6-8Nov: BP myscience Prize Giving Ceremony

BP Prize Giving Ceremony

Date: 6-8 Nov 2009

Our Achievement:

Overall Winner (Secondary School Category)

Best Presentation
Best Teachers
Outstanding Web Page

ECOs represented the school:
ECO SugumaranECO Ho Jen Zen ECO ParrimalanECO Wan ArinaECO Mohd AsyrafECO Mohamad AdamECO LavineshECO Irfan Husin

ECOs who helped in the preparations:
ECO AizuddinECO Johanan ECO ChristaECO Nur HaniECO JasmineECO Laila

We would to thank BP Malaysia and Kementerian Pelajaran Malaysia (Unit Sukan, Seni & Kukurikulum) for this opportunity to participate in this program.

To all school PTA board members, school administrators, teachers, parents, sponsors and students, a big THANK YOU for making this challenge a SUCCESS!

... one small change makes our planet greener and healthier!

STAY GREEN

Why we chose these activities ...

After discussing from the administrator, we decided to have the following activities...

a. recycling campaign (5Rs). 5Rs because we want students and teachers to Reduce, Reuse, Recycle Renew and Respect Mother Earth. We could reduce waste by bringing our own cups/containers; we could cut down on styrofoam cups. By reusing bags while shopping, we create lesser rubbish. We also want to encourage each one to recycle - old newspaper, aluminum cans and plastic bottles which we come across every day. Apart from that, students and teachers can renew their ideas to reuse waste, like using a paper boxes as drawers in open shelves. Lastly, the need to respect Mother Earth by not polluting it.

b. eco enzyme (garbage enzyme). Making eco enzyme is not new but many of us do not know we could also reuse perishable waste. So having this activity in school, both perishable and none are put to good use. Many newspaper write-ups about the benefits of eco enzyme are often publish to educate us. So having this activity in school helps to reduce perishable waste produced in the school canteen and our home to good use. Besides that, the enzyme produce can be used to clean school toilets and pour into rivers to reduce the toxicity. The residues can be used as fertilizers in our garden.

c. school garden centre. We decided to plants fruit trees, vegetables, and herbs because we have enough flowering plants around the school. Fruit trees need longer time to mature but they are easier to manage, thus teachers and students need not spend much time in the garden. As we know, herbs have merit in many aspects - both medicinal and for just for herbal teas. Moreover, many students have not seen different kinds of herbs. By having this garden in school, teachers, and students not only able to learn more, they may even able to enjoy a cup of herbal tea in the garden! Growing vegetables require more attention among the 3 types of activities in the School Garden Centre. But because students and teachers are able to harvest between 2-3 months after sowing seeds, this will motivate them to upkeep it. Students and teachers can enjoy the fruit of their labour when plants began to bear fruits.

d. electricity smack down. Reducing the use of electricity is one of BP myscience energy optimization effort. If each student could just reduce 5 minutes of electricity a day, we could save 7500 minutes each day. One small CHANGE makes our planet greener and healthier.
e. water reduction campaign. Why must we reduce water? It's estimated that over 1 billion people live without access to clean drinking water, and that every eight seconds, a young child dies from lack of water or a waterborne disease (http://www.aboutmyplanet.com/environment/reduce-water-money). Turn Off campaign is aimed at training our students and teachers not to waste. If each of us reduces us by just 500ml a day, our school will be able to save 750 litres of water each day. A little each day is much in a year

f. more green more life. This campaign is meant to share with students and teachers that by staying green we could enjoy life too - a healthy life style and at the same time being kind to Mother Earth. We say No to Styrofoam cups. We Gotong Royong to keep our school compound clean. We Pledged! We make things from recyclable items. We use less plastic bags.

g. rakan muda cintai alam. We added this new program to our list because it starts in August and ends in October. The main reason is to keep this green challenge going and at the same time we will be able to generate some fund via this program. Our Wira Alam upkeep the reading corner - "Sudut Bacaan dalam Taman" together with students from the Photography Club, which not only promotes reading habit but also enjoying the sun and fresh air! And to further support this project, we planted 40 pots of 'pokok besi' (translated from Mandarin) stumps. When the green leaves appear, we will have a 'greener' library!

