Hong Kong Interschool Astronomy Quest 2022

This is the first time our school participating in Hong Kong Interschool Astronomy Quest.

Here were the participants :

Through their hard-working and enthusiasm in astronomy, after 2 weeks' intensive training about astronomical knowledge and news, star maps reading and telescope assembling, our students gave excellent impressions to organizers of this activity.

Both teams entered the final round, finally team 1 got the second runner up. Congratulations and thank you for establishing a training platform for their underclassmen!

5D 20 Tsoi Chun Yu

It is our honor to win the Hong Kong Interschool Astronomy Quest 2022 as second-runner up. It is truly pleasant for us to have such an opportunity to enrich our knowledge in the field of astronomy. Not only were we overwhelmed when we knew that we were the first team in our school to participate in the competition, but we also felt fortunate to have such a chance. We were not confident even though we have finished learning our elective in physics - astronomy and space science because we knew that other participating schools were experienced and well-trained. But with the selfless help by teachers-Miss Lam, Mr Kwong and Mr Chiu, also with our fellow competitors in Wong Shiu Chi, we quickly grasped plentiful knowledge about astronomy within 2 weeks. Thanks for everything, otherwise we would not get such a supreme place in Hong Kong Interschool Astronomy Quest 2022.

Motor and CRO workshop

To increase the understanding of electromagnetism, our physics teachers conducted a workshop on 14 July 2022 for S4 and S5 physics students, to teach them how to make a motor and use a CRO.

International Junior Science Olympiad - Hong Kong Screening 2020

Our school participated in the International Junior Science Olympiad - Hong Kong Screening 2020, which was co-organized by The Hong Kong Academy for Gifted Education, the Gifted Education Section of the Education Bureau (EDB), the Hong Kong Association for Science and Mathematics Education, and the Chief Executive's Award for Teaching Excellence Teacher Association. The event was held at Cheung Sha Wan Catholic Secondary School on 28th September 2019. Our student Lai Wai Shing from 3A (2019-2020) has been awarded Second Class Honour while Lam Wing Kin and Xu Chit Kwan from 3D (2019-2020) have been awarded Third Class Honours. Here are their reflections on the competition.

Reflection by Lai Wai Shing 3A (2019-2020)

It is my honour to participate in the International Junior Science Olympiad - Hong Kong Screening 2020. It was a precious opportunity for me to gain knowledge and experience. I have also learnt much more about science.

At first, I was told to attend the contest during the summer vacation, but I had no idea how to prepare for it. Having only a month to prepare, I felt very worried. However, I was thankful to my science teachers, Mr. Yam, Mr. Tse and Ms. Yong, who supported me throughout the competition. Not only did they teach me knowledge beyond our textbooks, but they also arranged intensive training for us. I was then familiar with the knowledge. Besides, I have also learnt analytical skills from this competition since analyzing information is usually required when solving problems. Finally, I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to all of them. Without their help, I probably cannot win this Second Class Honour.

Reflection by Lam Wing Kin James 3D (2019-2020)

I am honoured to have attended the International Junior Science Olympiad - Hong Kong Screening 2020. I am delighted to have won Second Class Honour.

Firstly, I would like to thank Mr. Yam, Ms. Yong and Mr. Tse for spending extra time training and teaching us patiently. They not only taught us new science knowledge, but also explained some difficult questions in the past papers. At first I was not confident about getting good results in the competition, but with all the teachers’ help, I was much more confident and familiar with all the new knowledge. Without their help, I do not think we can have this achievement; therefore I am very grateful for all of them.

At last, I treasure this opportunity, which allowed me to gain new knowledge and experience of competing beyond the classroom.

Reflection by Hui Chit Kwan 3D (2019-2020)

I am excited and honoured for winning the Third Class Honour of the IJSO.

I was chosen to attend the IJSO because of my science exam result. It is a recognition of my potential in learning science.

We only had a month for preparation. Thanks to Mr. Yam, Mr. Tse and Ms. Yong, I grasped the topics very quickly. I feel grateful for the opportunity to extend my science learning. Without the support of my teachers, I could not have attended the IJSO and won a prize.

International Junior Science Olympiad - Hong Kong Screening 2019

Our school participated in the International Junior Science Olympiad - Hong Kong Screening 2019, which was co-organised by The Hong Kong Academy for Gifted Education, the Gifted Education Section of the Education Bureau (EDB), the Hong Kong Association for Science and Mathematics Education, and the Chief Executive's Award for Teaching Excellence Teacher Association. The event was held at Cheung Sha Wan Catholic Secondary School on 29th September 2018. Our student Cheuk Yan Shing from 3A has been awarded Second Class Honour while Fung Chang Daniel Enrique and Lau Man Ki from 3E have been awarded Third Class Honours. Here are their reflections on the competition.

Reflection by Cheuk Yan Shing 3A (5)

Five classmates and I attended the International Junior Science Olympiad - Hong Kong Screening 2019 during the summer holiday last year. We had intensive trainings at school during the summer vacation and learnt about the topics about Physics, Chemistry and Biology to be covered in Secondary 3.

I remember that in the beginning, I felt that I knew nothing about science in S3. The scientific knowledge sounded like an 'alien' language that I could not understand, such as heat transfer and Newton's second law. However, with the patient guidance and detailed explanation of our teacher advisors, I started to understand the knowledge and overcame the difficulties by reading books related to science. I felt like finding out sunbeam in a cave in the darkness. Gradually, I have developed an interest in Science and put a lot more effort in preparing for this competition.

Although the screening makes me anxious, I still remember most of the knowledge taught by my teachers. I felt so glad when I was awarded the Second Class Honour. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Mr. Yam, Ms. Yong and Mr. Tse for training us to take part in the competition.

Reflection by Fung Chang Daniel Enrique 3E (7)

It is my honour to have the opportunity to represent my school for joining the International Junior Science Olympiad - Hong Kong Screening 2019. It is a good chance for me to learn more scientific knowledge.

Firstly, the most important thing I have learnt is learning required us to be perseverant and ambitious. Since the vocabulary in the past papers is very difficult for me, I was very nervous. However I did research and asked for help from teachers. I did not give up and tried my best. Luckily I won the Third Honour in the competition.

Moreover, I would like to express my thankfulness to our teachers. If they had not prepared us well, we would not have been able to analyze and solve the problems and questions that we met. Therefore I feel very grateful to the teachers.

Reflection by Lau Man Ki 3E (15)

Through joining the International Junior Science Olympiad - Hong Kong Screening 2019, I have gained more knowledge about Science.

During the training, we practiced the past paper of this competition. Most of the questions were difficult for me because I had not learnt them before and there were many new words. Besides, I could not answer most of the questions that were asked by Mr. Yam. Therefore, I thought that it was impossible for me to get a good result in this competition. Moreover, the teachers taught us how to do the past papers and challenging topics patiently, so I started to know how to answer the questions. Luckily, I won the Third Honour in this competition. Therefore, I want to thank Mr. Yam, Miss Yong and Mr. Tse for spending time training us before the competition.

This competition is meaningful for me as I have gained more experiences, and my interest in Science has been aroused.

