Science Tuition & Enrichment @ Tinkerlab Learning Centre

[Tinkerlab]

Updates on:

PSLE Science Workshop in June

Thanks to all of your support to our PSLE Science Workshop, we're more than 90% signed up!

The only session available is Session 3 from 1.15 pm to 4.15 pm.

The dates for the 30-hour 2-week workshop are:

10 Jun (Mon) to 14 Jun (Fri), 3 hours daily and
17 Jun (Mon) to 21 Jun (Fri), 3 hours daily

Those who are interested can still sign up @ this link.

Please note that vacancy is subject to availability.

Science Tuition

The P4 Science Sunday class from 2.30 pm to 4 pm is awaiting new students.

Those who are interested can still sign up @ this link.

Leave us a query if you have any.

Have a nice day!

[Tinkerlab]

Updates on:

PSLE Science Workshop in June

Our Science Workshop covers all P3 to P5 topics and helps pupils strengthen their understanding in science concepts and application of concept.

Thanks to all of your support to our PSLE Science Workshop, we're left with only 2 slots for Session 3.

The only session available is Session 3 from 1.15 pm to 4.15 pm.

The dates for the 30-hour 2-week workshop are:

10 Jun (Mon) to 14 Jun (Fri), 3 hours daily and
17 Jun (Mon) to 21 Jun (Fri), 3 hours daily

Those who are interested can still sign up @ this link.

Please note that vacancy is subject to availability.

Science Tuition

The P4 Science Sunday class from 2.30 pm to 4 pm is awaiting new students.

Those who are interested can sign up @ this link.

Leave us a query on other tuition classes or tuition matters if you have any.

Have a nice day!

[Tinkerlab]

Tinkerlab June Holiday Science Workshops!

Attention to all parents!

We're running a series of Science gadget workshops where your kids get to build a science kit, learn about the science behind it, apply the scientific concepts and best of all, bring the kit home!

There are 4 different workshops and they are:

• Solar Cooker Making Workshop ($50 nett)

• Jet Boat Making Workshop ($50 nett)

• Electric Bell Making Workshop ($50 nett)

• Windmill Making Workshop ($50 nett)

The fees for all workshops are $50 each. There is no hidden cost nor GST and all materials or tools will be provided.

For more information on what your children will be getting, visit our blog.

Once you've made up your mind, you can register your child here.

Kindly note that there are only 10 vacancies for each workshop and placement is subject to availability.

So HuRRy! What are you waiting for??

[Tinkerlab]

[Tinkerlab]

The Science gadget workshop is starting this Saturday.

The first workshop will be the Solar Cooker. Here's how it looks like:



The second workshop will be the Jet Boat this Sunday. Here's how it looks like:



For more info, pls visit our blog.

[Tinkerlab]

Some updates on our tuition

New P4 Science Tuition class in Term 3

Start Date: 4 July (Thu)

Time: 5 pm to 6.30 pm

Topic: Light, followed by Heat, then SA2 Revision

New P3 Science Tuition class in Term 3

Start Date: 4 July (Thu)

Time: 7 pm to 8.30 pm

Topic: Material, followed by Plant & Body Systems, Magnet, then SA2 Revision

If you're interested, please register @ this link.

Science Gadget Workshop

Solar Cooker Workshop

Testing the solar water boiler


Eating the finished "cooked" product using the solar cooker


Water Jet Boat Workshop

Making the Boat


Race Time!


For more info, please visit our blog.

[Ikid]

My 5-year old nephew was asked to list some living things and non-living things
He wrote
Living things : his name and Jesus
Non-living things : apple

His father marked all correct, but his mum think otherwise. I'm amused, as it's true that he's a living thing, but how about God-Jesus? His father said, because to my nephew, Jesus is always alive! God is with him. (He's attending a Christian kindergarten)

How about apple? Ok, it can rot and 'die', his mum said apple tree is a living thing, but apple once plucked from the tree is no longer a living thing, so his answer is acceptable.

Amazing children with amazing thoughts! However, with current Science education, I'm sure his teacher may not accept his creative answers.

Hi tutors, what's your thoughts? We would like to hear from you. Thanks.

[Tinkerlab]

Hi,
Thanks for sharing this with us. Indeed, in the course of teaching science to young children, we are often surprised by their responses, and it is not surprising that a lot of research has been done on the scientific conceptions and alternative views of young science learners.