So with all these activities, we hope ... one small change somewhere will make our school environment greener and healthier.

Pn Chua Siwe Geck
Coordinator,
Sri Permata @ BP myscience

Program BP myscience sedang berjalan di sekolah.

Dari data yang didapatkan, 83% pelajar dan semua guru tahu yang program BP ini dijalankan di sekolah. Pelajar Tingkatan 3 yang tidak terlibat secara langsung (SMK Sri Permata hanya melibatkan pelajar Tingkatan 1,2 dan 4) pun tahu bahawa program ini sedang berjalan. Ini menunjukkan publisti tentang program ini dijalankan dengan baik.

Adakah anda terlibat dalam aktiviti pemuliharaan alam di sekolah?

Dapatan data ini menunjukkan 60% pelajar tidak terlibat walaupun peluang penglibatan dibuka kepada pelajar Tingkatan 1,2 dan 4. Dapatan ini mengukuhkan lagi pemerhatian yang dibuat oleh pengetua sekolah, Encik Ong Hock Thye bahawa penekanan perlu diberi kepada penglibatan pelajar. Penglibatan kurang pelajar Tingkatan 1 walaupun diberi peluang sangat-sangatlah tidak memuaskan. Oleh itu, pihak sekolah perlu memberi perhatian terhadap aspek ini jika program hijau ini ingin diteruskan di sekolah. Tahap penglibatan guru perlu juga dipertingkatkan sejajar dengan penglibatan pelajar supaya guru-guru dapat membantu mengawasi aktiviti hijau pelajar.

Kita perlu bertanggungjawab terhadap bumi kita

Walau bagaimana pun, 83% pelajar dan 100% kalangan guru bersetuju bahawa bahawa kita perlu bertanggungjawab terhadap bumi kita. Kesimpulan yang boleh dibuat berdasarkan peratusan Soalan 3 ialah bahawa jika lebih publisiti dan penglibatan terancang, maka pelajar yang bertanggungjawab ini akan melibatkan diri.

Adakah anda terlibat dalam aktiviti pemuliharaan alam di rumah anda?

Peratus pelajar yang menjalankan aktiviti pemuliharaan alam ini hanya 48%, manakala yang tidak menjalankan dan tidak tahu merangkumi 52%. Oleh itu, budaya pemuliharaan yang dijalankan di sekolah haruslah juga disampaikan kepada pihak ibu bapa dan penjaga. Pihak sekolah perlu lebih melibatkan ibu bapa dan penjaga dalam program hijau di sekolah. Saya mencadangkan agar dalam setiap majlis utama sekolah seperti Hari Terbuka (Report Card Day), Hari Sukan, AGM PIBG dan juga Hari Anugerah Cemerlang diselitkan dengan program hijau. Dengan itu, ibu bapa dan penjaga yang menghadiri majlis-majlis ini di sekolah, dapat memperoleh pengetahuan atau boleh melibatkan diri.


Aktiviti pemuliharaan alam ini membebankan.

Dapatan ini mempamerkan pandangan yang berbeza antara guru dan pelajar. 81% guru mendapati aktiviti ini membebankan manakala 64% pelajar tidak berfikir demikian. Melalui temubual dengan guru-guru, menjalankan aktiviti fizikal tidaklah begitu membebankan tetapi kehendak laporan serta permohonan secara bertulis untuk pelbagai perkara membebankan. Saya bersetuju dengan pendapat mereka kerana kerapkali laporan tidak dapat disiapkan pada masa yang ditetapkan walaupun kerja-kerja fizikalnya telah berjalan. Untuk ini, dicadangkan satu format laporan yang 'mesra pengguna', pemantauan dibuat secara fizikal dan mengikut kesesuaian guru berkenaan.