The Secondary School Mathematics and Science Competition 2018

The Secondary School Mathematics and Science Competition (SSMSC) 2018, a yearly competition organized by the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, aims at promoting students' interest in Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry and Biology. This year we are delightful that one of the school's awardees won a medal in Physics, two of them won the High Distinction in Physics and three won the High Distinction in Chemistry. The awardees are listed below:

Physics		5E (2017-2018)	Lam Tsz Ngo Zeeman		Medal 
			5C (2017-2018)	Leung Man Hin Ryan			High Distinction
			5E (2017-2018)	Wong Yiu Ting				High Distinction

Chemistry	5E (2017-2018)	Kwok Chun Him				High Distinction
			5E (2017-2018)	Lam Yat Long				High Distinction
			5E (2017-2018)	Wong Yiu Ting 				High Distinction

Reflections

5E(2017-2018) Lam Tsz Ngo Zeeman

It is my honour to be one of the medalists in Physics in the Hong Kong Polytechnic University Secondary School Mathematics and Science Competition (SSMSC) 2018.

I would like to express my thankfulness towards my Physics teacher, Mr. Yam, for putting much effort to train us before the competition so that we could be more familiar with the questions and better prepared for answering those questions. At first, I was a bit nervous since the questions in the past papers were rather challenging. It took a long time to solve those questions and even worse, we could not get the right answers sometimes. However, I was shocked when I saw the paper in the competition. It was much easier than I expected. My instinct warned me not to be too careless because of the easier questions, so I was very focused when attempting the paper, trying my very best to avoid traps in the questions. Fortunately, I won a medal in the competition at the end.

At last, I want to thank everyone who have helped me for the competition and the school for giving me the opportunity to join the competition and learn from the process.

5E(2017-2018) Wong Yiu Ting

It is my honour to be one of the participants in the Secondary School Mathematics and Science Competition organized by the Hong Kong Polytechnic University. I am delighted to have won the High Distinction both in Physics and Chemistry.

In the first instance, I would like to thank our Physics teacher, Mr. Yam, and Chemistry teacher, Dr. Chu, for spending extra time giving us training and teaching us patiently. In the Physics competition training, not only did Mr Yam teach us to do the past papers of the competition, but he also upgraded the level of difficulty of the questions. We could challenge ourselves and equip ourselves in a bid to compete with the elites from other schools. In the Chemistry training, Dr. Chu taught us a few chapters in the textbook since these chapters which were covered in the competition had not been taught. However, the time for training was limited, so we needed to do the past papers by ourselves.

In fact, I was not confident about getting good results in the competition. Although around 70% of the paper was set based on the HKDSE curriculum, the questions of the competition were much more difficult than those of the DSE. I know I am not clever and I can catch up with others with my diligence and dedication. Therefore, I strived to excel in the competition. Eventually, I was pleased that I was rewarded with the High Distinction in Physics and Chemistry.

Hong Kong Physics Olympiad 2018

It is delightful to announce that our students performed well in the Hong Kong Physics Olympiad 2018, organized by The Hong Kong Academy for Gifted Education, on 13 May 2018. 4E (2017-2018) Lo Yat Fung won an Honourable Mention and here is his reflection regarding the competition.

Reflection on Hong Kong Physics Olympiad 2018

4E (2017-2018) Lo Yat Fung

As one of the participants of Physics Olympiad 2018, I am grateful to have the opportunity to gain such an invaluable experience through learning knowledge beyond my level of study.

The competition lasted for 3 hours. It may sound lengthy, but I felt like it is in a blink of an eye, because I enjoy the questions so much that I cannot feel the flow of the time. Indeed, I cannot handle all questions since they were hard. But I am satisfied since I think I did my best.

I had not heard anything about the HKPO before Mr. Yam introduced it to us. I join the competition since I think I can learn more about Physics from it. When I first encounter the questions of HKPhO, I felt hopeless in getting an award , since the questions are so different from the ordinary Physics we learn in school. However, Mr. Yam helped us by giving us intensive and efficient trainings. Detailed explanations and useful solving skills provided by Mr. Yam enabled me to be awarded the Honourable Mention.

For students that are interested in Physics, I think HKPhO would be an invaluable opportunity for them to broaden their horizons in the field of Physics.

International Junior Science Olympiad - Hong Kong Screening 2018

Our school participated in the International Junior Science Olympiad - Hong Kong Screening 2018, which was co-organised by The Hong Kong Academy for Gifted Education, the Gifted Education Section of the Education Bureau (EDB), the Hong Kong Association for Science and Mathematics Education, and the Chief Executive's Award for Teaching Excellence Teacher Association. The event was held at Cheung Sha Wan Catholic Secondary School on 30th September 2017. Our student Yim Fu Chong from 3E has been awarded Second Class Honour while Leung Ching Yu from 3E , Chung Wai Kei and Yeung Hui Yau , Sophia from 3A have been awarded Third Class Honours. Here are their reflections on the competition.

Reflection by Leung Ching Yu 3E(12)

I'm pleased that I was nominated to join the International Junior Science Olympic 2017-Hong Kong Screening with 5 schoolmates. It is my pleasure for me to join the training and learn more scientific knowledge beyond the textbook. Before the competition, Mr. Tse, Miss Yong and Mr. Yam revised with us. They are not only enthusiastic, but also rich in scientific knowledge. I have developed an immense interest in science since then.

At first, I was so confused because of those challenging scientific concepts as they are extremely difficult. I was really depressed, wanting to give up. However, the encouragement of Mr. Tse, Miss Yong and Mr. Yam does help me a lot. Since then, I have become more confident. I also gain different knowledge of Biology, Physics and chemistry from them. These also help me to prepare for the form 3 lessons.

During the competition, I finished those questions very carefully. Although I am not able to understand all the questions, I tried my best to do them. It is a marvelous and precious experience to join the competition.

I got the 3rd honor in the end. I feel very surprised and unexpected. All our hard work paid off. It is really a meaningful and precious experience to join the competition and learn so much useful scientific knowledge and I know that there is much more knowledge for us to discover. This competition arouses my interest in science and motivates me to think about the nature and the principles behind theories.

Last but not least, I would like to express my heartfelt thanks to all the teachers who have spent lots of time on the training.

Reflection by Chung Wai Kei 3A(8)

I was honoured to have participated in the International Junior Science Olympiad 2018 - Hong Kong Screening. The questions set it the competition are about the curriculum in Integrated Science (IS) of Secondary 1 and 2 and some of the knowledge of Physics, Chemistry and Biology learned in Secondary 3.

First of all, I need to thank to Mr. Yam, Miss Yong and Mr. Tse that they have taught me and other participants a lot afterschool and in the past summer holidays. We revised many topics like friction, cells, acids etc. We have also learnt more extra outside the topic to broaden my knowledge in science.

Next, in fact I did not know everything about the competition at the beginning, but after a few trainings and doing the past papers, I was awarded the 3rd Honour in the competition! Also, when I was doing the paper in the competition, I also learned a lot of new terms such as RNA, redox that would be teach in senior forms.

Before the competition, I thought that the competition should be quite difficult because there are many new terms, concepts, explanations and definitions, which I have not heard of, and I need to be remember them all.

I think this is a unique and unforgettable experience for me that I have learned much more in science and it is a great experience for me if I am to join other similar competitions in the future.

Reflection by Yeung Hui Yau, Sophia 3A(26)

It is my honour to take part in the International Junior Science Olympiad. I found that it was challenging to prepare the IJSO, as this competition covers most of the Form3 Physics, Chemistry and Biology syllabuses. We have spent extra time to know more about those topics. Fortunately, Mr. Yam, Ms. Yong and Mr. Tse sacrificed their free time to help us with the preparation. I have to thank all of my teachers for helping us. I would not have got a good result without their help.

