Summer Camps 2018
July was a significant month for the Department of Physics as it welcomed two groups of young visitors one after another. They were here to attend a summer camp organised by the department. All of the high school students were here for the first time.
Summer Camp for India and International Students (6 – 9 July)
Besides attending lectures and discussion session, the 15 India and international high school students also visited a number of research labs and facilities. They had the opportunity to ‘participate’ in Olympiad experiments specially arranged for them by the department. One evening was spent on star gazing at the department observatory.
Learning physics became fun as students engaged themselves with some hands-on activities such as stacking tennis balls together in transparent boxes to explore the structure of crystal, laser cutting and identification of unknown samples using various identification tools.
Summer Camp for China Students (16 – 22 July)
Like the India and international students, the young visitors from China were also exposed to a similar experience. Dr Sam Dong, Academic Director of Worldshaper Fellows Program, who led the group of 14 China students here, expressed his wish that students would open their eyes and minds as they acquired knowledge and experienced learning personally. “Most of the students have never had the chance to hear from great professors and visit top labs. They have only seen and heard such from the TV. Now they can see and touch equipment and do some experiments themselves. This is very unique for students and an amazing experience even for myself,” remarked Dr Dong.
For senior high student Eva Li from Hangzhou High School, physics learning is no longer about knowledge reaped from the textbook. “The teachers here are great and they really help me gain a new perspective of physics to understand the world. Also, from today’s experiments, I learn that something which seems simple on the textbook may not be so when carried out experimentally. I experience learning in many different aspects of physics like astronomy, biophysics and chemical physics.”
For more details on the summer camp for our visitors from China, please click here.
The department hopes that the summer camps will be an unforgettable experience for all the young visitors. Not only would they bring home many fond memories of NUS and Singapore but also an inspiration to pursue higher level learning in physics as they advance in their course of education.