Saya berminat terhadap aktiviti pemuliharaan alam di sekolah.

Dapatan menunjukkan 47% pelajar yang tidak berminat dan tak tahu serta 38% guru tidak berminat menunjukkan minat pelajar dan guru boleh dipupuk lagi. Antara cadangan yang dikemukan adalah seperti disediakan insentif dalam bentuk hadiah atau wang tunai. Contohnya, untuk setiap beg botol plastik yang dikumpul, kelas tersebut diberi ganjaran wang tunai untuk tabung kelas. Ataupun, diadakan penghargaan untuk usaha yang telah ditunjukkan. Misalnya, pada hari Terbuka, 2 kelas ditugaskan mendemonstrasi kepada ibu bapa cara-cara membuat Eco Enzyme.

Aktiviti pemuliharaan alam ini harus diteruskan tahun hadapan.

Pihak guru dan pelajar bersetuju program ini harus diteruskan pada tahun hadapan. Kemungkinan besar, 28 orang dari 49 orang pelajar Ting 4 merasakan ianya tidak perlu atas sebab mereka akan menduduki peperiksaan SPM. Pada pendapat saya, program ini harus melibatkan semua pelajar dari Tingkatan 1 hingga 5, memandang kejayaan sesuatu kempen seperti 'Kurangkan elektrik' bergantung kepada penglibatan semua. Pihak sekolah boleh membuat penyesuaian dengan melibatkan pelajar yang akan menduduki peperiksaan diawalkan. Dengan itu juga pihak sekolah akan sentiasa mempunyai tenaga pelajar yang akan meneruskan aktivti program.

Dijalankan oleh: Pn Chua Siwe Geck
Penyelaras BP myscience@Sri Permata.
24 Oktober 2009

Persepsi pelajar terhadap aktiviti berkaitan kitarsemula di SMK Permata, Petaling Jaya, Selangor.

Siti Mazwin bt. Kamaruddin
Fakulti Senibina, Perancangan dan Ukur, UiTM Shah Alam
Dept. Of Geography, University of Canterbury
Email: smk45@student.canterbury.ac.nz

Pengenalan
Kajian ini dijalankan bagi mendapatkan suatu gambaran terhadap perilaku pelajar peringkat menengah terhadap aktiviti kitarsemula. Seramai 47 pelajar yang berumur di antara 13-17 tahun dipilih secara rawak untuk mengisi borang kajiselidik pada bulan Ogos 2009. Soalan-soalan yang tertera di borang tersebut menjurus kepada persepsi mereka dan keprihatinan mereka terhadap aktiviti kitarsemula dan alam sekitar secara am. Respons pelajar diukur mengikut skala Likert (5 point Likert scale) dan telah dimasukkan ke dalam perisian Excel dan analisa frekuensi telah dijalankan.

Tabulasi data frekuensi:
a. Taburan jantina dan umur pelajar
Jadual Responden menunjukkan responden adalah terdiri daripada 43% pelajar perempuan dan 57% pelajar lelaki. Seramai 11 orang (23%) adalah pelajar perempuan berumur 13-15 tahun manakala 9 orang pelajar perempuan (19%) adalah berumur 16-17 tahun. Bakinya ialah responden eplajar lelaki berumur 13-15 tahun (23%) dan pelajar lelaki berumur 16-17 tahun (34%).

b. Taburan persepsi pelajar terhadap nilai sampah dan perilaku kitarsemula
Jadual Respons Pelajar (1) menunjukkan taburan persepsi pelajar terhadap nilai sampah yang menunjukkan bahawa majoriti (71%) bersetuju bahawa sampah ada nilainya. Walaupun ramai yang mengatakan demikian, hanya 31% pelajar atau 15 daripada jumlah 47 pelajar sahaja yang menyatakan bahawa mereka suka membawa barangan yang boleh dikitarsemula dari rumah ke sekolah.

