Greetings 2009!

Hi kids,
We're into 2009! Glad to see ya all in school nice and hopefully fresh to start your pursuit towards your goals again. :P
I've had a great hol last Dec to Japan and I hope you have had too.

Here's a link you could take a look at the photos I took.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=49181&l=ad9c4&id=768968789

I'm sure some hardworking ones must have been also busy preparing for the new challenging school term in Pr 6. Good for you. You will surely be rewarded for your diligence and self-discipline. :)

I surely want to see all of you do well in this year. While you may be asked to create a new class blog for 2009, do continue to share your thoughts and feelings on this main blog and we can all keep it going together.

Wish ya all a great year ahead and all the best!!

Have a great weekend and see ya in school!

Barack Obama - a nation's leader

Hey kids,
have you been catching on the presidential elections in the United States??
The results are out, Democrat Barack Obama is the new President of America, the first ever black president in the United States of America.
Now, also one of the world's most important man in the world.


As we work on our campaign speeches for Monday, we take a look at the recent reports on Obama and his election oppponent, Republican John McCain. What have they proposed to do for their country when elected??? What qualities do you think they have as a country's leader??? Do they speak well? Are you inspired by their speech?
What is your impression of these two men? Do you think Americans have made a good choice?

Here's a link you can follow to read up more on the news and pictures about the presidential elections. Very reader friendly.:P

http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/newsid_7710000/newsid_7710000/7710068.stm

I've uploaded the campaign speech of Obama and take a look at how a country leader speaks to the people...

Hey kids,
ever wondered why electricity bills are constantly on the rise?
in case you wondered, how Singapore with no natural resources of her own, and increasing electricity consumption, how do we manage????

Here are some latest updates on how electricity is sourced and generated.

FIVE THINGS ABOUT ELECTRICITY


1. Electricity price is largely determined by the cost of the imported fuel used to generate power. The non-fuel cost, which includes transmission and distribution cost, has remained relatively unchanged.

2. The fuel used to generate electricity is mainly natural gas imported from Indonesia and Malaysia. The gas is fed to power-generation companies (gencos), which sell the electricity they generate to SP Services.

3. In Asia, countries like Japan, Korea, Taiwan and Singapore buy natural gas through long-term contracts at a price which is tied to the price of fuel oil. In the US, however, there is a separate and distinct market for natural gas that determines its price.

4. SP Services, a subsidiary of Singapore Power, buys electricity from the gencos at cost and sells it to households at the same price. The electricity tariff for residential users from 1Oct to 31 Dec is 30.45 cents per kilowatt-hour.

SP Services is not in the position to charge less for electricity because its business is confined to transporting electricity to customers and providing support services like meter reading and billing. The Energy Market Authority regulates the electricity price and ensures that SP achieves cost efficiencies that are passed on to consumers.

5. The Singapore Government tries to reduce the impact of higher electricity prices through U-save rebates. It also conducts programmes to raise awareness of electricity conservation and facilitates efforts by consumers to reduce their utility bills. It has opted not to subsidise electricity because this encourages over-consumption and is unsustainable, as shown by the experience of other countries.

Source: The Electric New Paper, Singapore.
October 24, 2008

Tangram Flash!

Hey kids,
this is an interesting flash game that makes use of tangrams to form different shapes of animals. Just as we are learning about 4 sided figures now,
give it a try and see what animals you can form on your own!

http://www.acm.org.sg/flash/tangram/tangram.asp

Shackleton in Antarctica : A journey of Endurance

These are documentary movies (trailer) adapted from real stories of Antarctica explorer, Sir Ernest Shackleton who led his crew on a journey on the Endurance.
This movie depicts the hardships and the difficulties they faced during their near-death experiences in the bitter cold. It tells alot of their sheer will to survive and the endurance they displayed under the leadership of Shackleton.
Take note of the way the movie narrator describes their experiences.
Is it in anyway similar to the features of a journal entry record?






Here are pictures of Shackleton's Crossing of South Georgia (Island). The pictures of the Antarctica are majestic, do view them in your own time!