During the summer vacation, I tried my best to do revision to have a better performance in this competition. I did self-questioning to find out things that I am not sure. Moreover, I tested myself by finishing some past papers so that I know my strengths and weaknesses in Physics, Chemistry and Biology or not. 'Practises makes perfect.' I have got big improvement after finishing the past paper. After joining this competition, I found that I can apply these learning methods in my school examinations.

Joining this competition has also increased my interest in studying Physics, Chemistry and Biology. I am going to learn more through reading books and surfing the Internet.

I am glad that I won a third honour in the competition. The most important thing is that I have got a remarkable experience. I also made a lot of friends. I would like to thank all of my teachers and classmates for encouraging me and giving me support.

Reflection by Yim Fu Chong 3E(29)

In summer, my classmate and I join the International Junior Science Olympid HK Screening. It's my honour to get the second honour award in the competition. I would like to thank my Physics teacher Mr. Yam, Chemistry teacher, Ms. Yong and Biology teacher, Mr Tze who provided me with the intensive training and unlimited support.

Through the competition, I developed a great interest in physics. Until now, I still remember 'F=ma' which is Newton's second law. In addition, I learn new concepts and knowledge which are beyond my textbooks. This broadens my horizon. Last but not least, I have gained more confidence on learning physics.

After the screening, I, as the second honour awardee, am going to attempt the training course for the 15th IJSO. Which is organised at Chinese University of Hong Kong every Saturday. It's such a great opportunity to learn more science which would be taught in higher form in WSC. I can know whether if I am interested in those science subject.

Owing to numerous benefits I gained through joining the competition, I hope that my fellow schoolmates can also make a brave attempt to gain experiences by exposing yourself to different competitions and enjoy the fun of learning science, and achieve a lot more!

Secondary School Mathematics and Science Competition (SSMSC) 2017

Secondary School Mathematics and Science Competition (SSMSC) 2017, a yearly competition organized by the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, aims at promoting students' interests in Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry and Biology. This year we are delightful that three of our school's awardees won a High Distinction in Physics, three in Chemistry and two in Biology. The awardees are listed below:

Physics
Lau Chi Tao 6A(14)
Lui Him 6E(22)
Tse Lap Yan 6E(26)

Chemistry
Chan Hiu Wai 6E(2)
Lam Pui San 6E(13)
Lau Chak Shun 6A(13)

Biology
Lam Wing Lee 6A(12)
Lai Tsz Chun 6E(11)

International Junior Science Olympiad - Hong Kong Screening 2017

Our school participated in the International Junior Science Olympiad - Hong Kong Screening 2017, which was co-organised by The Hong Kong Academy for Gifted Education, the Gifted Education Section of the Education Bureau (EDB), the Hong Kong Association for Science and Mathematics Education, and the Chief Executive's Award for Teaching Excellence Teacher Association. The event was held at Cheung Sha Wan Catholic Secondary School on 24th September 2016. Our student Yu Pak Hei and Lo Yat Fung from 3A have been awarded Second Class Honours while Chiang Wing Yi from 3E has been awarded Third Class Honour. Here are their reflections on the competition.

Reflection by YU Pak Hei 3A(31)

It is my honour to be one of the participants representing my school to have participated in the International Junior Science Olympiad (IJSO). This competition covers most of the Form3 Physics, Chemistry and Biology syllabuses, which have not been taught. However, I took it as a challenge. The result is surprising and it is a great experience for me.

To prepare for this competition, I spent the whole summer vacation revising what I had learnt in Form 1 and Form 2 and what I would learn in Form 3. Besides doing revision, I searched extra information in order to learn the new terms and knowledge of Physics, Chemistry and Biology. Also, I tested myself with past papers to see whether I understood the knowledge well or not. It was hard for me to keep acquiring new knowledge while finishing the summer holiday assignments and participating in some extra-curricular activities. However, I enjoyed being so busy because I know 'no pain, no gain'. If I work hard, I will earn something in future. I did indeed. I won a second class honour in the competition and gained a valuable experience.

Last but not least, I have to thank all my teachers for the training they offered. They spent extra time helping me prepare for the competition. I would not have had such a good result without their commitment.

To conclude, in order to get good results in competitions, the only way is to try our best to prepare for the competition well and not to give up when facing problems and opponents. This can be applied to studies as well. We always have to try our best. 'No pain, no gain' is the key to success.

Reflection by LO Yat Fung 3A(20)

In September 2016, I participated in the International Junior Science Olympiad (IJSO) 2017 – Hong Kong Screening. There were questions about Physics, Chemistry and Biology.

I had known nothing about IJSO before Mr. Yam introduced it to me. After the introduction, I found it was a good opportunity to improve my thinking skills and enrich my knowledge of science.

Our school provided much training as support. Mr. Yam, Miss Yong and Mr. Tse prepared me for Physics, Chemistry and Biology questions respectively. They spent a lot of time helping me solve different kinds of questions and consolidating my basic knowledge of the above subjects. What I have learnt was useful when answering questions in the Hong Kong Screening of IJSO.

Before the screening, I had worked hard and learnt a lot. Therefore, in the competition, I understood most of the questions and answered them with confidence. Indeed, some of the questions were difficult since there were traps which tricked me.

At the end, the result was released. I won a second class honor and I am satisfied with my result since my effort was rewarded and I am shortlisted for Phase I of the 14th International Junior Science Olympiad Student Training Programme, which allows me to acquire more scientific knowledge.

All in all, my participation in this competition is unforgettable and beneficial. I thank my school and teachers for giving me this precious opportunity. I want to thanks Mr. Yam in particular. Without him, I would not have heard of this competition. He offered me a great opportunity, which enhanced my scientific thinking.

Reflection by CHIANG Wing Yi 3E(6)

I am glad to be given a chance to represent my school to join the International Junior Science Olympiad. I remember I was shocked when I knew that I could join the competition as this competition covered all the science knowledge learnt in Form 1 and 2. I found it hard to prepare by myself. Luckily, my teacher advisors, Mr. Yam, Miss Yong and Mr. Tse, spent their spare time helping me with the preparation during the summer holiday. I am grateful for their assistance and guidance.

Whenever I had any questions, I would jot them down in a notebook and ask teachers for clarification. Asking questions is very useful for my learning because I can understand the concepts more thoroughly and even learn something extra to improve my own knowledge. Also, I read a lot of reference books about science, which helps me learn knowledge beyond my textbook, for example, the predicted reactions of all the elements in air and the human body structure. Extensive reading helps me better prepare for the competition.

After the competition, I have gained a lot of valuable experience. I truly understand that learning is boundless and endless. There are many things that I have never heard of. The competition allows me to satisfy my eagerness to learn and read more. Besides, I have learnt to stay calm. During the competition, I was nervous because I was not confident enough. But after calming myself down, I found that the competition was not that difficult. No matter how difficult the challenge is, putting effort and trying my best help me become more confident and perform better. Even the result is not as good as what I expected, I would have no regrets.

I am glad that to win a third class honour. I would like to express my heartfelt thanks to all teachers and classmates for their support and encouragement.

Secondary School Mathematics and Science Competition (SSMSC) 2016

Secondary School Mathematics and Science Competition (SSMSC) 2016, a yearly competition organized by the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, aims at promoting students' interests in Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry and Biology. This year we are delightful that two of our school's awardees have achieved an outstanding result. 5E Mak Siu Hong won a Distinction in Chemistry, a High Distinction in Biology and a Medal in Physics while 5E Ho Cheuk Nam won a High Distinction in Physics and a Medal in Chemistry. Here are the reflections of the above-mentioned students regarding the competition.

