Rigorous Proof

The method of trying to prove that all triangles add up to 180 degrees only works on 2D surfaces and can be proved with axioms. On 2D surfaces, the proof can be said as rigorous proof because it can’t be falsified, it has been tested a lot and is known as shared knowledge. The other methods can be falsified as if you draw a triangle on a sphere the angles would not add up to 180 and therefore is falsified.

SHIP → DOCK

Changing one letter from the word ship and trying to get to the word dock would be easier if you knew that all words in the english language contain a vowel, and the conjecture that any intermediate word would have two vowels. The rigorous proof demonstrates the outcome that is expected through steps in a logical manner. With the axioms, it made the task easier to do as we believed in them.

The term proof applies differently to Math and Natural Sciences, evidence is used to prove a conjecture or theory and it can make something more true to people as they would believe it more.

Math that can be found in Nature:

Snowflakes, it has the perfect symmetry and all snowflakes are different. Sunflowers also follow the Fibonacci sequence and the nautilus shell also follows the Fibonacci sequence.

 

Service: Lion befrienders

First session

I have done this service last year and I thought it was a great experience so I decided to do it again this year, however it is a bigger commitment as last year we only had to do in Season 1-2 but now we have to do it for the whole year. I think this will also be a good experience as the elderly are from a new place this year, so we get to meet and play with new people.

Their vision “A nation where every senior is active, healthy and happy” and their mission is “To provide friendship and care for seniors to age in place with community participation, enabling them to enjoy meaningful and enriching lives”. I think we can work towards this mission and definitely provide friendships and make the most out of the time we are there, to built our relationship and make them happy.

LO5-Demonstrate the skills and recognise the benefits of working collaboratively.

Our service went to the centre for the first time and we learnt a lot about the place and about the people there. We listened to the leader speak about lion befrienders and how we can help. It was interesting to know what they like as it can help us gauge what to do to have the most fun and to bond with the people there. We also met some of the elderly and played ‘chinese whispers’ with them, and enjoyed it a lot.

As this service went on throughout the years, we had been planning the same things such as bingo or darts as we know it works and that they like it, however we think that we should try something different as we think that they might get bored with the things we always do. We think something like dancing or karaoke would be fun for all of us and it would be different to what we usually do. We have lessons in school to plan for many activities and back up plans, and along the way we will learn what works and what doesn’t work.

There is a language barrier between some of us and the elderly however we can overcome it as the people who can speak english can help us translate and we think that we don’t need to speak the same language to bond over something. We think the activities planned will be fun and will work with helping the elderly enjoy their time.

I am chair along with David, and together we will try to set attainable goals that our service can do if we all try together. We just started, so it will take a while to get used to, however I am looking forward to managing and playing games and bonding with the elderly that is part of lion befrienders.

Video of activity:

IMG_5866

Mid session

After planning all of our activities it has made it easier for us in terms of organization and we also have more time at the center to create meaningful relationships for both us and the elderly.

LO1-Identify their own strengths and develop areas for growth.

What previous experience have I had with an activity like this?

I had done the same service in grade 10 and it is different for me personally since I have a different role this year. Last year I was just part of the service and it was different since we would do the activities in groups, collect the equipment to use and lead the service for that session, we would then rotate but this year the co-chair and I decided it would be easier if we all planned the activities as a group since we would have to go to the center this year, I think it was more effective this way as we were all included in this activity.

What am I good at? What are my strengths?

I think I am good at deciding what is important for our service and what isn’t. If something needs to be done I will try my best to assign a person, or plan how to handle the situation. We are all organized and tried our best since what we are doing have real consequences on real people.

Final session

Due to COVID-19 we were unable to go to the center and see the elderly face to face however we were able to maintain contact through the organization by emailing them.

LO7-Recognise and consider the ethics implications of choices and actions

Was I ever in conflict with another person?

Obviously problems arise when working with others since we might not have the same thinking in this situation. There was a case when I wanted a group of people to write an email to the organization to maintain the contact, when I asked for it after one whole session they were still not done with it and had even written something that was not relevant in that situation. I tried to handle it by encouraging them to write it as it would be beneficial to both us and the organization. In the end they had written an email for me and I was able to then send it to the organization, however it should not have taken that long to write an email, but I think I handled it the best I could.

How did my moral principles affect the decisions I made?

I believe that the elderly in this organization deserve to have relationships with us and our school since they are usually left alone in Singapore with no one to care or be with them. This affected my behaviour as I tried to get more people to participate in the service, in order to really help the elderly.

How we “know” and with what “certainty” differs across areas of knowledge.

There are different areas of knowledge that can explain different things with different levels of uncertainty. The certainty of knowledge from natural sciences is higher as people have faith in scientists who have supported a theory through a lot of observation as they’ve noticed a pattern and many experiments with evidence to support their theory, and many others who have gotten the same results. When they get the same results people begin to believe it and “know” of it as being the truth. People trust them as they have a higher authority and can provide answers that the general can agree with. The certainty could be considered greater than religion as there is more evidence to support the scientific theories, but people can still “know” through religion because of their beliefs and their faith even if there is less evidence to support it. Another way of knowing is with history. People “know” as there is a lot of evidence and justification behind it. There is also technology helping us with understanding what has happened in the past, like fossils or photographs. We can not be certain of things that were in the past as there might not be an explanation or too much evidence behind it. People also have different perspectives and can view the things that have happened in different ways, so the knowledge about one thing that we hold may not all be the same. We can ‘know’ the same thing but may have different reasons to why we know them, some may have a stronger reasoning however not everyone can agree on the same thing and can have their own personal judgement. But we can not be “certain” about anything.