Kahaani
This year I decided to participate in the Kahaani Dance. This is my first time performing and I was incentivized after watching culturama and last years Kahaani. I wanted to be a part of the performance and experience the hard work and time the dancers dedicate. Furthermore, given it is my last year at school, I wanted to join Kahaani as I will never get the chance to do so again. So far we have learned 3 quarters of the dance and some parts are challenging. The most difficult task for me is remembering all the moves in sequence especially with the pace of the music. As Kahaani is an Indian dance, the songs and moves are taken from Bollywood cinema. Despite being a little nervous, I look forward to performing on stage.
Pre Season Badminton
Continuing on from last year, I enrolled in pre-season badminton to fuel my obsession to play the sport. After the football season, I started playing badminton to train myself for the school team. My goal is to make the A team this year and through hard work and practice, I believe I can accomplish this target. However this year I am playing doubles whereas last year I was playing singles. This is a new experience and an added challenge because I have to communicate with my partner. Furthermore doubles is fast-paced whereas singles is slower so I have to train certain skills like my flick defense which isn’t as common in singles. Nevertheless, I am enjoying the change.
EE Final Reflection
The EE has helped me develop my research skills and also my knowledge of physics. I am satisfied with the result as it was a challenging task however I overcame my problems. There were several lows during the EE for example when I was unable to calculate the voltage and current for the experiment. However I managed to calculate the specifications through my understanding of physics and the formulas that link together. I was content with my experiment when I noticed it was working and also when I got my results. Overall the EE has been an excellent educational opportunity.
Football Season
I thoroughly enjoyed playing football this year for the school B team. It was my first time playing for this school hence it was a new and exciting experience. I was selected as captain which helped me improve my leadership skills. I had to connect with all the players because communication and team chemistry is crucial in football. As we progressed through the season the team started to unite more and our football was developing. Additionally, I improved my technique and speed over the 2 month period which incentivized me to keep training and giving my best.
Extended Essay Interim Reflection 2
Over the process of the extended essay I have deepened my understanding of how electric cars and batteries charge. My research demonstrated how sophisticated a Tesla car battery is and the sheer power it needs to be charged. After conducting the experiment my results and my research indicate solar panels are not the solution to charge Tesla cars despite their use in other electric cars. The battery of a Tesla car requires much more power than a solar panel can provide. I learnt about the structure of the battery that contains 7014 cells as well as the unique technology it employs such as a cooling system. I also learnt about solar panels and cells and how they have evolved over the years. A lot of my knowledge of circuits and physics was applied to set up the experiment as well as calculate the necessary specifications for the voltage, current and resistance of the circuit. I faced many challenges in this experiment and had to make many alterations to the process. During the calculations I wasn’t able to find the discharge current of a Tesla car battery. I researched a lot on the sites to dig up the information however it wasn’t working. Eventually I changed my approach and used a different formula to calculate the discharge current. When I started out the extended essay I had limited knowledge of how an electric car works and would never have imagined the staggering power of the Tesla battery.
EE Day Reflection
What have I learnt?
Today I learnt how electric cars work and did research on what makes an electric car more efficient. I also learnt that charging a car by its motion with roads that have magnetic fields is not feasible as there is a resistive force that is also induced that goes against the motion of a car.
What am I proud of?
I am proud of my new research and also refining my research question. Because of the fact that motion of the car will not work I have decided to focus my research on solar panels which will be feasible and also effective in a place like Singapore. I am proud that my extended essay is now more confined to a specific area. I am also proud of the experiment idea that I have which involves changing the surface area of the solar panel exposed to the sun and using that panel to recharge some batteries to investigate the inefficiency.
What I’ll be doing next
My next step will be to model my experiment and do some research into how I am going to conduct the experiment. Furthermore I will now do more research into solar panels and how they work to theorise how I can make them more efficient. I will also research companies that have invested money into solar cars and understand the science behind it.
Initial Reflection
In the last meeting with my supervisor we addressed the research needed for this extended essay. My EE title is what are the sustainable ways to charge electric cars. This topic requires a deep understanding of the batteries of electric cars and the factors that influence their efficiency. In the meeting I showed the research I had conducted for example the different types of batteries such as lithium ion and also the different uses. I also did some research on what factor affect how fast a battery charges. I have also watched videos of projects that companies are envision regarding electric cars for example the TED talk with Elon Musk that demonstrates underground networks. In the meeting we also discussed the potential experiments that I could do. This involve charging and discharging the batteries according to the power generated by a solar panel to see if a solar panel can charge a Tesla car.
Exams Over
The exams are now over and I believe they were a vital learning curve as they showed me my strengths and weaknesses. I feel the exams went well and I was happy with my result for all of them except for Maths. I scored poorly in Maths and I thought the paper was really hard but it showed me how much more I have to revise for upcoming exams. I need to work on my time management when doing questions because I ran out of time in both exams and I also need to do the longer and more complicated questions for practice. All the other exams went well and I was very pleased with my English exam. English has always been my weak subject so when I got a 6 for my paper 1 I was really happy because it was an improvement. My analysis isn’t the best however because I prepared well before the exam I was able to distinguish several techniques and form my topic sentences quickly which gave me plenty of time to write my essay. This allowed me to think and as soon as the exam was over I knew that this was one of my better attempts. My next goal is to work harder for the maths and to maintain my other subjects to improve my predicted scores.
Badminton Season 3
The badminton season just finished and I thoroughly enjoyed my time. I was in the B team and our team didn’t win a lot because we were in Division 1 meaning we did play the A team. However I feel the losses were beneficial and another step to improving my game. I definitely played some really close matches and it went down to who can handle the pressure. I definitely have a lot to work on and I am aiming to make SEASAC next year. This was also the first time playing in a team for me so I was always receiving feedback from my coach about how I was playing which helped me a lot through out the game as I felt more confident. I believe that this season and pre-season has made me a much better player as I am faster on the court and my technique has improved. My belief was rewarded during the recognition evening as I received the most improved player and I was proud of my efforts during the season because I knew they payed off. I hope to come back next year a stronger and better player.