Reflection on Secondary School Mathematics and Science Competition
6E Mak Siu Hong

It is my honour to be one of the participants representing my school to have participated in the competitions of three subjects, Physics, Chemistry and Biology. At the beginning, I did not expect to get such excellent results in all three subjects because I am not very good at Biology and Chemistry. As the competition covers the whole HKDSE syllabus, I took it as a chance for revision and preparation for the HKDSE. Through the competition, my science knowledge has improved a lot. This is the most valuable reward. The awards I have won are just a bonus.

To prepare for the competition, I have adopted three different strategies towards the three papers. For the Physics paper, I knew I have the ability to solve all the problems. Therefore, I needed to be careful when studying the questions to avoid jumping into the traps. It is the worst if I know how to solve the problem but get trapped and choose the wrong answer, so I tried my best to prevent making such mistakes. For the Biology paper, it was totally different from the Physics one. I did not even know the answers of one-third of the questions. However, I knew that competitions aim to test whether participants have the ability to choose the correct answers. As long as I can get the correct answers, it is not important whether I solve it by myself or just guess the right answer. As a result, I tried my best to answer every question by guessing or intuition. The result turned out to be really surprising. The most important is not to give up even though you know nothing about it. If we try our best, everything is possible. For the Chemistry paper, the questions were unexpectedly easy. However, the award is not based on how many marks we have got, but depends on the percentile we are ranked among all the participants. Thus, easy questions mean that we have to get reasonably high marks to achieve a good result. Every single question is important, so no careless mistakes should be made. If we lose marks in a careless way, the award will slip off from our hands.

Last but not least, I need to thank my teachers for the training they offered. They spent extra time helping me to prepare for the competition. I would not have had such a good result without their commitment.

To conclude, in order to get a good result in the competition, the only way is to try our best regardless the difficulty of the questions and the strength of the opponents. The questions can be both easy and difficult. The same applies to the opponents. In all cases, we always need to try our best. This is the only way to succeed.

Reflection on Secondary School Mathematics and Science Competition
6E Ho Cheuk Nam Ryan

In May 2016, I participated in the Secondary School Mathematics and Science Competition. There were contests in Physics, Chemistry, Biology and Mathematics and candidates can choose the subject in which they want to compete. For me, Chemistry and Physics are my areas of expertise. Therefore, without a doubt, I would choose to compete in these two subjects.

Our school provided much training for us as support. However, I believed these were not enough for me to get an outstanding result as all the competitors in this competition were the elites from different schools. Everyone was making their most efforts to fight for the best. I knew I am not a genius in science and sometimes a simple question could make me struggle. Thus, I fully immersed myself in studies and turned a blind eye to anything that may distract me. As imagined, it was tiresome and boring. Thoughts about giving up kept appearing in my mind. Nevertheless, I held on and kept on studying non-stop for about two months.

Finally, the day came. I was not panicked or nervous as I knew I had done my best. There was no regret for me. I took out my pen and finished the task as usual. It was not a difficult task but there were numerous tricky questions and traps. Yet, having seen them before, there was no way they could fool me again.

At the end, the results of the contest were released. I am honoured to be awarded a Medal in Chemistry and High Distinction in Physics. More importantly, I am pleased and appreciate that none of my endeavour has been wasted. It also reminds me that if you want to improve, you must work so hard that it may hurt, but this is inevitable according to the proverb ‘no pain, no gain’. After all, my participation in this competition is unforgettable and beneficial. I thank my school and teachers for giving me this precious opportunity.

Hong Kong Physics Olympiad 2016

It is delightful to announce that our students performed well in the Hong Kong Physics Olympiad 2016, organized by The Hong Kong Academy for Gifted Education, on 8 May 2016. 5E Tse Lap Yan won a third honour and here is his reflection regarding the competition.

Reflection on Hong Kong Physics Olympiad 2016
5E Tse Lap Yan

Through this competition, I have some new experiences which enlighten and change my thoughts. I also rejoice for having a chance to test my limit in this Hong Kong Physics Olympiad (HKPO).

Indeed, I had not heard anything about the HKPO before Mr. Yam introduced it to us. I thought this was a chance for me to learn more about Physics. Therefore, I joined the competition. Before the competition, Mr. Yam spent lots of time preparing us for answering the questions. During the practice, our learning was extended and I learnt some new ways of thinking and calculating. Although I could not understand all of the new knowledge, I still spent lots of time and effort trying to absorb as many mew techniques as possible. I was like a sapling wanting to absorb light and water to grow into a giant tree.

While I was doing the past papers of HKPO, I found that there were quite a lot of questions I could not solve. However, Mr. Yam can always solve these questions with the knowledge I have learnt. At that moment, I knew that I could not apply the techniques I have learnt skillfully to the questions. I then spent even more time on the past papers.

In fact, it was not my first time joining the Grand competition.

However, I could still feel the pressure aroused by this competition. Although I have tried my best preparing for it, there were still some questions I could not solve. I started suspecting my ability. Do I lack a gift in Physics? I asked myself several times during the competition. In the middle of the competition, some students gave up. However, I wanted to try my best and perform well in the competition. I worked until the last moment. I did not know if I was going to win any award. I only knew I had strived as much as possible.

Finally, I was awarded a third honor. I want to thank Mr. Yam. He spent much time teaching us with his spare time only for improving our performance in the competition. Besides, he is the one giving me a chance to widen my horizons. We spend most of our time at school, so our perspective will usually be trapped within the school. I have experienced the wonder of knowledge after this competition. There must be someone who is better than us in some subjects. Therefore, don't underestimate ourselves.

After this competition, I have also learnt the importance of striving. Did I win a third award simply by acquiring the techniques and knowledge taught by Mr. Yam? I do not think so. The only contributing factor is diligence. During the process of learning, trying and understanding are necessary. We can only learn things when we spend time reflecting on them. We should also concentrate when we are absorbing new knowledge.

International Junior Science Olympiad - Hong Kong Screening 2016

Our school participated in the International Junior Science Olympiad - Hong Kong Screening 2016, which was co-organised by The Hong Kong Academy for Gifted Education, the Gifted Education Section of the Education Bureau (EDB), the Hong Kong Association for Science and Mathematics Education, and the Chief Executive's Award for Teaching Excellence Teacher Association. The event was held at Cheung Sha Wan Catholic Secondary School on 26th September 2015. Our student Wong Shin Ying Janice from 3A and Yeung Man Hin from 3E have been awarded Third Class Honours. Here are their reflections on the competition.

3A Wong Shin Ying Janice

In September 2015, I joined the International Junior Science Olympiad 2016-Hong Kong Screening with five schoolmates. Before the competition, Mr. Tse, Mr. Chu and Mr. Yam revised with us the scientific knowledge that we learnt in Secondary 1 and 2 in intensive training.

While we were having the competition, we found the questions unexpectedly challenging since many of them were unfamiliar to us. All I could think of was to try my very best to answer the questions. Fortunately, I won the Third Class Prize, which really surprised me.

This was a meaningful learning experience for all of us as we have definitely learnt so much more about science by competing with over 1,000 participants from different schools in Hong Kong. Besides, I have also become keen on science. I have realised that there are still numerous unimaginable and intriguing discoveries beyond the classroom waiting for us. This enhances my interest in science and motivates me to think about the nature and the principles behind theories.

