I learnt about astronomy clubs activities , what I have ahead of me for astronomy club and what astronomy does. I also learned more about astronomy related things like the speed of EM waves and kepler's laws of plantery motion. It wasn't being forced to work with new groupmates first thing but we managed to communicate properly. I think the Excos did well in explaining instructions and were approachable and friendly. Overall, I enjoyed todays activities as it required me to work with other Sec 1s on the first day.
I learnt about the telescope types like optical, refractors and reflectors. I also learnt a bit about the electromagnetic spectrum like gamma and radio waves. The diagnostic test was hard, but I tried my best. During the star gazing, I barely used the telescopes to see stars, just the app. Maybe try setting up the telescopes before we start. Overall, today was interesting with a challenging test but a fun night.
I learnt a brief history of astronomy, famous icons of astronomy and more about the solar system. It was a fun lesson as we had the chance to play a blooket quiz at the end of the day, and the information was fascinating. I did not write notes on the first presentation, unfortunately, but at least I managed to learn a lot about the solar system. If we were asked to take notes at the first presentation instead of in the middle of the second one, it would have been better. Link to notes:https://www.notion.so/Solar-system-1b95b122dfc7487e8293d222451c582e?pvs=4
Today, I learnt a bit more about basic astronomy and trigonomy formulas like finding angular distance. The lesson was a bit boring but educative about astronomy as most of the lesson was complicated theory. We had to write on pen and paper, which slowed down notes, and the presenters were also very fast-paced making it hard to keep up. The info dump was hard to take in. Maybe try making it easier to take in all info.
Today, I learnt more about space exploration concepts, major space exploration achievements, space shuttles and their progression over the years, rocket fuel parts and concepts. The lesson was a lot of information to take in with all the concepts, names and dates, so it got a bit hard to follow near the end. Maybe writing it down on our LDs or on paper would have helped a lot. One question I still have is what future planned rocket launches or events will take place.
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1dElot1q3964Y9ij0h8icHDLCaTfI8LuRXisHsrDN_n0/edit#slide=id.p
Today, I learned about binary stars, their characteristics, different types of binary star systems and how to observe. The lesson was on the easier side, but the booklet at the end had some important info that the slides did not cover. Also, I took a longer time. I rather type than use pen and paper, so I can spend less time typing and more time listening. Overall the lesson was informational and cool.
Today, I learnt about electromagnetic theory, which included different types of electromagnetic waves and their observations. I also learnt about antennas, which included how to calculate dipole length and legal frequencies (e.g. 145 MHz). The first part of the lesson was really quick, so it was a bit hard to follow. I didn't really have time to write down notes, but I know I can write them down later as I have photos. At the start, there was a long wait for some reason. Overall, the lesson was nice and educative.
Antenna dimensions (145 MHz):
Reflector Length - 1.0241m
Dipole Length - 0.979m
Director length - 0.910m
Reflector to Dipole Spacing - 0.259m
Dipole to Director Spacing - 0.259m
Today, I learnt about the Hooman transfer and many miscellaneous topics like kinetic energy calculation. The first part of the presentation was about the outreach at Bukit Batok and the trip to Port Dickson. Both trips looked very interesting, which inspired me to participate in more astronomy topics. The second part of the presentation was very fast-paced, and we were advised to write notes when we got home. However, the slides were not posted on google drive, so it was kinda of sad. I can use the miscellaneous I learn in the future if I ever take physics.
Today, I learned about galaxies, galaxy parts, and the Milky Way Galaxy. This time, unlike the last session, they sent the slides from the session. The first presentation had a lot of information to take in all at once; however, it was quite enjoyable. The second presentation was much shorter and had overlapping topics, so it was repetitive. I can use the information when I participate in activities like the Olympics in the future if I do.
Absent
Today, I learned about astronomical phenomena like meteor showers, geomagnetic storms and much more. I also learnt what causes these phenomena, the importance of some of these phenomena and if they are harmful or safe. The session was nice as it had a lot of speaking, videos and gifs then other presentations so it was easier to take in all he information. The second presentation, however, was like 12 minutes, so it was kinda confusing, and since some parts were skipped, it was harder to understand as some parts had concepts that weren't even mentioned. I can use the information when see terms like different types of times used in geomagnetic science and use the understanding of phenomena when I witness them myself so that I can better understand the theory behind these phenomena.
Today I didn't come for the first half so i dunno I guess I was supposed to learn accretion, accretion disk formation and roche limit . I wasn't here to see the slides, but it was allegedly engaging. Erhm I guess the schedule was messy cause the s1 had to join the sec 2 and 3 after their presentation
Today I learned about nuclear physics and interstellar medium. This session was one of the best because there was a blooket and Kahoot which was pretty fun. However, nuclear physics is really complicated and stuff but and the presentation was very quick, but I still managed to catch most of it. If other sessions were similer to this it would be great.
Today I learnt about elephant toothpaste, how its made and substitute DIY rocket fuel sources. Today's session was interesting as instead of sitting through a long lectures, we had a short presentation for like 30 minutes and did our own hands-on activity. This way we were able to learn by doing our own research and make our own presentation instead of just sitting there. However, the presentation we did was quite rushed as we only had ~50 minutes to research, make the model, calculate and make the presentation with just 5 of us. A fun change of pace from the typical astro session.
