Activity 2-Global Warming

1. There are many solutions to global warming, however, they all revolve a similar idea of reducing energy consumption. Some solutions that you can see everyday would be to take public transport instead of driving your own car, walk or cycle if your destination is near, using the fan instead of the air-con. Also, use energy efficient products like refrigerators with 5 ticks and light bulbs which uses less energy.These actions may only reduce a small amount of electricity per person, but if everybody does it, the amount of energy it reduces in total would be a really large amount. People can also plants trees to reduce the amount of greenhouse gases in the air and reduce the amount of rubbish burnt. Scientist across the world are also looking for alternative power sources to replace the burning of fossil fuels. The government can replace the burning of fossil fuels in their countries with nuclear power plants if they are willing to take the risk.
2. Singaporeans can also help save the planet by joining in the different campaigns organized in Singapore and going green by using the 3 Rs: Reduce, Reuse and Recycle. Reduce by using less electricity, turning off the lights when you don't need them, switch to power saving light bulbs and electronics. Reuse by reusing paper which is only written on one side to print personal documents. Recycle by throwing newspaper to the recycling bins. The actions might seem simple, but they are all vital to saving the Earth, if everyone were to work together, the Earth will definitely be saved.
3. In HCI, the best way to engage the students would be to organize quizzes and events to promote the awareness of global warming, the need to save the Earth and to promote good habits. The school can organize competitions between classes to see which class recycled the most amount of newspaper and which class did the best job in reusing materials to decorate their classroom. By competing with each other, not only can the class strengthen their bonds as their goals are the same, they can also learn how to effectively reuse materials for decoration.
Extension activity
Environmental studies should be made a mandatory part of the science curriculum. Do you agree?
        Environmental issues are a huge topic now and everyone is aware of global warming. However, the problem lies with the determination that the people have to save Mother Earth. Most people are still unaware about the importance of going green now and thinks that there is still time. This sort of thinking is very hard to change, therefore, we should let the people learn from young, the importance of saving the Earth and going green and the skills needed to help them. Also, we must teach them the consequences of global warming if they do not save the Earth now. When these are taught to them young, they will never forget it and they would apply the skills for the rest of their lives. The only way to make sure that every child is taught these is by using education. Therefore, I agree that environmental issues should be made a mandatory part of the science curriculum.
         Since education is compulsory for every child, we can make use of this as a platform to raise awareness of global warming and the importance of saving our Earth. Environmental studies should be included in our studies from young so that we would understand more about the Earth and how to save it. The students would grow up and become responsible people and are capable of saving the Earth by using as little electricity as they can. Also, we can nurture more people to become leaders who can identify the problems and come up with solutions and solve the problem of global warming.
         When they know about the consequences of global warming, they will be encouraged to try their best to save the Earth and at the same time might try to gather support to save the Earth together. When more and more people starts to go green, others would feel "left out" and also join them in going green. This way, more people are encouraged to save the Earth.
         In conclusion, I agree that environmental study should be made a mandatory part of science curriculum as it would let more students be aware of the current situation of the Earth and better understand global warming. By making it a mandatory part of science curriculum, the students gets a better understanding of the environment and at the same time, help to spread the message of caring for the environment. Therefore, I agree that environmental study should be made a mandatory part of science curriculum.

Activity 1-Women's Rights

1. I feel that it is unfair that women in Saudi Arabia are deprived of such rights. At the same time, I feel very sad for them as they are deprived to rights to do even small things like driving the car. It is totally ridiculous and I feel that women should be given equal rights as men. We are no longer living in the old society where men are in a higher social class than women and we are now living in democracy, where everyone has equal rights. This is just another case of prejudice. The men thinks that the women is very weak and cannot take care of themselves alone in the car as they are "afraid that women are exposed to strangers outside their homes by driving". Therefore, I feel that it is very unfair of the treatment of women's rights in Saudi Arabia.

2. I think that social media is an advantage to the women in Saudi Arabia. Since social media is viewable across the world and Saudi Arabia is the only country which gives women less rights, the women can garner support from other countries. Also, they can garner more support from people across the world to increase their strength and have a better chance of overthrowing the law. This can be seen by the statistics that Ms. Sharif has gathered more than 12,000 supporters from Facebook and Twitter from the campaigns.