Finally, I would like to express my gratitude to my school and my teachers for giving me a valuable chance to participate in this competition, allowing me to further explore about science.

3E Yeung Man Hin

I am very glad to be one of the participants to join the International Junior Science Olympiad. It was a great opportunity to challenge myself and at the same time to win the glory for my school.

At first, I was not too interested in science and I had no confidence in getting any awards. Luckily, my teacher Mr. Yam, Mr. Chu and Mr. Tse patiently gave us a lot of training to equip me with abundant amusing knowledge of science. I gradually developed my interest in it.

I was exposed to a lot of new and challenging concepts, which I found very difficult to understand. Still, I cherished this precious chance that my teachers gave me. I put my all-out effort to prepare for the competition. During the competition, I finished every question carefully. Although I did not have much time to check my work, I gained experience when applying what I have learnt. At last I won the third honour and I felt a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction with my performance.

I would like to thank all the teachers who spent their valuable time teaching me a lot of interesting scientific knowledge and gave me the opportunity to gain a priceless experience.

The Hong Kong Physics Olympiad 2015

It is delightful to announce that our students performed well in the Hong Kong Physics Olympiad 2015, organized by The Hong Kong Academy for Gifted Education, on 20 May 2015.

Based on the total scores of the top 5 students from each participating school, our school won an Honourable Mention in the competition.

Here are the reflections of the above-mentioned students regarding the competition.

4A Chan Ho Leung

As one of the participants of Physics Olympiad 2015, I am grateful to have this opportunity because I have learnt a lot of interesting knowledge and gained an invaluable experience.

At first, I had no faith in winning the award because some of the questions were really challenging. Fortunately, my teacher Mr. Yam gave us intensive trainings before the competition. During the training sessions, I was given a lot of past papers in order to be more familiarized with the topics. Although it was hard to understand some of the difficult concepts in physics, I managed to understand all of them. After all, I treasured every moment in the training sessions as my horizons have been broadened.

Initially, I was not capable of digesting all the concepts. Yet, I had no intention of giving up. Notwithstanding the difficult tasks, I was determined to give my best try during the competition because I would definitely have regretted if I had wasted the chance. Therefore I attempted all the questions carefully. I did the multiple choice questions slowly as I had to choose the best alternatives. When I started working on the long questions (structured questions), I went through all of them before writing down the answers because I would like to finish the easier ones first. At the time when I came across the question about 'Moment', I felt much soothed and answered the question with confidence and concentration. Nonetheless, I was still rather anxious so I checked the answers for several times after finishing the whole paper. Although I was not sure whether the answers were correct or not, I was satisfied and confident.

Thanks to the trainings provided by my respected teacher, together with the effort that I paid, I am fortunate enough to win this award. I have learnt that people who are persevering and strong-willed will be rewarded. No matter how complex an obstacle is, with confidence and determination, we can still overcome it. Otherwise we will always be a loser.

4E Mak Siu Hong

Winning a third-class award is not something extremely difficult, but still it is not something easy. The questions raised in the Physics Olympiad are very different from the ones in school examinations. The topics included are different and it is much more difficult. In order to tackle the problems, we were trained for around 12 hours. I need to thank Mr. Yam for his teaching. Physics is a very difficult subject. It is impossible for me to learn it by myself. I would have won nothing in the competition without Mr. Yam's guidance.

The paper consists of two parts. One contains MC questions and the other one includes conventional questions. Some students may think that it is easy to win an honour if we can answer most of the MC questions correctly by guessing. Indeed, it is true that luck may affect the result. However, that happens occasionally and I think ability is still the most important. When a student is good at physics, he or she will always have a higher chance to guess the correct answer because his or her intuition of physics is better than other students. Therefore studying hard is the only way to get a better result in the competition.

Secondary School Mathematics and Science Competition (SSMSC) 2015

Secondary School Mathematics and Science Competition (SSMSC) 2015, a yearly competition organized by the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, aims at promoting students' interests in Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry and Biology. This year we are delightful that two of our school's awardees have achieved an outstanding result. 5E Mong Kin Ip won two High Distinctions in Mathematics and Physics while 5E Cheung Lok Hin won two High Distinctions in Chemistry and Physics. Here are the reflections of the above-mentioned students regarding the competition.

5E Cheung Lok-hin

The Secondary School Mathematics and Science Competition is a competition organized by the Hong Kong Polytechnic University. Its purpose is to promote students' interests in Mathematics and Science subjects through competitions. It is my honour to be chosen as one of the participants. I am so excited about having won High Distinction awards in two subjects, Physics and Chemistry.

At the very beginning, I knew that the participants of this competition are the elites of all schools in Hong Kong, so I was not hoping for any award but joining the competition in a relaxing manner. Nevertheless, our Mathematics and Science teachers gave us intensive trainings before the competition. I came to know that I had to take it seriously.

In the competition, students were required to finish the papers within one hour and fifteen minutes. It was a rush indeed. Fortunately, the questions were based on the HKDSE syllabus, so we simply tried our best to finish the papers by recalling what we had studied and our teachers had taught in class. To me, the competition seems to be a mock prior to the HKDSE.

Though I have won High Distinction awards for two science subjects, the honour should belong to our teachers. They have spent a lot of time giving extra lessons to us. They taught us the skill of understanding and answering the questions. Such intensive trainings help us to discover our weaknesses and accordingly make improvements. Hence, I would like to express my gratitude and appreciation to Mr. Yam, Mr. Chu and Mr. Kwong for giving us support and guidance throughout the competition. It is always true that classrooms can survive without iPads and computers, but never without inspirational teachers.

As I have mentioned before, this competition seems like a mock for the HKDSE, the High Distinction awards are really a shot in the arm and gives me confidence to face such a formidable exam. I will get well-prepared and strive for my best!

5E Mong Kin Ip

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University holds the Secondary School Mathematics and Science Competition every year. The competition aims to arouse students' interest in Mathematics and Science. The elites from different schools in Hong Kong join the competition and compete for the best result. It is my honour to be one of the participants representing my school.

I would like to start with my gratitude for my Mathematics and Physics teachers, Mr. Kwong and Mr. Yam. Their commitment is the key to my outstanding results. Since the competition covers the whole NSS syllabus, my teachers had to spend a large amount of extra time tutoring all the school representatives. I can still remember all the exercises we did with Mr. Yam. It is a very precious experience for me.

"Practice makes perfect" is the golden rule that applies to all kinds of competitions. The preparation for the competition was distressing. However, the complicated questions were not my only source of pressure. Keeping a well-balanced life between the training and schoolwork was tougher than I expected. Luckily with all the support from my teachers, I could still manage to overcome all the challenges. Mr. Kwong taught us different skills to tackle the multiple choice questions quickly. Besides, Mr. Yam guided us to complete the past papers of SSMSC, which certainly helped us to deal with the hardest questions in the competition. I am truly glad that our diligence has been rewarded. Through all these experiences, my exam skills have been enhanced and my understanding of the acquired knowledge has been improved.

I can still remember how excited I was when I knew I won High Distinction in both subjects. The results are surprising and encouraging. Since the competition covers the whole NSS syllabus, it is a great chance to do revision on the two subjects. The competition can really help me to discover my abilities. I have also learnt from the strengths of other students. This really helps me to focus more on my weaknesses and improve them before the HKDSE.