c. Taburan keprihatinan terhadap kewujudan kelab berkaitan alam sekitar
Jadual Respons Pelajar (2) menunjukkan bahawa majoriti pelajar bersetuju bahawa kelab alam sekitar atau program melibatkan kitarsemula wujud di sekolah. Majoriti (90%) suka melibatkan diri dalam kelab berkaitan alam sekitar kerana berependapat ianya menyeronokkan dan suatu yang penting untuk diri mereka dan alam sekitar.
d. Taburan pandangan bahawa melibatkan diri dalam kelab alam sekitar menambahkan pengetahuan tantang alam sekitar

Jadual Respons Pelajar (3) menunjukkan bahawa pelajar yang suka melibatkan diri di dalam kelab alam sekitar atau kitarsemula berpandangan bahawa mereka dapat meningkatkan ilmu pengetahuan mereka mengenai perlindungan alam sekitar melalui penglibatan dalam program atau kelab yang berkaitan.

Jadual Respons Pelajar (4) pula menunjukkan bahawa pelajar yang tidak terlibat dengan kelab alam sekitar atau kitarsemula juga prihatin terhadap perlunya menjaga alam sekitar. Usaha pihak guru dan sekolah dalam menjayakan aktiviti keprihatinan alam sekitar telah dapat memberi kesedaran kepada ramai pelajar. Sejumlah 72% pelajar yang mengisi borang kajiselidik mengatakan sedemikian.

e. Taburan berkenaan pandangan penglibatan individu dalam program komuniti alam sekitar
Jadual Respons Pelajar (5) menunjukkan bahawa majoriti pelajar yang menyertai kajian soal selidik ini (79%) bersetuju dengan cadangan bahawa jika ramai individu melibatkan diri dalam program komuniti alam sekitar, lebih ramai dapat berbincang mengenai isu dan langkah-langkah untuk pemeliharaan alam sekitar.

Walaubagaimanapun, kajian ini mendapati hampir 50% pelajar yang terlibat dalam kajian ini belum mula untuk mengitarsemula dan 68% tidak pula menggalakkan ahli keluarga mereka untuk mengitarsemula. Lihat Jadual respons pelajar (6),(7).


Perbincangan dan Kesimpulan
Berdasarkan respons yang diberikan melalui borang soal selidik, kajian ini mendapati secara keseluruhannnya, usaha pihak guru dan sekolah dalam menjayakan aktiviti keprihatinan alam sekitar telah memberi kesedaran kepada ramai pelajar tentang keprihatinan kepentingan menjaga alam sekitar. Majoriti pelajar responden juga berpandangan bahawa menyertai kelab alam sekitar adalah menyeronokkan dan ianya dapat menambahkan pengetahuan mereka berkenaan alam sekitar termasuk mempelajari langkah –langkah pemeliharaan. Kebanyakan responden kajian bersetuju dengan cadangan bahawa jika ramai individu melibatkan diri dalam program komuniti alam sekitar, lebih ramai dapat berbincang mengenai isu dan langkah-langkah untuk pemeliharaan alam sekitar.

Walaubagaimanapun, dari segi perilaku kitarsemula khususnya, hanya 31% pelajar atau 15 daripada jumlah 47 pelajar sahaja yang menyatakan bahawa mereka suka membawa barangan yang boleh dikitarsemula dari rumah ke sekolah. 50% pelajar yang terlibat dalam kajian ini pula belum mula untuk mengitarsemula dan 68% tidak pula menggalakkan ahli keluarga mereka untuk mengitarsemula.
Justeru, penglibatan pelajar berkaitan perilaku kitarsemula yang menjadi antara aktiviti penting dalam pemeliharaan alam sekitar masih agak rendah. Para pelajar di dalam kajian ini seramai 80% juga berpandangan bahawa rakyat Malaysia amnya lebih suka menjual suratkhabar lama misalnya kepada pembeli barangan kitarsemula suratkhabar yang memberikan pulangan kewangan dan lebih memudahkan. Kajian ini mendapati ramai pelajar amat prihatin tentang alam sekitar dan dari penglibatan aktiviti bercirikan alam sekitar telah sedikit sebanyak meningkatkan pengetahuan mereka.

