On 19 July 2008, a team of four students from Form 5 Science 1 took part in the Taylor's Science Competition at Taylor's University College, Subang Jaya. The four students selected to represent the school were Kenneth Ng Yat Fei, Niraj Patel Yagneshkumar,Tan Quang Hui and yours truly. Our Biology teacher, Cik Zakiah and our Chemistry teacher, Mr Sheat accompanied us to the college. Several students from our school also attended to lend their moral support and give encouragement to the team.
The main objective of the Taylor's Science Competition was to inspire and nurture students' interest and participation in science, technology and engineering. A total of 31 teams took part, 29 of which consisted of both private and public schools from the Klang Valley. Naturally, we were very nervous, despite having prepared as best as we could. The competition started at 8.30am in the college's Multi-Purpose Hall. There were three challenges in the competition. After a briefing, the students were given the first challenge, which were Multiple Choice Questions. The paper had 24 questions, 6 questions each from 4 subjects, that is, Mathematics, Biology, Chemistry and Physics. The students were given 40 minutes to complete the paper. The paper was quite tricky, especially the questions under Mathematics and Physics.
After a 15 minutes break, the students walked downstairs to the science labs for the second challenge. For this challenge, the students had to build a stable structure out of satay sticks, cotton thread and a piece of styrofoam that must be at least 25 cm tall. The team which was able to build the structure that could withstand the most weight would be the winner. Each team only had 40 minutes to build the structure. After 40 minutes, each team was to bring their structure back to the Multi-Purpose Hall to be measured and tested. Many teams were disqualified as their structure was not tall enough, and the sounds of structures collapsing could be heard throughout the hall. The students had an enjoyable time observing whose structure was the strongest, and finally one of the teams emerged the winner. Their structure could carry more than 60 kg in weight! It was quite impressive, as the structure looked thin and flimsy but was in fact strong and stable.
The teams were then given a briefing before they had another break. Soon after, the students gathered at the engineering department at the ground floor of the college for the third challenge. This final challenge was based on chemical engineering. For this challenge, each team was required to create a glider or paper airplane. They were to collect carbon dioxide in a balloon, attach a straw into the balloon and fix the balloon onto the glider. The balloon's purpose was to propel the glider forward as far as possible. The carbon dioxide was collected from a chemical reaction between ethanoic acid (vinegar) and sodium hydrogen carbonate (commonly known as baking powder). The objective of this challenge was to design a glider that could travel the furthest and fill the balloon with the right amount of carbon dioxide. The glider that could travel the closest to a target four metres away, from a height of two metres, would be the winner.
This challenge was by far the most difficult, as the group representative was only allowed to release the glider and not propel it forward with their hand. Many teams' gliders only flew a very short distance and in various directions, some even backwards. In the end, only a few teams' gliders managed to fly quite far.
After the challenge, the teams went to the canteen for lunch before assembling in the lecture hall for the prize giving ceremony. After a talk, the winning teams were announced. The second runner-up was Hin Hua High School, the first runner-up was Sekolah Sri Garden, and the winner was Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan (SMK) Kepong Baru. The ceremony ended at about 3.30 pm, and the teams then headed back home. Overall, the competition was a good experience and the four of us learned a great deal. Hopefully we Cempakans will do better next time!'