International Junior Science Olympiad-Hong Kong Screening 2014-2015

Our school participated in the International Junior Science Olympiad-Hong Kong Screening (2014-2015), co-organised by The Hong Kong Academy for Gifted Education, the Gifted Education Section of the Education Bureau (EDB) and the Hong Kong Association for Science and Mathematics Education, held at Cheung Sha Wan Catholic Secondary School on 27th September 2014. Our student Liu Tsz Yu from 3E has been awarded a Third Class Honour. Here is his reflection on the competition.

Secondary School Mathematics and Science Competition 2014

Secondary School Mathematics and Science Competition (SSMSC) 2014 is an annual competition organized by the Hong Kong Polytechnic University with the aim of promoting students' interests in Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry and Biology. It is worth mentioned that two of our school's awardees have achieved an impressive result. One of them is 5E Yim Hong Sang, who won three High Distinctions in Mathematics, Physics and Biology while the other one, 5E Lam Tsz Ho, was awarded a Medal in Mathematics. Here are their reflections concerning the competition.

Science and Technology Seedling Plan 100

The 3rd Science and Technology Seedling Plan 100 (科技新苗100計劃) organised by Hong Kong Association for Advancement of Science and Technology aims at nourishing the youths into committed science professionals. One hundred elite students were elected out of the participated secondary schools. Our school nominated the following three students who are interested in scientific research to participate in the plan and they were all elected:

Tong Wing Yan 4E
Hong Ting Ngai 4E
Yau Pui Chung 4E

In order to be elected, each student needs to hand in a letter to the organisation which describes about their interest and knowledge in science , expresses their ambitions and more importantly their sense of responsibility towards the society. Here is one letter written by one of the elected students, Yau Pui Chung.

Science Elite – Young Ambassador Programme 2013-2014

In the past summer holiday, 4E Lau Sheung Ki, Mong Kin Ip, Tong Wing Yan and 4C Wan Yin Kiu, participated in the "Science Elite – Young Ambassador Programme" organized by the Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation. The programme aims to raise the young generation's interest in innovation and technology, and to widen their horizons through developing better understanding of the fruitful applications resulted from the "Made in Hong Kong" research and development. Held at Hong Kong Science Park, the programme was joined by close to 100 "Science Elites" from 26 secondary schools. The following is a reflection of one of the participants, 4E Mong Kin Ip:

"Atomic World" – A talk given by Dr. Lin(CUHK)

On 8th May 2014, Dr. Lin Nap Ming from the Chinese University of Hong Kong gave a talk in our school. The talk focused on the Physics topic "Atomic World". Dr. Lin talked about how the atomic structure was discovered in the past 100 years, and how scientists carried out various investigations about atoms and the nature of light.

Review on the talk "Atomic World" by 5E Lee Ching Yau

At the beginning, Dr. Lin introduced the history of the discovery of atoms. Ancient Greek philosophers doubted the basic constituents of matter. This question was not answered until the past 100 years.

An ancient Greek philosopher Democritus (~BC400) discovered that matter is made up of millions of tiny particles called atoms. Atoms cannot be separated, and they have different sizes and weights. Yet, this concept was not supported by any scientific evidence because it was proposed by a philosopher.

In 18th to 19th century, scientists began investigating the structure and properties of atoms. American physicist and chemist John Dalton (1766-1844) stated in his atomic theory that elements are made of atoms, and that atoms of a given element are identical in size, mass and other properties. Moreover, an element can form compounds with another element in a particular situation.

(fig.1)


(fig.2)


(fig.3)


(fig.4)

 

In 1897, British physicist J.J. Thomson (1856-1940) discovered a tiny negatively charged particle which is now known as electron. In the cathode ray experiment, Thomson discovered that the charge-to-mass ratio of the particles in the so-called "cathode ray" were all the same even when different metals were used (Fig.1). He therefore created a plum-pudding model which could explain the experimental result: an atom is a uniform sphere of positive charge with electrons embedded inside so that the overall charge is zero.

Dr. Lin then analogized scientists with children. He stated that scientists tried to separate an atom to figure out its structure, just like what children do when they want to figure out the structure of a toy.

In 1909, physicist E. Rutherford (1871-1937) successfully carried out the α-scattering experiment and discovered that an atom consists of a tiny core called nucleus where most of the mass and all the positive charge of the atom are concentrated. His conclusion proved that the plum-pudding model was incorrect. He created another atomic model but his model seemed to have flaws. The largest mistake was that an atom would never be stable according to his model. As electrons accelerate while orbiting, they should be losing energy continuously by emitting electromagnetic waves. The atom should collapse and it should not stay stable (Fig.2).

About 100 years ago, scientists started focusing on quantum mechanics. Through the blackbody radiation experiment, scientists discovered that an atom can absorb or emit energy only in discrete quanta. Later on, physicist Albert Einstein (1879-1955) claimed that light might show its particle nature in a certain situation. From Einstein's story, Dr. Lin said that a scientist can only be successful if he or she tries to think of new theories to explain the experimental result, instead of blindly believing in the theories suggested by the past scientists (Fig.3).

In 1960s, scientists discovered the electronic arrangement in an atom. The correct atomic model was then introduced (Fig. 4). It was shown in the model that each electron shell can only carry a certain number of electrons at maximum. The bounded electrons can jump to other electron shells with different energy levels by emitting or absorbing EM waves. Any transition must start and end on the energy levels of the atom.

In conclusion, Dr. Lin would like to describe how scientists discovered the atomic structure and its properties. In addition, we can learn from various scientists that the ambition to pursue the truth is indeed essential for the success of scientists. Dr. Lin hoped that students could have a better understanding of the atomic world.

Astronomy Camp

Since 2011, astronomy camps were co-organized by Astronomy Club and Physics Department. Priority of joining the camp was given to those studying Physics since star-gazing experiences will highly enhance the understanding of celestial motion in the DSE Physics syllabus.

Apart from games, star-gazing, solar observation, astronomical quiz and astronomy talks, physics students were required to give presentations in groups, the topics include celestial sphere, retrograde motion, Kepler's Laws, H-R diagram, stellar magnitude, Doppler Effect and stellar distance.

Students could consolidate what they learned and at the same time get in touch with up-to-date astronomical knowledge in these 3 days. Astronomy camp surely becomes one of the most expected program for physics students among numerous post exam activities.

5E Lau Matthew Kin Hay

Digital Planetarium – for NSS Physics electives curriculum "Astronomy and Space Science"

To consolidate students' astronomical knowledge and improve their presentation skill, our Physics Department had borrowed the Digital Planetarium from Ho Koon Nature Education cum Astronomical Centre from 4 June to 6 June 2014. S5 students studying Physics were divided into 12 groups, 4 sessions each day, to conduct mini-lectures (about celestial sphere, daily and yearly motion of the Earth and basic techniques in stargazing) to lower form schoolmates. All 35 physics students in S5 had the opportunity to share what they learned in astronomy, and 250 participants joined at least one of the 12 sessions. Both organizers and participants enjoyed the event and hoped we can have this activity again next year.

The 44th International Physics Olympiad

The 44th International Physics Olympiad was held from 7 July to 15 July in Copenhagen, Denmark. A team of five student members of The Hong Kong Academy for Gifted Education (HKAGE) representing Hong Kong have returned home proudly with three silver medals and two bronze medals.

We would like to congratulate S6E Shing Ming Tony for his astonishing achievement in winning the silver medal. Tony has outperformed other contestants from all over the world not only because of his ability but also his hard work and effort. Our students should learn from his persistence and enthusiasm to reach their goals in the future.