Walaubagaimanapun, menzahirkan pengetahuan ini dalam bentuk perbuatan perlu dipertingkatkan. Pelajar-pelajar mungkin dapat menggunakan ruang serta aktiviti sediada, dibantu dengan penglibatan ibu bapa, memikirkan strategi atau langkah-langkah yang lebih menyeronokkan untuk menggalakkan lebih perilaku ke arah pemeliharaan alam sekitar melalui aktiviti kitarsemula. Pencapaian aktiviti ini pula perlu diberi pengiktirafan oleh pihak sekolah misalnya kerana kajian lain telah mendapati bahawa aspek ini amat penting bagi para remaja.

Penglibatan dari pihak luar dengan pihak sekolah misalnya dengan pembeli barangan kitarsemula juga mungkin dapat membantu dari aspek pulangan ekonomi. Secara amnya, strategi yang dilaksanakan perlu mengambilkira pelbagai faktor yang melibatkan kehendak pelajar, guru sekolah dan pihak yang berkepentingan, aktiviti dan masa yang sesuai, penyediaan ruang atau infrastruktur yang diuruskan secara berterusan dan kefahaman yang khusus terhadap kepentingan perilaku itu sendiri.

Penghargaan:
Penulis ingin mengucapkan penghargaan kepada Pengetua SMK Sri Permata dan Pn. Chua S.G kerana bantuan mereka dalam kajian ini. Kajian ini merupakan sebahagian dari penyelidikan thesis yang sedang dijalankan. Kajian ini bersifat 'exploratory' dan memerlukan analisa yang lebih terperinci lagi.

SitiMazwin Kamaruddin
PhD Candidate
Dept.of Geography
University of Canterbury
Christchurch NZ

Rujukan:
Siti Mazwin Kamaruddin (2009), `Kajian eksplorasi: Persepsi pelajar berkaitan perilaku kitarsemula' , (Unpublished)

*Pn Chua - Siti Mazwin telah memohon kebenaran untuk menjalankan tinjauan ini. Pihak sekolah telah membenarkan beliau menjalankan tinjauan ini supaya dapat mengetahui persepsi pelajar mengenai pemuliharaan alam yang pertama kali dijalankan di Sri Permata. Pihak sekolah ingin mengucapkan terima kasih kepada Siti Mazwin atas bahan-bahan tinjauan yang dikongsikan bersama. Harapan pihak sekolah, dapatan ini akan membantu pihak sekolah menambahbaik program hijau yang akan dijalankan. Pihak sekolah juga mengucapkan Selamat Maju Jaya kepada Siti dalam menyediakan tesis ini. :-)

A note from my heart ...

In less than a year of participation in BP myscience Challenge, we have seen many positive and encouraging green results. In this short period, we have substantially succeeded in creating awareness amongst our teachers and students on the need to save our environment and the ways to achieve it.

Continuous emphasis and implementation of recycling, saving water and electricity, growing plants, making eco enzyme and other green practices will definitely create significant results in reducing carbon footprints. We look forward to extend this initiative to year 2010, and strive for continuous improvements for the many years to come. Active participation and exposure to these activities to save planet earth will generate a significant impact on the students. The school aspires to produce a future generation who lives a green lifestyle.

Taking part in Bp myscience Challenge has brought SMK Sri Permata to embark on an exciting “green” journey. And this green journey is not possible without the initiative, dedication, and commitment from the team of teachers and students involved. The tremendous effort and hard work is commendable and has produced ripples of “green” waves to our students. A great heartfelt thanks to each and everyone of them.

