Paying tribute to mothers and teachers
Students show off their creativity in producing creations that doubled as gifts.
THE RHB- The Star Mighty Minds state challenges in Kedah and Perlis took on different themes with a slightly domestic spin to the competition.
In conjunction with Mother’s Day and Teachers Day, students were tasked with creating gifts for their mothers and teachers instead of building the usual futuristic themed science models.
In the Kedah state challenge, the upper secondary students had to create a spaceefficient laundry hanger which could be lowered or raised to the ceiling.
The champions from SMJK Keat Hwa introduced their hangers with the tagline “hang it nice, hang it dry”.
“This is the hanger that every mother would love to have,” said team leader Yeo Mi Xia.
The 17-year-old was a familiar face at the competition as she was the 2010 state lower secondary champion with team mate Chew Khai Yi.
“Based on our past experience, we were able to concentrate on areas that were crucial in the competition,” said Mi Xia.
The duo, together with Lim Thean Cheat, made up this year’s winning team.
Due to overwhelming response from the students, team adviser Leong Kim Leng said that the school had to conduct a screening proces to select representatives for the competition.
“The students highly anticipate the competition because it is fun and they can learn something from it,” said Leong.
Her views were echoed by the lower secondary champions team adviser Joanna Magdalin from SMK Sultan Badlishah.
“The students trained hard because they wanted to challenge themselves in the competition,” said Magdalin.
However, team leader Ricky Ooi Yan Hern admitted that he and his teammates Ng Chu Phong and Fu Ju-jie were jittery when presenting their Mother’s Day gift model.
“Our model was a swivelling storage box that mothers could use to keep their belongings.
“We had confidence in our model but were tongue-tied when we had to explain to the judges how the model worked,” said Ooi.
Kolej Sultan Abdul Hamid and SMK Tunku Putera came in second and third respectively in the lower secondary category.
In the upper secondary cateogry, SM Sains Kubang Pasu was placed second while SMJK Sin Min came in third.
Over in Perlis, students were pitting their grey matter to be the teacher’s pet.
Upper secondary champions Afiqah Amil, Mohammad Annas and Ahmad Faris of MRSM Berseri, shone in their quest to design a model of a turntable-inspired prize wheel with a retrieval slot that teachers could use to reward their students.
“We wanted to create something that was fun and practical at the same time.
“The concept was simple as even kindergarten children could spin the wheel and receive the prize,” said team leader Afiqah.
The 17-year-old also congratulated their school mates from another team which was placed third in the same category.
Student Luqman Hakim Kamel from the second runner-up team explained that their model was based on both the shape of a stove and the wheel used by disc jockeys.
SMK Sains Tuanku Syed Putra was placed second.
In the lower secondary category, SMK Perlis emerged champion with the team’s unique pyramid-shaped teaching aid.
“We constructed a three-in-one teaching aid that Science teachers could use to effectively demonstrate factors that affect an object’s stability,” said team leader Jonathan Lewis.
To show how height affects stability, Jonathan and his team mates Cheah Seng Keat and Mooyi Wen constructed a pyramid with a detachable top.
“We placed a removable weight inside the pyramid so we could reduce or add mass,” said Jonathan.
The team also thanked their teacher Tio Siow Yuk who had helped the team prepare for the competition.
“Our win was even more meaningful as we could dedicate it to our teacher for Teachers Day,” said Jonathan.
SMK Derma Kangar came in second and SMK Sains Tuanku Syed Putra third.
The champion teams won RM5,000 while the second- and third-placed teams won RM2,000 and RM1,000 respectively.
The teams also won book vouchers worth RM300 each.
School prizes of RM2,000, RM1,000 and RM750 were awarded to the top three schools.
The next state challenge will be held in Johor from June 16 to 17.
Jointly organised by Star Publications and RHB Banking Group, the Science, Maths and general knowledge competition will be held in 14 states before all the champions converge in Kuala Lumpur for the national finals in October.
The upper secondary winners at the national challenge will win a trip to the Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition in Ireland, sponsored by Penang Medical College.
For details, contact The Star Customer Care Unit at 03-7967 1777 or 03-7967 1703 or visit www.thestar.com.my/mightyminds.