Situational writing -- letter of complain

21 April 2010

Mrs. Saraspathy Menon
Principal
Chong Boon Secondary School

Dear Mrs. Menon

FEEDBACK ON STUDENT'S BEHAVIOURS IN THE LIBRARY

My friends and I have been going to the school library lately to do some self-study. We are unhappy about a few incidents which took place recently in the library. I hope you will take actions on the incidents and improve the conditions in the library.

A group of students came into the library as they wanted to enjoy the air-conditioners. The librarian asked them politely, to go outside if they are not borrowing any books. However, the ‘leader’ of the group shouted back at her using hokkien vulgarities. The librarian was taken aback by the rudeness of the pupil. The librarian then threatens to report them to the discipline committee. They seem unafraid of the librarian at all and continued to quarrel with her. Such example shows that some students do not have any respect for the librarian at all. They are selfish too because they disrupt the quiet environment in the library.

Some students even sneak food into the library and spilled their drinks onto the table. By doing this, they are breaking the library rules. The poor librarian had to clean up the mess they had made. The mess on the table had attracted insects. They did not even thank the librarian after she had cleaned up. I hope you will ensure that pupils observe and maintain the cleanliness of the tables and chairs provided and to ban anyone from bringing any food or drinks into the library

There was this boy who wore his PE attire into the library. He was soaked in perspiration. By doing that, he might catch a cold easily as there are air-conditioners in the library. It is also unpleasant for other users in the library as there maybe an odour. In my opinion, I think that students wearing PE attire should not be allowed to go into the library. The librarian should ask those students to change into their uniforms before entering the library.

A group of students were playing games on the computers for a very long time. The computers in the library are supposed to be used for research on the web and not on games. In other words they are misusing the school property. Due to their hogging the computers, others may not get to use the computers at all. I strongly recommend the librarian to allow pupils to use the computers for school work only.

There were a few students sitting in a corner of the library, they were chatting happily and laughing loudly, disturbing others studying in the library. It did not used to be like that the library used to be a peaceful and quiet place where everyone could study.
I hope that you will take my suggestions into consideration and take actions on the situation. I wish to see the issues resolved or improved. Lastly thank you for taking the time to read the letter.

Your sincerely
Vernice Goh
Respect 2

P.E.E.L – Biodiversity

Biodiversity is the variation of life forms on Earth. It provides all other species with the resources required for their survival. Without biodiversity, life on Earth would become extinct. The biodiversity found on Earth today consists of many millions of distinct biological species.Rapid environmental changes typically cause extinctions.

International friendship day -16 april 2010

My responses:

1. What are the relationships that are important to you within the school context?
The friendship between my CCA friends as we have to remind each others and strive together as a team. Friends are important too when you are unhappy they will cheer you up.

2. What do you know about the history of your school/CCA?

Chong boon was established in 1994.Chong Boon Secondary School accepted its first batch of students in December 1993, taking over Anderson Secondary School's old building. In 2002, the school's Core Values: Perseverance, Respect, Integrity, Dedication to the Nation and Excellence (PRIDE) were formulated. The school embarked on a new beginning with the shift to its new premises.

3. Share a story about your school/CCA. It can be funny ones, successful ones and difficult ones.

This year's cross country was very challenging as the path was muddy and slippery, there were many steep slopes along the way.I was one of the competitors in the cross country.I almost gave up due to tiredness however i persisted as i wanted to do better than last year.The cross country has taught me to preserve and not to give up easily.Next year i will strive to do better for the cross country and try to get into the top 10.

4. Have the stories you heard from your classmates changed the way you view/feel about your school?
Yes.I had never heard of Chong Boon Secondary before i joined the school. Chong Boon has a niche award on environment education. Although it is a neighbourhood school, we are more environmental friendly than the other schools.There were several public apologize made since the starting of 2010, however as compared with other neighbourhood school we have less police cases.

Sports Fiesta

This year, like the previous year, i participated in the captain ball and Voltus managed to get 3rd place for the captain ball. I believe we could do better if we tried harder to beat Pyros, instead we lost to them badly and they managed to get into the finales. Last year, we were the champion for the captain ball.
On that day, our soccer boys did us proud by scoring seven goals and winning the gold medal. I participated in the lower secondary 4x 400m and the 4x 100m. Although Voltus lower secondary girls team was weak, we surely did our best and won a silver medal for the 4x 100m.
Unfortunately after the track and field event Voltus was still 3 points short and thus losing to Pyros. I was very sad that we came in second, which is quite good however, I am contented with the results.
The overall results are; Pyros which came in 1st, Voltus in the 2nd position, Aeros in the 3rd position, Hydros in the 4th and Terrus in the 5th position. I aim to do better for the captain ball and track and field for next year.