Pn Yip Chui Yoke
PK KuKurikulum

Program Hijau Untuk Pelajar Lepasan PMR

Gotong Royong
23 Oktober (Kawasan Sekolah) dan 24 Oktober (Kebun)
Masa: 8.00 - 10.00 pagi
Guru: Pn Khoo LC & En Zahir Ahmad
**************************
5R - Menghias Botol
22 Oktober 2009 (Bilik Seni)
10.15 - 1.10pm
Guru: Pn Inderjit

********************
Seni Kraftangan Origami & Anyaman
2 November 2009
10.15- 1.15pm
**********

15Oct: Planting 40 pots 'pokok besi'@library

On 15th October, Thursday a total of 19 students which had joined the Wira Alam program came to school to beautify the reading corner at the library. We were separated into 3 groups.
From 8 to 8.45 am, group 1 which consists of 7 students were asked to clear the plants while group 2, 6 students, were clearing and cutting the ‘pokok besi’ into smaller pieces to be brought up to the library to plant. On the other hand, group 3 which had 6 students were weeding at the little garden in front of Taman Wawasan.

After cutting the trees and clearing up the place, all 3 groups of students brought those ‘pokok besi’ up to the library. We planted it into 40 medium size pots and watered it all.
Everything was completed around 10am. Our teacher in-charge, Pn. Chua ordered food from the canteen and we enjoyed our meal till 10.15am. We then did some craft work at the assembly ground and pasted it on the eco notice board.

Due to time constraint, we did not managed to finish up the task that teacher gave on that very morning. So, we took it as homework. The task was to ask at least 2 students and a teacher each what do they think of the eco program in school.

We also took a few photographs and were dismissed at the time of 11am.

Prepared by, 16 October, 2009.
ECO christa

Ogo-Okt: Sudut Bacaan Dalam Taman

April - Mei:
Ahli-ahli Kelab Fotografi telah membersihkan kawasan yang ditanam dengan poko sempena Jubli Perak Sekolah pada tahun 2004. Disebabkan tidak ada pihak menjaga, maka kawasan tersebut tidak terurus dan pokok tersebut pun tidak hidup subur.
Setelah dibersihkan, pihak MPPJ telah menderma pokok-pokok hiasan. Kawasan tersebut pun dihiaskan dengan pokok yang diberi oleh MPPJ oleh ahli Kelab Fotografi yang telah mengorbankan waktu dengan datang 2 jam lebih awal untuk 3 perjumpaan.

Ogos - Oktober:
Apabila pihak sekolah memutuskan untuk mengambil bahagian dalam Program Rakan Muda Cintai Alam yang mempunyai objektif yang dekat dengan BP myscience challenge, Pn Chua SG, penasihat Kelab Fotografi serta Setiausaha PSS mencadangkan agar kawasan tersebut dijadikan Sudut Membaca Dalam Taman. Sumber kewangan telah dipohon melalui program Rakan Muda dan sebanyak RM770.00 telah diluluskan.
Sebuah meja dengan 4 tempat duduk simen telah dibeli dari FAMA Seremban dengan harga RM300 untuk tujuan tersebut.
Ramai pelajar suka menghabiskan masa di sudut tersebut - alasan mereka udara yang nyaman dan tidak terlalu panas.

Laporan oleh:
Zahin
Kelab Fotografi

Gardening At School's Garden

During PMR week which was held few weeks ago, my friends and I went for gardening in school. Eight of us started at about 8.15 a.m. Together with us was our school teacher Pn.Yong. Some of our activities were pulling the dead weeds out, cleared the soil from unwanted grass and watered the chillie plants.

Gardening was sort of fun even we felt a little tired. We worked together as a team. First, we plucked out all the dead weeds for the reason that it is not functioning anymore. Secondly, we cleared out all the unwanted grass out from the soil followed by loosening the soil. The reason of loosening the soil is to enhance the aeration of the soil.
Lastly, we put some fertilizers on each rows of the soil. We watered the plants as it was dry. After all the hard work, we were rewarded with some rambutans , a cold milo ice , some ‘kuih-muih’ and curry puffs as well. We were happy as we get to lend a hand to teacher and did something we called among ourselves ‘exercise’.