6E Tony Shing Ming

Science and Technology Seedling Plan 100

Science and Technology Seedling Plan 100 (科技新苗100計劃) organised by Hong Kong Association for Advancement of Science and Technology aims at nourishing the youths into committed science professionals. One hundred elite students were elected out of the participated secondary schools. Our school nominated the following three students who are interested in scientific research to participate in the plan and they were all elected:

Lam Tsz Yin 4E
Lam Ho Yin 4E
Yim Tsz Kin 4E

In order to be elected, each student needs to hand in a letter to the organisation which describes about their interest and knowledge in science , expresses their ambitions and more importantly their sense of responsibility towards the society. Here is one letter written by one of the elected students, Lam Tsz Yin.

Secondary School Mathematics and Science Competition (SSMSC) 2013

Secondary School Mathematics and Science Competition (SSMSC) 2013 is a yearly competition organized by the Hong Kong Polytechnic University to promote students' interests in Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry and Biology. This year we are delightful to have 42% of participants attaining Distinction or above in the competition. Here's the list of our school's awardees achieving Credit or above.

Hong Kong Physics Olympiad 2013

It is delightful to announce that our students have performed well in the Hong Kong Physics Olympiad 2013 organized by The Hong Kong Academy for Gifted Education on 19 May 2013.

Writing Competition on Nuclear Technology

The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster arouses the concern of public on the safety of nuclear energy. In this regard, Tai Po District Offices held a tour to the Nuclear Resources Centre of CLP on 19th December, 2012. This tour introduces the basic concept about nuclear energy and the operation of Daya Bay Nuclear Power Plant to us, secondary school students. After the tour, a writing competition was held in order to collect the opinion on nuclear energy technology and reflection on the tour from the visitor. Two students of our school participated in the writing competition and 5E Lam Man Wan was the Champion Award Winner.

The International Junior Science Olympiad – Hong Kong Screening 2012

The International Junior Science Olympiad (IJSO) – Hong Kong Screening 2012 was co-organised by The Hong Kong Academy for Gifted Education, the Gifted Education Section of the Education Bureau (EDB) and the Hong Kong Association for Science and Mathematics Education. The screening aims at identifying scientifically gifted students at junior secondary levels for training in advanced science subject knowledge. Two students of our school participated in the competition and received the following awards:

Science and Technology Seedlings 100 Plan

The Science and Technology Seedlings 100 Plan (科技新苗100計劃) organised by Hong Kong Association for Advancement of Science and Technology aims at nourishing students into becoming science professionals. One hundred elite students were elected out of the participating secondary schools. Our school nominated the following three students who are interested in scientific research to participate in the plan and they were all elected:

5E　　Kwok Sze Kan
5E　　Lam Man Wan
5D　　Leung Chung Ling

Cosmological Lecture for Secondary Students

Our school had the greatest honor to have invited Professor Chu Ming Chung from The Chinese University of Hong Kong to deliver a talk on cosmology. We invited New Territories secondary school students and teachers to take the golden opportunity to widen their vision and to further their understanding about astronomical science. The details of the lecture are as follows:

Topic: To See the Universe in a Bed of Particles
Date: 24-2-2012 (Fri)
Time: 16:00-17:30

Here is a review by Teenie Chan (6E), the ceremonial mistress of the lecture.
 

Mr Yam Yee Kin's Lecture in the Astronomy Camp

Review on the Astronomy Camp Lecture by Mr. Yam

By Wong Chi Ho (5E)

On the whole, I learnt the most from the two-parts lecture "Proving Kepler's First Law Using Elementary Mathematics" held by Mr. Yam. I can't tell I understand all of it and very interested in it but I think the lecture itself are quite meaningful and unique. I have not considered applying those ways and insight to prove those principles.

The most unforgettable proof was concerning the equation: a2 +b2 =c2. This is a very common and useful equation whether in Mathematics or Physics. I have never imagined how this equation was proved by Mathematicians. However, since I saw the proof in the camp, I started to find that the Mathematics world is not only interesting but really amazing. Once this equation has been proved, it can help to solve many problems. Many new ideas can be developed as well. Most of the principles were established out of curiosity and because of daring hypothesis. Yet, the most important thing is determination and persistence. Otherwise, there is not much knowledge and technology discovered or invented by our ancestors. To be successful and discover more in our life, all of us should put more effort to understand the knowledge from our books. In addition, we should have further consideration, instead of putting them in mind blindly. Nothing is always true. We, especially being science students, ought to consider more to improve our life.

For the lecture, the most fantastic thing is all the difficult proofs were proved by really simple methods such as trigonometry, simple ratio, similar triangle etc. These methods are commonly used by us in our daily lives. This helped students understand all the proofs easily. For those students who didn't have a lesson with Mr Yam, they can know how powerful he is and they can learn as much as they can.

However, in my opinion, there is still some advice Mr. Yam can take to perfect his lecture. For example he can provide some notes with figures to let us follow his lecture more easily because sometimes we could not follow his proofs when someone blocked our sight. Also, the lecture is too short although we were really tired, in-between break can be given so as to lengthen the lecture' duration since the lecture is useful and meaningful. I hope the camp next year can have longer time period for lecturing so that Mr. Yam can give such wonderful lecture to us again.

Mr. Wong Ka Tat's Talk in the Astronomy Camp

Review on Mr. Wong's Talk in the Astronomy Camp

By Tse Ho Wing (5E)

Between 4th July and 6th July, the Astronomy Club was organizing an 'Astronomy Adventure Camp' to tally with the elective module of the NSS Physics curriculum – astronomy. One of the activities in the camp was a seminar on basic knowledge about the lifetime of a star. The seminar caught my attention.

The lifetime of a star is described as splendid and brilliant. An old boy of our school Mr. Wong Ka Tat gave us the talk on the whole life journey of a star, from a nebula to the explosion of a supernova. The whole process may take for millions of years.

Indeed, stars are hot bodies of glowing gas that start their life in Nebulae. Stars are born in a region of high density Nebula, and condense into huge globules of gas and dust and contract under their own gravities. A region of condensing matter will begin to heat up and start to glow forming protostars. If a protostar contains enough matter the central temperature reaches 15 million degrees centigrade. I am impressed by the transformations made by the nebulae to form stars. It is really amazing!

At this temperature, nuclear reactions in which hydrogen fuses to form helium can start. The star begins to release energy, stopping it from contracting even more and causing it to shine. It is now a Main Sequence Star. A star of one solar mass remains in main sequence for about 10 billion years, until all the hydrogen has fused to form helium. When the core is hot enough for helium to fuse, carbon is formed. The outer layers begin to expand, cool and shine less brightly. The expanding star is now called a Red Giant.

There are mainly two routes in the death of a star. One of these happens when the nucleus collapses with the influence of electron degenerate pressure; the star would eventually become a white dwarf. The other route takes place mainly for massive stars that have masses that are greater than eight solar masses. The nucleus of the star would fuse into other elements, such as oxygen, and finally an iron core is formed. An iron core is the most stable form of a massive star, thus no new elements are formed. The core finally collapses in less than a second, causing an explosion called a Supernova, in which a shock wave blows the outer layers of the star. The life cycle repeats.

The universe is very interesting and mysterious. There are still many unknown phenomena and substances that we have to explore. The astronomy camp have raised my awareness on our inexhaustible universe.