Annual School Cross Country

This year, the cross country was held at MacRitchie Reservoir last year, the cross country was held at Nanyang Polytechnic. The fresh air makes it refreshing and one of the best spots for morning jog. I remember jogging through walking trail deep in the forest, the trail was quite slippery due to the light rain on the previous night and i almost slipped.
I saw many monkeys in MacRitchie Reservoir. I came in 12th for the cross country it is an improvement from as i had 20th place last year. Through the cross country i learnt to persevere and not to give up easily in everything that i do.

Reflective summary

After my reading and some research i learnt that climate change will cause several disturbance to mankind, creatures and plants.For example, the polar bears will soon be a folk memory starved to extinction if this rate of climate change continues. By reducing our carbon footprint, we are able to reduce the impact our activities have on the environment. I have also learnt some ways to reduce carbon footprint.

My perspective have change after reading those articles such as, before reading those articles i have never thought that climate change is already happening and represents one of the greatest environmental, social and economic threats facing the planet.

I feel sorry for the polar bears as the ice bergs would have mostly melted thus leaving the polar bear homeless.The polar bears also depend on the freezing of the ocean to catch food. With the recent new of global warning, and the statements that the polar bear is the first animal to become endangered because of global warming.

To help reduce the rate of climate change, i will reduce my carbon footprint. Ways that i will apply to reduce carbon footprint are to switch off all lights and fans when not in use.Use energy saving light bulbs. Take public transport rather than use the car.

I will share this information with my neighbours and hope everyone will also reduce their carbon footprint too. As everyone has a part to play to prevent global warming.the climate is changing and human behaviour is responsible.

Reflection Three: Global Warming

What is Global warming?

Global warming is the increase in the average temperature of Earth's near-surface air and oceans since the mid-20th century and its projected continuation. Global surface temperature increased 0.74 ± 0.18 °C between the start and the end of the 20th century. Most of the observed temperature increase since the middle of the 20th century was very likely caused by increasing concentrations of greenhouse gases resulting from human activity such as fossil fuel burning and deforestation.

I learnt that:

Almost 100% of the observed temperature increase over the last 50 years has been due to the increase in the atmosphere of greenhouse gas concentrations like water vapour, carbon dioxide (CO2), methane and ozone. Greenhouse gases are those gases that contribute to the greenhouse effect. The largest contributing source of greenhouse gas is the burning of fossil fuels leading to the emission of carbon dioxide.

My reflection:

After reading this article, i found more informations about global warming such as, when sunlight reaches Earth's surface some is absorbed and warms the earth and most of the rest is radiated back to the atmosphere at a longer wavelength than the sun light. Some of these longer wavelengths are absorbed by greenhouse gases in the atmosphere before they are lost to space. The absorption of this longwave radiant energy warms the atmosphere. These greenhouse gases act like a mirror and reflect back to the Earth some of the heat energy which would otherwise be lost to space. The reflecting back of heat energy by the atmosphere is called the "greenhouse effect". There are two major effects of global warming:
1. Increase of temperature on the earth by about 3° to 5° C (5.4° to 9° Fahrenheit) by the year 2100.
2. Rise of sea levels by at least 25 meters (82 feet) by the year 2100.

Links:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_warming

Reflection two: Carbon Footprint

What is carbon footprint?
A carbon footprint is a measure of the impact our activities have on the environment, and in particular climate change. It relates to the amount of greenhouse gases produced in our day-to-day lives through burning fossil fuels for electricity, heating and transportation etc. The carbon footprint is a measurement of all greenhouse gases we individually produce and has units of tonnes (or kg) of carbon dioxide equivalent.A carbon footprint is made up of the sum of two parts, the primary footprint and the secondary footprint.

I learnt that:
The primary footprint is a measure of our direct emissions of CO2 from the burning of fossil fuels including domestic energy consumption and transportation (e.g. car and plane). We have direct control of these.The secondary footprint is a measure of the indirect CO2 emissions from the whole lifecycle of products we use - those associated with their manufacture and eventual breakdown. To put it very simply – the more we buy the more emissions will be caused on our behalf. Some of the ways to reduce carbon footprint are:

• Turn off lights, television, DVD player, Hi Fi, computer etc when not in use
• Fill your dish washer and washing machine with a full load
• Fill the kettle with only as much water as you need
• Do your weekly shopping in a single trip
• Hang out the washing to dry rather than tumble drying it
• Fit energy saving light bulbs
• Use a fridge with energy efficiency rating of "A"
• Use the bus or a train rather than your car
• For short journeys either walk or cycle
• Don't buy over packaged products
• Recycle as much as possible

My reflection:

After learning ways to reduce carbon footprint, i will apply them and share them with my family members and friends.If everyone also help to reduce carbon footprint, the amount of carbon dioxide will be reduce.I learnt an important message too, the message is the more we buy the more they manufacture.

Links:
http://www.carbonfootprint.com/carbonfootprint.html

Reflection one: climate change

Climate change is about:
The article is a description of climate change and how the European Union is working actively for a global agreement to control climate change and is taking domestic action to achieve substantial reductions in its own contribution.The article tells us why we should care about climate change.

