Ai Ling Ong

Hello, Hanoi - Vietnam

Together with Sean Chua of SimpleChemConcepts.com we took a 9 days educational trip to Northern Vietnam, Hanoi.

It was an eye opener for us to be in the countryside, seeing terrace cultivation, outlines of mountains and mountains, experiencing the beauty of UNESCO world heritage site - Ha Long Bay. I did a video as well.

Here's the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hS5dL9j2iJo

It's a drastic change compared to city life. People's lifestyle in the Sapa villages are less developed, slower. Children there are seen to be playing with traditional games like marbles. They were left to play on their own by the streams, on the soil.

However, the first thing I was overwhelmed is the traffic in Hanoi city: endless honking of the motorcycles. We hardly use traffic lights to cross the busy roads, we simply walk across quickly. It's amazing how the locals travel around the busy roads. Traffic is a big part of our experience in Hanoi!

Imagine having to cross this road! — Imagine having to cross this road without traffic lights!

A common sight in Hanoi is that you will find locals, young and old sitting by the road side for a cup of tea, eating a bowl of noddles (known as 'Pho') or just catching up with one another. We have a few experiences too. You got to be willing to exchange air con with road side air and don't expect cleanliness that of Singapore!

Me at streetside, waiting for my corn and sweet potato — Me at street side, waiting for my corn and sweet potato

December Holidays (A/E-Maths) Trigonometry Revision Workshops

It doesn't matter if

you need to retake your A-Maths end of the year or early next year
you fail both your Maths horribly
you didn't know what you were doing during Maths lessons for 2010
you were suggested by your school to drop A-Maths

It matters when you decide to start afresh, work just a little harder than before, this holiday.

I would love to remind you that 'O' Level E-Maths could be easy (ask your seniors or wait for ten years series book to be out next year, some questions are easier than PSLE), but you need to have strong basic foundation of your Secondary one to four topics for you to pass 'O' Levels and to score 'A', you need to know how to apply your knowledge in problem solving.

If you haven't done well, ask not your teachers, not your parents, not your tutors nor your friends but yourself. You know yourself best!

After you know the reason (s), ask your teachers, parents, tutors or friends for help.

I can help you if you think you can do better, you can improve, you want to start afresh. This December holiday, I'm conducting two revision workshops on:

E-Maths Trigonometry (Read more here)
A-Maths Trigonometry (Read more here)

I welcome all.

All it matters is you decide to start afresh, work just a little harder than before, this holiday.

Have a great holiday!

"It was great! I've enjoyed myself in this workshop. Through creative methods, I've learnt many new techniques in tackling variations in Trigonometry questions. This workshop has introduced me the types of questions that may come out. Also, has nicely classified them into categories which marks learning easier. I've clarified my doubts and through the exercises given, I've strengthened my concepts. I will strongly recommend this workshops to my classmates and schoolmates. Thanks you!"

Melina Koh, CHIJ St Nicholas Girls' School

All the best to GCE 'O' Level 2010 Candidates

Do your best!

Youtube video link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZyJL2z6xO2w

A-Math: How to Sketch Modulus Graph [video]

Modulus Graph Sketching_Page_01

This morning, I received an email from a student on asking how to draw a modulus graph with and without boundary condition.

What is boundary condition?
It is usually the range of values of x (otherwise known as domain) for the graph.

Though I have written a similar post in 2009 here, I feel that a video will show you clearly the step by step and important points to consider. Note that my drawing isn't perfect, afterall it's a freehand draw on my tablet, so you got to bear with my 'not so straight' lines :)

The video is about 7 minutes long. Around 6min 30s, I've included a bonus question to challenge yourself. Go ahead and answer it on the comment section.

Click here to view the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eTdo_zK9XLk

Coordinate Geometry Mindmap

For today, I decided to have some fun with the online mindmap software - MindMeister to create the summary for coordinate geometry topic for Secondary 3 and 4 students.

It's a simple mindmap which includes almost all if not everything on Coordinate Geometry.

Do let me know if there's anything I've left out.

Feel free to save the image on your desktop too.

Click on image for larger view.

E-Math: Vectors - Explain why 3 points are on the same line

3 points on the same line has a term called 'Collinear'. Are you at a loss of how to go about explaining why ABC is a straight line, why ABC is on the same line, why ABC is collinear?

They all meant the same thing. Here's the template you can use everything you need to explain why ABC is a straight line in a vectors question:

To have a better understanding, it is best that you know that what's the significance of scalar multiplication of vectors, I know it's like 'eeeeeeek' but what it really means is as followed: (Not as bad as you thought)

Here's the video for step by step:

Note there's a bonus question at the end of the video. Try it and leave me your answer on the comments section.