that a squid has a thin transparent skeleton and very sharp teeth called mandibles.

After a short but delicious tea break, came the high point of the day. We were shown how to dissect a fish. This, for me and many of my classmates, was the most enjoyable part of the whole workshop.  First we had to catch a fish from a huge tank.  It took me a while before I finally caught a tilapia. The fish moved with incredible swiftness in the water.  After we caught the fish, we were shown how to dissect the fish.  We managed to pull out the intestines, gall bladder and even the eyeballs.

The amazing thing was that when we opened the upper body of the fish, its heart was still pounding rapidly.  We were all in awe.  How could the heart beat when we had decapitated the fish?  It amazed me at how life persists even in the most hopeless situations.

After this, we were told that, originally, the guppies did not have beautifully coloured tails.  They used to be completely green.  However, biotechnology has allowed us to genetically modify the fish so that they look more attractive.  I found the cobra variety of guppies especially pretty because of their large, beautiful black and white tails.

Towards the end of the workshop, we wrote a short reflection about what we had done at the workshop before bidding goodbye to Singapore Polytechnic and its wonderful aquaria of guppies. This workshop has not only enabled me to learn more about aquatic adaptations of the fish but also to be able to dissect them to see their internal anatomy.  I had a very enjoyable experience and hope to be able to attend more of such workshops in future.

By Rachel Roch (Sec 2/1)

REFLECTIONS

“I felt that this trip was very enriching as we had learnt more about guppies and fishes. I never knew that male guppies were more colourful that female guppies!” – Desiree Low, 2/2

“I have learnt the different parts of a fish. I can also tell a fresh fish from a rotten one and gained more knowledge about other sea creatures such as crabs, prawns and squids.” – Lin Ying, 2/2

“The workshop was interesting. However it wasn’t appealing to me. But after the whole workshop, I guess that we did learn useful things like choosing a fresh fish from a stale one.” – Natalie Chang, 2/2

At a biotechnology workshop – Plant Cloning

On 1 Feb, 19 girls, from secondary 2/1 – 2/2, went for a plant cloning workshop at the Singapore Polytechnic. Ms Adeline Koh, our facilitator, welcomed us warmly. She talked about cellular totipotency, which refers to plants having the genetic potential to produce an entire parent plant if we provide the appropriate growing conditions. Then she continued to tell us about the method of plant cloning, using an artificial seed to produce a parent plant. A ‘real’ seed structure was compared with an artificial seed structure. Basically, a ‘real’ seed consist of a zygotic embryo - which results from sexual reproduction – a seed coat and an endosperm (special cells containing nutrients for the embryo to grow). An artificial seed consist of a lateral bud or somatic embryo, a seed coat and endosperm. A lateral bud is located between the leaf stem and leaf stalk.

The benefits of creating artificial seeds, used in plant cloning, include:

- propagation of plants that do not produce seeds, e.g. seedless watermelons and seedless grapes

- small in size, easily exported overseas (ability to save on storage, handling and shipping)

- ability to be planted in the fields or nurseries at an early stage

However, an artificial seed is only able to produce one plant.

In the workshop, we would be creating artificial ‘endosperms’ (or encapsulation matrix), which contains:

-  nutrients

-  plant growth nutrients

-  pesticides

-  fungicides

-  and it contains sodium alginate, which solidifies into a jelly-like state

The objective of the experiment is:

-  to compare the effects of different watering media on the germination ability of artificial seeds

-  Encapsulate Hedyotis Corymbosa lateral buds for artificial plate growing.

Ms Koh then went on to talk about the procedure of the experiment, which can be found on our worksheet. We worked in pairs for the experiment. She told us never to use our hands to touch the sterilised items, except to hold the sterilised forceps and scapels. This would prevent contamination, and bacteria and fungus from attacking the artificial seeds. We were reminded not to allow contact of our hands with the sterilised tissues, to prevent contamination. Also, we had to place the plant lengthwise on the sterilised tissue, to prevent the plant from falling out of the tissue and becoming contaminated. We were also told to cut the stem sections from the plant, of no more than 0.3 cm lengthwise each, because it would not be able to get sucked into the pipette, used in the experiment later. After cutting up 12 pieces, we placed the stem sections into the Petri dish containing culture media and sodium alginate (encapsulation matrix). We used a sterilised pipette and sucked out one stem section and dropped it into the calcium chloride solution. We swirled the flask and repeated the process until all the 12 stem sections were in the calcium chloride solution. We waited 15 minutes before proceeding to the next step. During the wait, we placed filter bridges into the culture tubes. There would be 3 culture tubes each for everyone. Culture tube A contains sterile water; Culture tube B contains water + [low] Auxin (0.5mg/l); Culture tube C contains water + [high] Auxin (3mg/l). Auxin is a type of plant hormone, which causes plants to grow roots and towards the light. After 15 minutes, we rinsed the artificial ‘seeds’ with the sterile water provided, and then transferred 2 seeds onto the filter bridges into each of the culture tubes. Then, we sealed it with Parafilm.

After that, we proceeded into the laboratory and went to start our experiment. We had to put on a plastic apron, in place of the laboratory coats. We also had to wash our hands with soap before starting. We went into a room filled with Laminar Flowhoods (LFH). It was supposedly our workroom. Ms Koh introduced us to a laboratory assistant named Ms Annie. Ms Koh explained to us the usage of the LFH – to filter the contaminated air, and we did our experiment within the boundary of the LFH.  Ethanol was also used in the experiment to clean the work area in the LFH.I worked really hard, careful to cut the stem sections into small sizes, and not more than 0.3cm. It was really hard work, but patience is a key thing to have in the experiment. Soon, my partner and I have completed cutting 12 stem sections and placed them into the encapsulation matrix-filled Petri dish. Ms Koh then demonstrated the part of using a pipette to draw up a stem section with encapsulation matrix and dropping it into the calcium chloride solution. Control, she said, was important. With that, we all went to continue with the experiment. It was quite hard to draw up some of the bigger-sized stem sections but my partner and I persevered, and very soon, we completed it. We then proceeded to place the filter bridges into the culture tubes.

Throughout the experiment, my partner and I did not talk much, but communicated with hand signals instead, so as not to contaminate our working area. We completed our tasks and helped to clear up the workroom and packed our culture tubes into the plastic bags provided. It was time for reflections, and we each filled in a paper, which was a competition, and we could win book prizes. Then, we had a question-and-answer session. Someone asked about the time needed for the plants to grow, and Ms Koh said at least a month. Wow! It’s like a normal plant growth rate. According to Ms Koh, it should take at least 2 weeks or more for the plant to grow shoots, if they had not been contaminated. She also told us how to identify a bacteria and fungus growth; a bacteria growth is usually in a liquid droplet form, compared to the hairy structure of the fungus (caused by mycelia). Ms Koh also told us to put our culture tubes in the shade, near the windows.

Soon, it was time to go, I left the laboratory reluctantly and hope that I would be able to attend another biotechnology workshop in the future.

By: Pon Swee Ying ,Secondary 2/1

Reflections of the students who attended the ‘Plant Clone’ workshop