Astronomy Camp

Reflection on the Astronomy Camp

By Nicole Luk (5E)

Like the astronomy camp held last year, eye-opening experience was brought by Astronomy Club to sixty active senior form students in Cheung Chau, where forty-two of them were from the form five Physics class.

The act of inviting Physics students to the camp was to give basic know-how about astronomy in practice; therefore, two talks on astronomy were added during the days, held by an alumni and Mr. Yam our Physics teacher, while the nights in the camp were dominated by stargazing. Besides these, a treasure hunt with checkpoints and fun games was organized by the committees.

Despite hopeful expectations, the first day was quite bland, as the only activity-film watching was cancelled due to a computer breakdown. We could only stay in our rooms and wait for the night-time. Fortunately, the weather during the camp was perfect: there was not a cloud in the sky, and the air quality was excellent. We spent an hour and half listening to an introductory talk, and did stargazing with the same amount of time.

A benefit of stargazing in this camp is large telescopes were set up to facilitate participants' observation of faint celestial bodies, which cannot be glimpsed with naked eyes. Waxing moon, Saturn and several clusters were captured by telescopes in fine quality. The sky was so clear that many constellations were easily seen. With mats provided by the campsite, almost all of us lied down on the ground, searching the vast darkness with binoculars. The activity lasted till half past ten. For most of the participants, the main event seems to start only after a day's schedule. Card games were present in almost every room; some played until five o'clock.

On the following day, there were more activities. Students observed sunspots in groups with three telescopes with different filters and handheld filters. After lunch, students were givgen a lecture by Mr. Yam on a proof of Kepler's laws. As the content was long, the lecture could not finish and continued on the next day.

The next event was a treasure hunt held by the committee of Astronomy Club, which consisted of checkpoints situated in two Caritas camps, connected by a stair with over two hundred steps. There were games testing knowledge taught in the first night, or games just for good fun. Some of the participants enjoyed the time, but some of them were not quite involved.

At night there was the same activity, but the venue switched to the playground, where the light from the campsite masked the view on the west. Several students lied on the ground to get a better view, but most of them just stood and held their heads high; also, they did not concentrate for long. Meanwhile, some people started a race to find small, faint constellations, for example Sagitta, under teachers' guidance. It was announced that the only galaxy observable by bare eyes, M31, would be seen well after one o'clock. In response, I woke up on time, went to the playground, and found it was deserted but two faint shadows. Despite few people on the playground, I am glad that I caught a glimpse of a galaxy other than the one I am living in.

The physics lecture was completed on the last day's morning, following the alumni's talk about the life of stars. Besides, there was nothing special. I think the camp will be much more memorable if some points were noted, like designing more sections for ice-breaking and group interactions; but anyway it was a nice page in my secondary school life.

Hong Kong Physics Olympiad (HKPhO)

The Education Bureau (EDB), Hong Kong Physics Olympiad Committee and the Physical Society of Hong Kong have jointly organised the HKPhO (Hong Kong Physics Olympiad ) since 2003 with a view to promoting Physics education in Hong Kong and providing an enhancement platform for students with high potential in Physics.

In this year our school has nominated ten S4 students and ten S5 students to participate in the Junior and Senior Level contests of HKPhO 2011 respectively on 19 Mar 2011. Here is the list of awardees of our school in Junior Level:

Shing Ming and Luk Sui Man, one of the ten S5 students have written reflections on the event concerned.

Wong Shiu Hin, Mr Yam and Tony at the Prize-giving Ceremony.

Reflections on HKPhO :

International Junior Science Olympiad – Hong Kong Screening 2011

The IJSO( International Junior Science Olympiad )– Hong Kong Screening 2011 is co-organized by The Hong Kong Academy for Gifted Education, the Gifted Education Section of the Education Bureau (EDB), the Hong Kong Association for Science and Mathematics Education and the Chief Executive's Award for Teaching Excellence Teachers Association. The screening aims at identifying scientifically gifted students at junior secondary levels for training in advanced science subject knowledge.

Our school has nominated six S2 students to participate in the contest on 12 March 2011. The following students are the awardees of our school.

2E Cheng Man Kit, one of the participants has written a reflection on the event concerned.

Lam Ho Yin and Mr Yam

Reflections on HKPhO :

Secondary School Mathematics and Science Competitions

The SSMSC(Secondary School Mathematics and Science Competitions) organized by Hong Kong Polytechnic University aims at promoting students' interests as well as to raise their achievements in Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry and Biology through competitions.

Eleven S5 and one S4 students was nominated to attend the competitions. Four groups of three students participated in the competitions of the mentioned disciplines respectively. The result was very good with the following students being awarded.

2E Cheng Man Kit, one of the participants has written a reflection on the event concerned.

Leung Lok Yin, Wan Chin Ching, Mr Yam, Tse Ho Wing and Chiu Hoi Yeung

Reflection of International Junior Science Olympiad-Hong Kong Screening (2009-10)

We are glad to be the representatives of Wong Shiu Chi Secondary School to join the International Junior Science Olympiad - Hong Kong Screening. Before the competition, teachers spent their precious time with us to get ready for this competition, but we enjoyed it very much. Though we have to go to school every saturday, it was all worth it.

When the school has chosen us to be the representatives of Wong Shiu Chi Secondary School we were very surprised and excited to be lucky ones to join the competition. We then have to go to school every Saturday to spend 6 hours to broaden our knowledge about physics, chemistry and biology. Though the time we spent in the school are quite long, but we didn't feel bored at all because the things our teacher taught us were interesting and full of surprises. The things our teacher taught were quite difficult at first, but we asked question until we can solve the mystery in our head, and the teachers didn't mind to volunteer to teach us in their spare time.

Before the screening, we attend the lessons on Saturday every week at ease. But when the competition is getting closer, the feeling of nervousness is getting closer the same time. Finally it was the day of the screening, before we enter the hall we took a photo as a remembrance. After that it was the time for us to enter the hall and start the screening. Mr Yam waited for us patiently outside the hall. Inside the hall, the atmosphere inside was quite serious. We found our seat and placed our belongings under our chair quietly. There was 30 multiple-choice and 3 long questions. Fortunately, the question paper have the Chinese translate of the English version, and we can use either English or Chinese to answer the long question. Although our teacher taught us a lot of new knowledge to us, we still found some difficult questions on the paper, some answers even have relationship with the current events that are happenning in our daily lives! We need to overcome all our problems, so we used our common sense to solve the problems we didn't understand, and did't left any blanks because we didn't want to let our teacher down after they spent so many hours helping us and supporting us. At first, we were quite worried that we wouldn't have enough time to finish the paper, but fortunately, we still had some spare time left, so we double-checked our paper again to look for some mistakes.

Finally, one hour and thirty minutes had passed, everyone was at ease. When we were leaving the hall, we were all discussing about the difficult questions we encountered. Everyone seemed very excited. The things that we have learnt from our teachers are everlasting and we all want to thank our teachers. It is a good experiment. In the end, this screening left us a memory that we will never forget in our lives.

International Junior Science Olympiad-Hong Kong Screening (2009-10)

Our school had participated in the International Junior Science Olympiad- Hong Kong Screening (2009-2010) at the School Hall of Maryknoll Fathers' School on 27th Februry 2010. The following nominated students had come through with flying colours in the Screening:

YIM Hong Sang and Ng Chi Ho were awarded on the Prize-giving ceremony on 29 May 2010. Award winners of First Class and Second Class Honour were invited to phase one of IJSO training.

Here is the reflection of the Screening by Wong Sze Wai.