Singapore, 22 September 2009 - For the first time in Science Centre's history, 12 winning exhibits of a nation-wide competition will be on public display at the Science Centre for two weeks. There are also plans to convert some of them into permanent showcases.
Students and science enthusiasts can look forward to being amazed by the scientific innovations behind these exhibits, as 71 teams from 24 schools compete in the inaugural Amazing Science-X Challenge (ASXC). Team are challenged to design and build creative exhibits that can best explain a physical scientific phenomenon.
Organised by DSO National Laboratories (DSO), the National University of Singapore (NUS) Faculty of Science and Science Centre Singapore, ASXC is part of DSO's Amazing Series of Competitions.
Open to anyone with an enquiring mind seeking to explore and experiment, ASXC is divided into four competing categories from primary to university level. Teams were judged on their overall creativity, clarity and the ability to innovate an exhibit that is simultaneously educational, engaging and entertaining (See Appendix A for details).
Presiding over the Awards Presentation Ceremony as its Guest-of-Honour is Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence, Mr Teo Chee Hean. The top three teams from each category were presented their awards and prizes by DPM Teo (See Appendix B for details).
Mr Quek Gim Pew, Chief Executive Officer of DSO said, "We're pleased to launch the inaugural Amazing Science-X Challenge, where we challenge students to create an exhibit capable of inspiring its viewers to the marvels of science. ASXC reflects DSO's commitment, as a national laboratory, in developing the future generation's passion in science and technology. By organising unique competitions such as ASXC with institutes such as NUS and Science Centre, we create a learning platform that is both fun and interesting."
Dr Chew Tuan Chiong, Chief Executive of Science Centre Singapore said, "It is heartening to see such great promise in the works of the students in ASXC. Through such programmes and initiatives at the Centre, we empower students in their own learning and engage them to experiment in all things science."
About DSO National Laboratories (DSO)
DSO is Singapore's national defence research and development organisation. It undertakes indigenous development of advanced defence and weapon systems that provide the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) with the superior technological edge in the battlefield. While its primary focus is to support the SAF, DSO also extends its defence R&D capabilities to support homeland security. With more than 1,000 research scientists and engineers, DSO researches into emerging technologies, matures promising ones and integrates them into innovative system concepts tomeetSingapore's defence and security needs.
About National University of Singapore (NUS)
A leading global university centred in Asia, NUS offers a global approach to education and research, with a focus on Asian perspectives and expertise. Its transformative education includes a broad-based curriculum underscored by multi-disciplinary courses and cross-faculty enrichment, as well as special programmes which allow students to realise their potential. Over 30,000 students from 100 countries further enrich the community with their diverse social and cultural perspectives, making campus life vibrant and exciting.
About Science Centre Singapore
The Science Centre Singapore is a non-formal educational institution dedicated to the promotion of science and technology among students and members of the public. As a leading Science Centre in the region, the Science Centre Singapore has twelve exhibition galleries with more than 1,000 exhibits, and another 18,000 sq metres of outdoor space showcasing the Waterworks, Ecogarden and the Kinetic Garden exhibits. The Centre also houses the Omni-Theatre -- Singapore's only dome-shaped, 5-storey high theatre with a capacity of 276 seats. The Science Centre received 1.049 million visitors, while Omni-Theatre and Snow City received 400,000 visitors for FY2008/2009.
For more information, please contact:
Mr Kenny Wong
Senior Executive,
Corporate Communications
DSO National Laboratories
DID: 6772 7003
Email: wengchen@dso.org.sg
Ms Eunice Choy
Corporate Communications Officer
Science Centre Singapore
DID: 6425 2372
Email: ekm_choy@science.edu.sg
Ms Li Jiayi
Account Executive
Band PR
Ph: 6225 4850
Email: jiayi@bandpr.com.sg
Appendix A
Categories
ASXC is open to students from:
• Primary (Category A)
• Secondary and IP schools 1 - 4 (Category B)
• IP 5 & 6, Junior College and ITE (Category C)
• Polytechnics, Universities and others (Category D)
Task
Participants are to create a stand-alone, self-explanatory exhibit that demonstrates a particular scientific concept or phenomenon unique to the physical sciences.
Judging Criteria
Creativity (40 points)
Think out of the box! Students are to surprise both the judges and viewers with their exhibits. Via their logbook, they are to demonstrate innovation in design process and resource management.
Clarity (30 points)
The concept of the exhibit is to be clearly delivered, factually accurate and verified. The viewer must understand the concepts presented without much difficulty. In other words, the viewer must "get it".
Viewer Engagement (30 points)
Successful pieces are often riveting exhibits that hold the viewer's attention.
Appendix B
ASXC 2009 Winners
Category A
1st: Team Pioneer Aces (Pioneer Primary School)
Exhibit Name: Stroop interference effect A18
Team No.: A19
2nd: Team XPeriMenters (Rulang Primary School)
Exhibit Name: Caravans in the sky
Team No.: A19
3rd: Team The Eco Bag (Methodist Girls Primary School)
Exhibit Name: The Eco Bag
Team No.: A14
Special Mention: NA
Exhibit Name: NA
Team No.: NA
Category B
1st: Team SPARK (Methodist Girls' Secondary School)
Exhibit Name: Boat-a-Float
Team No.: B20
2nd: Team SEA (Raffles Girls' Secondary School)
Exhibit Name: Land, Sea & Space
Team No.: B27
3rd: Team M.A.D (Raffles Institution)
Exhibit Name: Mad Mud
Team No.: B32
Special Mention: Treatise of a Kaleidoscope (Dunman High School)
Exhibit Name: Who's or What's inside there?
Team No.: B5
Special Mention: GVSS 1 (Greenview Secondary School)
Exhibit Name: Centripetal Toy Puzzle
Team No.: B10
Special Mention: GVSS 3 (Greenview Secondary School)
Exhibit Name: Portable Candy Floss Kit Machine
Team No.: B12
Special Mention: Eureka (Methodist Girls' Secondary School)
Exhibit Name: Inverted World
Team No.: B16
Special Mention: Experimento (NUS High School of Maths & Science)
Exhibit Name: Earthquake Attack
Team No.: B25
Special Mention: Happy! (Raffles Institution)
Exhibit Name: Invisible Brakes
Team No.: B31
Category C
1st: Team Mango Mousse (Raffles Institution (JC))
Exhibit Name: Twang, Boing, Wow! A look at sound
Team No.: C7
2nd: Team R.E.A.D.Y (Raffles Institution (JC))
Exhibit Name: Tarzan to the rescue!
Team No.: C8
3rd: Team Imba @ raffles (Raffles Institution (JC))
Exhibit Name: Cdar separator
Team No.: C6
Special Mention: J2R (Hwa Chong Institution)
Exhibit Name: Pop Pop Boat
Team No.: 2
Category D
1st: Team Hot Solder Irons
Exhibit Name: How can we use magnets to store data
Team No.: D6
2nd: Team Creavery (NUS)
Exhibit Name: Wireless Electricity
Team No.: D2
3rd: Team SPARTANS (Ngee Ann Polytechnic)
Exhibit Name: 3-way race
Team No.: D3
Special Mention: NA
Exhibit Name: NA
Team No.: NA |