3. I think that the best way to solve this problem is to satisfy the worries of both sides. If you give the women equal rights as men, it would cause a huge commotion as the religious beliefs disagrees with it. Therefore, since the religious beliefs are caused by the prejudice that women cannot take care of themselves outside their homes, then the women should prove themselves that they are capable of protecting themselves alone outside. The government should introduce classes that teaches the women how to protect themselves and the women who completed the class would be given a certificate to allow them to have equal rights as men.

Extension Activity
2.Women makes good leaders. Do you agree?
      I agree that women make good leaders. A good leader must have a clear sense of right and wrong, make the right decision at the right time. Also, they should be able to think calmly at the critical moment. Most importantly, they must be honest. If a leader lies to the public frequently, he or she would not get support from the public when the public discovers his or her lies and might get overthrown. The leader must have feelings for the public too. They cannot just sit back while the whole country suffers. Additionally, the leader must also know a lot about the world and customs of different religion, otherwise, he or she might offend other countries because of their ignorance.
       A recent survey shows that the public feels that women are far more suitable than men to be leaders. 50% of the public says that women are more honest than men while only 20% of the public says that men are more honest, the remaining 30% are unclear or says that both are equally honest. In terms of compassion, the public feels that women are far ahead of men. 80% of the public thinks that women are more compassionate while only 5% of the public thinks that men are more compassionate.
      Based on these statistics, it is obvious that the public thinks that women have the traits of a better leader. However, the current way of thinking does not allow women to be leaders. Many people have the thinking that women are much weaker than men and that it is dangerous for a women to hold a high-ranking position like a leader. As the position of the leader is usually held by men, people would feel uncomfortable having a change as they have never experienced what is it like and would not like to take the risk. Hopefully, a woman can stand up and change the way people think and let women have the opportunity to become leaders.

Reflection on Shakespeare's Research

  After this research, I learnt about the Elizabethan era and more about Shakespeare's life and writing style. My impression of Shakespeare and his works are that they are extremely difficult to understand and requires detailed studying to even understand one short paragraph of the play.
  There were many differences in the Elizabethan era when Shakespeare lived as compared to today. Firstly, the education is different. In the Elizabethan era, formal education was limited, there were elementary schools for young children. Grammar schools for older boys, but hardly anyone would have gone to them and universities where some boys have gone, but very few as compared to today. Grammar schools and universities were for boys only. Girls were hardly educated. Upper-class girls were sometimes educated at home by tutors and sometime brothers, otherwise mostly have been taught by their mothers and household tasks would have been their main focus of education. Unlike today, there was no universal syllabus of education. The emphasis in grammar schools and in universities was on the learning of Greek and Latin. Secondly, the medical care at that time was not as good as today. The only surgery available at that time was for the setting of broken bones. Most serious illness was incurable. Most medical care was actually done by housewives as most people lived in the countryside where there were no doctors. Thirdly, the penal system was very harsh. People could get hanged for small offenses like stealing a very small amount.
  Although Shakespeare is from another era, this plays can still be applied to modern day context, we still can learn moral values from his plays. For example, we can learn not to discriminate from the Merchant of Venice. Shakespeare's plays can always be applied to modern day context because shows the mistakes that people usually make. Since people are not god, they will always make mistakes and these mistakes are written in Shakespeare's plays.

Shakspeare powerpoint

Shakespeare

Flying the flag in Bosnia

1. The poem mentions “Her face is hidden by her hands, But the hands are enough.” which shows that the woman is mourning over her son’s death. Even the grave digger shows sympathy by “A full cup of coffee, Left by the grave digger”, which shows the woman’s helplessness and others wanting to comfort her. The woman was very pitiful as “she is slumped by the cross that bears her son’s name, crudely lettered”.  The writer describes the woman as “an old woman, whose hair is parted, straight down the middle”. This shows the grief and the sadness of the old woman, which creates a sad atmosphere to the readers.
2. The writer uses imagery in “A shirt, almost new, creases still crisp from the iron, is unfurled by the wind” which shows the mourning of a dead soldier from a war. The writer continues to say “Like a flag, in a country which already has too many”. This shows that many people have already died from the war and the country’s people has suffered pain, misery and sadness like the old woman. The purpose of the poem is to tell people that war should be avoided as it causes countless deaths and the endless suffering of people.

Dulce et Decorum Est

1)      The imagery used is a simile. The literal meaning of this imagery would be that the soldiers were bent by the weight of their heavy bags they are carrying on their backs. The implied meaning of the simile is that the soldiers are very tired and did not want to continue walking.  My impression of the soldier is someone who did not sleep for a long time and was very tired and weak. This can be shown by the phrases “drunk with fatigue” and “marched asleep”. These phrases show how tired and weak the soldiers are.

