Length of video: 4 mins.
Direct link to video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UHgEW5WiGh8
Leave your answer for bonus question in the comments section!
Official: Release of 2010 GCE O Level Examination Results + Polys Open House 2011
I'm certain Secondary 4 and 5 students who took the GCE 'O' Level Examinations last year 2010 are excitedly waiting for the release of the results.
According to MOE and Strait Times website, it's stated that the results will be released on 10th January 2011, 2pm onwards.
Wishing you all the best!
For students who are considering the Polytechnic route, here's the list of the open houses. Click on it to find out more.
- SP (Singapore)
- NP (Ngee Ann)
- RP (Republic)
- TP (Temasek)
- NYP (Nanyang)
Learn more on the courses, the culture of each polytechnic and have a better idea which will match your interests, personality and requirements.
Happy New Year 2011!
Start Your Preparation Early!
Recently, Sean - the colleague at SimpleChemConcepts.com showed me an interesting email his student sent him.
Out of the many updates this student shared was to 'Start Preparation Early!' He just completed his GCE 'O' Level examinations last month. He wrote to Sean to share his suggestion with all our students. From his experience, he felt that his Sec 4 passed too fast, with time spent on CCAs (he was a student leader) and completion of syllabus. By then, it was just 3 months left to 'O' Levels.
As I always talk to students and parents, 'O' Levels consist of the examination of the entire Sec 1 to Sec 4 (or 5) work. This is especially true for Elementary Mathematics. For Additional Mathematics, students are required to be good with 2 years of knowledge.
To Sec 4 2011 A-Maths students: please learn your Differentiation & Integration well! These are the highlights for you.
If you are willing to take this student advice seriously of 'Start Preparation Early!', I would like to invite you to join me starting in mid-Jan 2011 in my Ultimate Leap Programme - Weekly Coaching Classes. Click here to read more.
Here are the topics discussed for Sec 3 and Sec 4(or 5) and do note that the sequence is subjected to changes.
I look forward in meeting some of you and Happy 2011! Oh, did I mention that I've something for all of you next year. *wink wink* Subscribe to the blog to be updated later in January!
E-Maths Trigonometry Workshop Post Mortem
I completed my E-Maths Trigonometry workshop with a group of sportsmen and sportswomen. We do running, archery, basketball, badminton, bowling...
It was exciting and nervous to meet new faces... They hear my stories, I hear theirs.
For the workshop, I would like to discuss about bearings and the usage of sin formula through this question. Do you have any difficulties in E-Maths Trigonometry? I would love to hear from you! Leave your thoughts in the comment section below.
For bearings, pay attention to these 3 points:
- 3 figures
- Reference point
- Measured from North in a clockwise direction
For sin formula, you must know how to identify an angle and its corresponding length which are opposite each other.
View the video via this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JhH1zqwn9uM
25% of 2010 'O' Level E-Maths Paper 2 is on Trigonometry
I was looking at this year 'O' Level E-Maths Papers. They were overall 'friendly' with hardly any surprise. I shall not term the papers as easy or hard.
I was paying attention to the concepts on Trigonometry and it's interesting to note that the typical short question didn't appear in Paper 1 instead there were 2.5 questions linked very closely to Trigonometry.
Why Trigonometry you might ask?
Well, many students might not be aware Trigonometry is a fundamental set of formulas and concepts which are closely linked to arc lengths, area of sector, mensuration and any questions involving angles in triangle, area of triangles...
I can't show you the questions due to copyright but you can get a copy of Ten Years Series book (released in January 2011).
Questions on Trigonometry in 2010 'O' Level E-Maths Paper 2
Question 1 (10 marks) tests candidates on
- TOA CAH SOH (extensively since the diagram consists of 3 right angle triangles). I suspect some might use SIN rule (nothing wrong but more manipulations) instead of TOA CAH SOH to answer the questions
- Understanding of bearings
Question 7 (11 marks) tests candidates on
- Usage of COS rule to find angle
- Ability to 'see' and find angle of depression from paper
- Manipulation of area of triangle using formula with 'sin'
Question 8bii (4 marks) tests candidates on
- Ability to find the height of a triangular surface using TOA CAH SOH
The challenges many students face include:
- Knowing all the formulas but not being able to select the correct approach fast and accurate enough in test and exams.
- Not being able to 'see' 3D from paper.
- Lacking the flexibility to manipulate formulas (due to poor Algebraic foundation in Secondary 1 and 2)
- Not learning from repeated mistakes
- Unaware of the misconceptions
- Assumption that you know the important usage of every formula but in fact you don't
If your child is not scoring 'A' for E-Maths, he must know the reason and be prepared to do something about it. In 'O' Levels, A1 is unlikely to be 75% and above. It is determined by the bell curve of the entire cohort.
Trigonometry is a very important section in E-Maths and A-Maths. I would like to share with your child the strategies proven to have helped my students to achieve better results in their exams.
Join me in the Dec Trigonometry Workshop today! Click here to read more.