With regards to your nephew's answers, here are our thoughts:

1. In the case of a typical science topical test in school, his 2 answers for examples of living things would most likely be marked wrong, while the example of non-living thing would likely to be marked correct.

Reason:

In our typical science tests, when students are asked to list examples of living things, they are supposed to give examples in the form of common nouns, like tiger, human beings, hibiscus plant, eagle. For example, the answer "orang utan" would be correct, but the answer "Ah Meng" wouldn't be, though Ah Meng is an orang utan, and a very famous one too. Hence, writing his name would be wrong, but writing "human being" would be correct.

As for the answer "Jesus", it would likely be marked wrong as well. However, we are not trying to deny the existence of Jesus Christ in his perspective. Modern scientific knowledge is based on knowledge that is acquired and constructed through the scientific method. To be termed scientific, the method of inquiry must be based on empirical and measurable evidence subject to specific principles of reasoning. The Oxford English Dictionary defines the scientific method as: "a method or procedure that has characterized natural science since the 17th century, consisting in systematic observation, measurement, and experiment, and the formulation, testing, and modification of hypotheses. Based on this concept of how knowledge is constructed, how phenomena is theorised, and how facts can be proven, we would have to say that the existence of Jesus Christ has yet to be proven through this method, in the sense that no conclusive archaeological findings and physical evidence has been found to prove that he existed. That being said, what cannot be proven by the modern scientific method yet does not mean it is untrue or non-existent. It simply means the current most widely accepted way of defining what constitutes scientific knowledge does not apply to all aspects of our life, especially when it comes to the spiritual aspect of our lives. Even within the science community, there is often more controversies than agreement, and we see terms like pseudo science, because certain proposed theories and beliefs of some forms of existence cannot be proven in the current scientific method.

When we teach children about this seemingly easy topic of "Living things and non-living things", we would tell our pupils that the act of classifying the things around us is very much artificial and it is a system created by humans in our attempt to make sense of our diverse world. It is a form of generalising what we see and know, and the broad categories that we have established is not perfect and we may at times find things that do not seem to fit very well into a specific category. Hence, the act of teaching about our world by trying to group everything into either living or non-living things is too simplistic. It is definitely far from being dichotomous. However, we will tell our little ones -- despite it not being a perfect way of making sense of things all around us, it is generally useful in helping us make sense of most of the things around us Science is not about just consuming past constructed knowledge. It is also about the constant pursuit of discovery or creating new knowledge, so maybe a better way of classifying things may emerge someday.

The above explains why we would not mark the two examples of living things correct -- that he should write "human being" instead of his name, and that Jesus, by the current scientific method, has yet to be concluded to exist. So we cannot mark it correct, yet

As for the answer "apple" as a non-living thing, it is equally tricky. That is why last time, our syllabus includes 2 other categories -- "once alive" and "never alive". Based on that, apple would not be a living thing but once alive, since it was part of a living thing -- the apple tree. The apple is not a clear cut example of living thing, but if he had written "apple seed", then it would be marked correct, as the apple seed will grow into a new plant, which is a living thing. We usually advise our pupils ( at least for exams sake) to avoid writing parts of things. For example, pupils will write hair, fingernails as examples of living things, and some will think that the hair growing on our head is considered a living thing, but the second it is snipped off by the hairdresser, it has become a non-living thing. We try to pre-empt and encourage them to write more widely acceptable answers, but we also explain to them why we would not be confident that all science teachers would unanimously accept certain answers they proposed. Generally, we find that when we try to explain to them why, they are more receptive.

We hope this sharing has been useful

[Tinkerlab]

Schedule for the September Holiday PSLE Science Workshop @ Tinkerlab is out!

The details are as follows:



Please note that both Flexi-workshop 1 and Flexi-workshop 2 are identical and the materials and resources used are the same.

The maximum class size per workshop is 12. However, priority is given to in-house students while non in-house students will be placed on the waiting list and will be notified of their registration status on 26 Aug (Mon).

For more information on the workshops, please refer to this information link.

For those who are interested, please sign up through our registration link.

Please let us know if you have further enquiries.

[Tinkerlab]

Dear parents,

The 2014 schedule for Tinkerlab is out.







Please register via our website if you are interested in our Science tuition in 2014.

Registration fees for new pupils will be raised from $10 to $20 in 2014. For registrations done in 2013, the registration fees will remain at $10 for new pupils.

Do drop us a query if you have any.