On Wednesday Dec 2, as a final conclusion to the semester-long cross-curricular project, the Mathematics Department hosted our first-ever G Level Project Presentations in the Auditorium, inviting the whole school staff and all of G1 and G2 students to be audience members. The presenting groups were selected to be the best among their peers to showcase the hard work and effort that they put into the semester. Teachers of other departments all came to support our G Level students, and it was a highly enjoyable experience, as many came out of the auditorium impressed by the depth of the subject knowledge and passion clearly shown in the students’ work, all going above and beyond our greatest expectations.
G1 students chose from topics such as:
- Analyzing population migration data for Shenzhen and how migration impacts urbanization
- Building the strongest pasta bridge using various design layouts and their knowledge of physical forces
- Analyzing the effects of socio-economic status on students’ academic performance
Our G2 students chose from topics such as:
- Forensics murder mystery with blood splatter analysis and ink chromatography, using trigonometry and Chemistry to solve the crime
- Constructing a parachute to land a 250ml water balloon that can withstand the height of our building from the second to sixth floor, applying understanding of physical forces and mechanics
- Flattening the curve for COVID-19 using statistical modeling and computational manipulation. Directly relevant to our current situation, students will solve the greatest global issue that threatens the wellbeing of our world
At the end of the presentations, the entire year levels and teachers voted for the best presentation in G1 and G2. The results are astonishing:
We have a tie between two G1 class presentations G1.A.MAT1 – Rachel, Ashley, and Gloria and G1.H.MAT1 — Mary, Sabrina, Dean-roux, Flora, and the winner of G2 presentations is G2.7.MAT — Clark, Evangeline, Regina, Steven, and Charles. Congratulations to our winning student groups! The following week on Wednesday Dec 9, their Maths teachers joined them in the Maths Office to receive their awards.
G2.7.MAT Clark, Evangeline, Regina, Steven, and Charles created a comprehensive movie to showcase the depth of their understanding of the Mathematics and science behind “Forensics Murder Mystery” and a colorful story plot to go along with it.
G1.A.MAT1 Rachel, Ashley, and Gloria made an in-depth analysis of the lives of migrants through the perspective of one migrant “Peter”, and his family living in Shenzhen, along with detailed explanations of the city’s population pyramid and finally how migration has impacted Shenzhen’s development over the years.
G1.H.MAT1 Mary, Sabrina, Dean-roux, and Flora designed and constructed three Truss bridges using spaghetti models to test for strength and efficiency and determine the “best” bridge. On top of that, they went on to explain how forces and load-bearing capacity based on the structure can impact the strength of a bridge.
Here is a remark from some of our students on the project:
“This is an experience that none of us had experienced before coming to SCIE. We—Ashley, Gloria, and Rachel were asked to complete a project using mathematical and statistical skills. We voluntarily chose to finish the research on Shenzhen’s population pyramid and migration trends.
At the beginning of the project, we found it very difficult to find detailed data on the population. There is much non-relevant information that needs to be filtered carefully. However, as time passed by, we found that there were many alternative ways of analyzing the project and doing the research. We chose to do the one-to-one survey for personal experiences and used the government website to get the most accurate data. We sought help from some private companies as well.
Besides the scarcity of data, we also faced difficulties with time management during the presentation, team cooperation, and arrangements of PPT. However, all these problems did not bother us very much but became the driving force for our further development of the project. It was the problems that need to be solved motivate us to think and try further. Through this project, we learned how to make better use of resources on the Internet, how to play a team role, and how to remain optimistic.”
What a great conclusion to our students’ hard work this semester! The presentations give platform for the recognition and praise that they all deserve. We look forward to hosting our next round of presentations next year with our next group of talented young bright minds.