Last lesson of the year and I failed my astro test. There weren't any lectures today so I only found out about 2025's schedule today. The only things that happened was a test and a quick briefing by Mr Tan about the CCA records, 2025 deployment and the exco. This sessions inspires me to work harder in the future and participate in more competitions or astro activities. Last astro reflection this year fr.
First astro lesson gotta lock in fr. Today I learnt about 2025 events and more about the solar system. Kinda nostalgic remembering last year's solar system lesson was like one of the first. This session was good cause it helped me prep for 2025's year for CCA, determined for work harder. Not much to improve on this lesson, simple content and presentation + not to complex of a topic made it prefect for the first lesson. This sessions briefing will let me know what to expect for 2025.
Today, I learnt about the Earth, especially the tectonic plates and layers of the Earth. I also learnt about the atmosphere and its layers + miscellaneous events that happen like the Van Allen radiation belt. Today's lesson was also good since it was informative but simple. Also the booklet and nerds candy at the end was nice. The session was good but the only thing I am unsure about is signing up for astro olympiad, I want to join but I haven't even touched on calc in Sec 2. I hope more future lesson are like this too but theres a diverse range of slightly complex to simple lessons.
I wasn't here for most of the lesson as I had a workshop to attend. I heard we learnt about planets in the solar system, like Jupiter. Also, we learnt about the gas giants. I heard there was also a radio hunt which seemed cool. 1 thing I'm confused about is that all the other students had a VR except me even tho I had sent a email to all the teachers, I think I cc'd the teachers and only emailed 1 directly
Today, I learned about astroids, comets and meteors. Namely, their compositions, their trails, their difference and about exoplanets. Today's lesson had 2 lectures + 1 project which is quite a lot of take in. The first lecture was very engaging and put together, more similar ones would be nice. The second lecture was, honestly, quite boring, it was mainly slides full of words and reading off the slides. The project is nice since we usually just have hands-on activites like this, I'm glad they listened last years suggestions.
Today we did a presentation kinda presentation about two topics and then had a lecture about the moon. I learned while researching about how valuable asteroids are, how destructive earth mining is and what metals are in asteroids. I also learned about why planets are named after gods, the importance of tracking NEO and other misc info like a theorised number of planets from other presentations. I also learned about the moon's history, the craters and highlands on the moon and the moon structure/composition. The presentation were nice as we got to learn from ways other than a lecture and the blooket was also fun. I'm looking forward to more of these kind of lessons (presentation/self-research/hands-on). I hope more lessons can flow like this.
Today we did a water rocket activity and a presentation about pluto, rings and moons, ending with a booklet. I learned about the moons in the solar system, the number of them, the size of them, why is pluto not a planet and pluto's biggest moon. The hands-on activity with the water rockets were nice and the booklet was entertaining. One thing that could have been better was progressive difficulty increase or something similar during the rocket activity. The rocket became kinda repetitive or boring after a bit.
How did you make your rocket fly further or higher?
We made rocket fly further by putting less water so there was more air preasure and less mass at launch.
How does the amount of water in the rocket affect its flight?
The amount of water affects the mass of the rocket, making it slower, and the duration of flight, with more water making more fuel to propel.
How does air pressure affect launching the rocket?
The more air preasure, the stronger the water is pushed out of the nozzle, making it fly faster but shorter.
What is Newton’s Third Law of Motion, and how does it apply to the rocket launch?
Newton's Third Law of Motion states that for every force being exerted on an object, there is an equal and opposite force working against the inital force. This makes the rocket launch as when there is a lot of air preasure, the air molecules are looking for a exit and when the bottle nozzle is exposed, the air rushes out the nozzle wiuth the water, pushing the water forward which pushes against the air causing proposion as the air push back.
Today we had a talk about space weather. Today, I learned about what space weather is, how it impacts Earth, why it happens, how we measure it, and why we measure it. The presenter was great and was very open to questions from students, which made the presentation very engaging. I learnt about solar cycles, sunpots and the magnetosphere. The presentation itself was a bit cramped with information but it was still quite enjoyable. I hope we can have more of such talks and if possible workshops from outside presenters of facilitators. Looking forward to the satellite workshop in the future.
Today, we did a reflection on the term 1 information like moons, the solar system , rings, phenomena caused by space stuff, the earth's moon craters, the habitable zone, the Roche limit, asteroids, comets, meteors, etc. This lesson was fine as there was a lot of information that was covered by advaith did well covering it short and simply. More lesson like this would be nice. Although I still prefer hands-on lessons a bit more, I still enjoy the lectures. One thing that can be improved is how everyone isn't listening so it takes a while to get back on track. Next time if possible, split up the levels for more organised lectures.
Since I haven't written a reflection since March, I will take about all the things that happened since the first space faculty session. I learnt about rovers, aeronautics, space environment, space communication systems, space phenomena, galaxies and our universe in general. The whole space faculty program was very enjoyable compared to normal astro (honestly) and the kahoots and gift made it very unique
I also haven't written reflection for a while oops. I learnt about morse code how to use cubicsdr for tuning in to radio signals and detect morse code. The hands-on activities were a fresh breath of air from the usual astro lectures and were very fun. The blooket at the end too was quite fun and I hope the tradition continues
Today's lecture wasn't bad, cosmology was interesting and the videos were fun to watch. Today I learnt about doppler shift, the expansion of the universe, exoplanets, how doppler shift contributes to finding the rate of expansion of the universe, quasers, how they form and why they are so hot. The sessions was fun with blooket again. Also the mini KSP session at the end was. very entertaining/