Term+Reflections

__**Term 1**__
Personally, out of the 3 terms so far, term 1 was the most interesting for me. One of the main reasons is that there were much more practicals in term 1 as compared to term 2 or 3. I always prefer practicals as compared to classroom lessons because I think that I learn better actually doing things for myself, rathert than reading textbooks.

My favourite practical was the lesson where we mixed acids and metal oxides, as well as acids with carbonates. We then tested for hydrogen and carbon dioxide. In primary school, such an experiment would probably only be done by the teacher, and I would not have got the hands on experience. It was surprising when the hydrogen popped, and me and my partner repeated the experiment several times for the fun of it xD

Another reason would be that my strongest subject out of the 3 is probably chemistry. Personally I find that I understand chemistry the best, and I required the least help from my parents or siblings for it.

I think that I definitely broadened my scientific knowledge a lot this term, and not only was it enriching, it was also fun. I did pretty well for the term test, scoring 36/40.

This term probably stood out the most for me, and I look forward to next year's chemistry!



**__Term 2__**
In Term 2, we finished up Chemistry, and started on Physics. I think that this term was pretty interesting, in that it was a fresh experience from all the memorising required for chemistry. Physics was definitely a lot different, and for me, a downside was that in the practicals we no longer were allowed to mix chemicals and watch it change colour, but instead physics practicals involved a lot more drawing and calculating of angles, and I was not very good at it :(

My favourite practical this term was the one where we learnt about total internal reflection. We shone a thin beam of light through a block of glass to find out the critical angle of the glass block. When the light reflected within the glass block, it was quite surprising, and the effect created was very pretty.

Physics is probably not my strongest subject, considering how I struggled to understand at first, especially when refraction was being taught. It was a lot harder for me to understand as compared to chemistry, but my parent's helped me to understand it fully and eventually I came to grasp the topic.

Surprisingly, I did better this term, scoring 38.5/40 :D

**__Term 3__**
Term 3 was the toughest term for me, and I struggled the most with Science this term. In term 3, we finished up Physics, and started on Biology. Again, there was a large change from term 2. Unfortunately, there were no practicals at all for biology :( and there was even more memorising as compared to term 2.

There aren't many practicals to talk about here, but I would say that the practical where we experimented with a lens' focal point using a torch and a sheet of cardboard with a small triangle cut out as the most interesting practical this term. It definitely helped me to understand how lens' work, as it was quite clear how the image of the triangle became blur and focused, depending on how far the lens was positioned.

This term was the toughest for me mainly because of the focus on refraction and lenses for physics. It took me really long to fully understand, especially for lenses, and even then I was not very confident for physics.

I deproved from the previous term :(, scoring 35/40. I think that I need to work harder for physics, and I believe that I will be able to overcome the challenges posed.