2)      The sound devices and imagery such as “GAS! Gas! Quick, boys! -- An ecstasy of fumbling” helps to build up the tension by vividly describing the battle field when poison gas is released to knock down the enemies. The imagery such as “Dim, through the misty panes and thick green light” also builds tension by causing the readers to wonder what the writer saw through the misty panes and thick green light. Also, the phrase “Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time” also builds tension as it creates the effect of even the soldiers being scared as the soldiers could not wear the “clumsy helmets” properly.

3)      I think the poet’s message is that war is a cruel and inhumane thing, children should not be brainwashed to think that it is an honor and right to die for your country. The poem states “The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est”, “Dulce et decorum est” means that it is sweet and right to die for your country. However, the word “lie” implies that the writer does not agree with the statement. I agree with the writer’s view.  When war happens, countless lives are lost, countless families are separated from each other. Wars can affect people both physically and emotionally for the rest of their lives. When soldiers go to war and die, thinking that it is an honor, they did not stop to think about their families, who still need them. The soldiers have been brainwashed to think that it is right to die for their country but did not stop to think about others. Therefore, I agree with the writer’s view that it is not right to die for their country as people still need them.

Cell phones-the student's meat or the student's poison?

          Cell phones, one of the most popular items ever invented. It exists in our everyday life. At the MRT, buses, in shopping malls, and even in schools. Phones of any brand you can name, Apple, Sony Ericsson, Nokia and Motorola. Cell phones are popular because they are portable, they provide people with a easier way of communication, at the same time, cell phones can provide people with entertainment and music. Students are especially attracted to these factors as they enjoy entertainment and listening to music. In fact, it has become so popular for students to carry cell phones with them that there has been rules in schools to prohibit students to use cell phones in class. Are cell phones really beneficial to students? Or does it act as an obstacle in their studies?

           Cell phones does benefit students in a way in terms of communication. Through Short Message Service (SMS), students can communicate with their family members, friends much more easily. Also, with the music stored in phones, students can listen to music to relieve stress and concentrate better on their studies. SMS also allows the students to get their information faster. By using SMS, the students can message their teachers to ask them about their school work.This way, the students can get their replies faster and shorten their time instead of finding the answers in books. The cell phones are also very portable. Cell phones can do almost everything a computers can. Instead of carrying large and heavy computers, people can carry cell phones around. Cell phones allow people to access the internet, play games and listen to music, and it is much more convenient that computers. One of the student's favorite feature of the cell phone is that it allows transfer of messages and ideas by just pressing a few buttons on the cell phones. Not only does this save effort, it saves a lot of time instead of finding time to meet up to discuss. Also, the cell phone would reduce the time communicating with their family members as the students can just call them to talk to them, which shortens the time needed to communicate with them.

           However, cell phones may provide students with a easier way of communication, it has its disadvantages too. Listening to music and playing games may help relief stress and allow the students to concentrate better on their studies, but if they do that excessively, the students might become addicted to it and cause them to lose their concentration instead of improving them. For example, one of the newest cell phone is the iPhone. The iPhone has a wide variety of games, thus causing many students to be attracted to it. Once addicted, the student might never stop playing them, the student would waste all his time playing games and not study. This would thus show that cell phones do not benefit students. Although their parents might try to control the students, the cell phone is so portable that the students can sneak them almost anywhere, so the parents are not very effective in controlling the student's usage of the cell phone. Cell phones would not only affect the students, it will also affect the relationship between the students and his family members. If the students only concentrate on their handphone gaming and listening to music, his time with his family members would decrease and there will be no time for bonding. This would make their relationship more and more distant.

         To solve the problem of students getting addicted to gaming, the parents might consider checking the student's phone every once in a while to see if there are any games. They can also buy phones which do not have games, or do not even have the function of playing games. This would reduce the chances of the students getting addicted to phone gaming. However, I believe that the best way to solve this problem is the self-control of the student. Parents can only help the students in controlling their addiction. In the end, the choice is still up to the students on whether they want to play.

        In my opinion, there is no good or bad on whether cell phones are really beneficial to students. Nobody can say that cell phone is 100% bad or good. Cell phones only have their advantages and disadvantages. Although usually the cell phones only causes harm to the students in their studies, but it still enabled easier communication for the students.

        In conclusion, cell phone has its advantages and disadvantages, it is impossible to tell whether it is really good or bad. In the end, it all boils down to whether the students have good self-control to make good use of the cell phone.