I learned that:
Climate change is already happening and represents one of the greatest environmental, social and economic threats facing the planet.The Earth's average surface temperature has risen by 0.76° C since 1850.Over the past fifty years most of the warming is cause by emissions of carbon dioxide and other gases from the human activities. If Earth heats by another four degrees Celsius,the planet we call home would become a very unwelcoming place.Oceans have risen by at least a metre, drowning several island nations.Polar bears are a folk memory, starved to extinction in an Arctic where temperatures have soared by 15 C (27 F), nearly four-fold the global average.

My Reflection:
I think that everyone should help to slow down the rate of global warming, as everyone has a part to play to prevent global warming.the climate is changing and human behaviour is responsible. In particular increased industrial activity is releasing harmful gases into the atmosphere.We should take steps now to stem the output of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere so that we can slow climate change. Many people argue that the problem is so big that they cannot make a difference.

links:
http://www.ncm.org/news/articles/climate_change_why_should_we_care/
http://ec.europa.eu/environment/climat/home_en.htm

total defence day

This year, the total defence day program was held on 12 February.It was different from last year as we had total defence cum cross country.Last year the total defence cum cross country day is held at Nanyang polytenic . After the Chinese new year holiday break during assemble a teacher went through the importance of defense in Singapore and how come total defence was on the 15th February.I like this year's total defence day activities a lot as it was more fun. I wish that the total defence day program will get more and more interesting yearly. I hope we will also have some hands-on activites and not only watched the show.

Chinese New Year,Deepavali & Hari Raya-ethic celebrations

After the flag raising, everyone went back to their classes.Form and co-form teacher was supposed to go through an article with their classes and brief them about the program for the whole day.However our class was brief by another teacher, because both our form and co-form teacher was busy. After the briefing, Mrs Singh handed out post-it to everyone as we had to stick them to the board at every station.She then brought us down to the different stations.I remember one station which my class saw the performance of the NCC cadets. The performance was very interesting.After which we proceded to another station presented by the red cross cadets, they put on a show about a group of students not being vigilant and they did not notice the bomb. After the four stations we proceed to the hall for an ethic performance.Pupils from different races perform on the stage.The students who perform on stage did a great job.Everyone enjoyed themselves.As the school hours come to an end, the monitor and monitress gave their form and co-form teachers oranges.Just before dismissal, we filled in a survey form.

growth day @ sentosa

This year's growth day rocks, because it was held at sentosa.My netball team, the volleyball boys and left for sentosa on the second bus.We were going to participate in the beach netball and volleyball. Some schools we played with are: river valley,jurong west and others. We started competing from 9am to 3.30pm it was very exhausting because we have to play in the extreme hot weather and we played for long hours.In the end of the competition, my seniors came in second.The sand was burning hot, every step that i take it is like walking on fire.We had a little break for lunch.The volleyball boys stayed back and played with us.We have already planned on swimming right after the competition however there was lightning alert and we will have to wait for a while before we can go into the waters.While waiting kaira, fu mei and i went to the carnival.Just as we finished playing the games, the lightning alert went off and everyone went into the waters of siloso beach.We played a little of touch rugby and other sports before everyone went to bath.Everyone left sentosa at 7pm. We took the tram and the monorail back to VIVO city,some of us went for dinner. I reached home at 8.30pm.I will never forget this wonderful and memorable day at sentosa.

personal recount

Sorry, Mr Lee please doesn’t call my mother. I promised I would not steal anymore,” I said. Seconds later my mum came and she apologized to Mr Lee. My mum begged him not to call the police and to give me a second chance. Once we reached home, my mum shouted at the top of her voice, Tears streaked down my face. I clenched my fist tightly and bit my lower lip, I felt naked, ghastly and vulnerable. I chocked out an apology with tears strangling my voice. Mum I’m really sorry I have realized my mistake, will you forgive me?” I asked. “As long as you don’t do it again,” my mum answered. I tried to force a smile.

Personal Aspirations and target setting 2010

This year i want to concentrate on my studies ,do well academically and at the same time get better in running and improve on my physical fitness. Exercise more during the weekend and spent more time on revision.Last year my end-of-year exam class position was 10, there was a slight improvement from my mid-year-exam.Last year most of my subjects are borderline,just pass,this year i want to improve on all subjects, especially my mathematics as my maths is really bad.

materialism

My favourite brand is Nike. I like this brand because it is made of good quality, light-weighted and branded. The three things that i know about this brand are: this brand is branded, it is famous, and lots of people is using it.

The most expensive thing i bought from Nike is a pair of really light shoes. It cost me about $100+ Althought it is very expensive i feel that it is very value for money because it is Nike AIR.
I would save up to buy the things that i want. my wants Jacket, wallets,and my needs are my mobile ,computer and my little room

Now a days, people love to buy more branded items.I think that originality, stylish .
I am not a materialistic person.