Prepared by, 6 October 2009
Zahin
(Mohammad Zahin Bin Mohammad Razif)

21 Oct: Report on the BP MyScience Essay Writing Competition

Report on the BP MyScience Essay Writing Competition

This competition was held on 17th June 2009 between 12.00 pm and 1.30 p.m at the school hall. A total of 52 students took part in this competition of which 31 of them were from the morning session and 21 from the afternoon session. The BP MyScience school team took about 3 months to finalize the winners.

There were not any outstanding ideas on how we should spend the prize money towards conserving the environment. 10 essays in total were shortlisted, 6 from the morning session and 4 from the afternoon. The BP MyScience team choose the best essays from those shortlisted.

The prize winning essay for the morning session goes to Nur Hanna bt. Safri from 5 Mesra and for the afternoon session, the prize goes to Mohamad Asyraf bin Mohd Nasir from 2 Amanah.

CONGRATULATIONS
Report by,
Pn. Nallini Letchmanan

21 Oct: Veg Plot Report

On the 21st of August 2009, members from the Science and Mathematics club as well as the teacher in-charge, Pn Yoong S.N and a few afternoon session ECOs came to school in the morning at 8.30 to maintain the garden.

Due to the heavy rain that morning, only about 4 members were present. However, we managed to clear the weeds. We also water the plants and also planted some beans on the empty ground as well as fertilized it.

Besides that, the five of us including Pn Yong had cleaned every part of the garden so that there may be no place for mosquitoes to breed.

After 2 months of hard work, the bittergourd that we planted in the earlier part of the year had bare its fruit. We plucked and realized that there were more than 10 bittergourds which were already ripe.

Report on the Herb Garden (Mac - Oct)
The Science garden was officially handed over to the BP Science Challenge team in March to become the Herb Garden. A core group consisting of the teacher adviser, Miss Liew KY and five Form 4 students was formed. The core group met to draw out a layout plan of the garden and discussed what to do for the garden. Below is a diary of some of the activities carried out.
March : The garden was overgrown with weeds and rubbish was strewn all over the place. A big tree kept the sunlight out. The place was dark and gloomy. It was mosquito infested. Students from Form 4S and 4G started clearing the garden. These students cleared the rubbish and did weeding for two weeks.

Another group of students from Form 4J and 4B got rid of weeds growing in the pots . These two classes started on another part of the garden. Unwanted containers were removed to prevent the breeding of mosquito larvae.

Some student continued his work after school.
Even the Form 3 students were involved. They saw the older students working earlier on and asked for permission to do some work in the garden during recess time. The students took two weeks to clear the garden. Other students became interested and volunteered to do some work during their free time.

April: Once the garden was ready, students started work cleaning up the surroundings of the garden. These students werethe core group. They worked on the garden after school every Wednesday starting from March. They decided to build a place for composting on 29 April.
May: Students started planting in certain parts of the garden. Plants were donated by students and teachers. Some Form 5 students volunteered to prepare another part of the garden for planting.

Because the place was rather muddy especially after a rain, pavers were put in on 5 May. Some drain covers were recycled too to save money.
This place inside the garden was used to store rubbish. The core group decided to turn this into a store for eco enzymes and equipment.
June: Students planned to do some landscaping in another part of the garden. Students partitioned the area with bricks.

Students planted fruit trees such as passion fruits, lemon, lime and mulberry. Students added soil and fertilizers. Form 2 students were involved.
Students prepared an area for the planting of grapes.

July: Students prepared a suitable site for the planting of dragon fruit plants.
Students mixed cement and sand to make a pillar for the dragon fruit plants. The pillar was ready after two days. The pillar is finally up and the dragon fruit plants were planted.
1 July : A group of students including the core group made a visit to FAMA in Seremban to familiarize themselves with herbs.

August: Subsequently, FAMA donated some plants and soil to the school. All these arrived on 4 August. Students planted the herbs donated by FAMA.
One core group member pouring organic compost onto one of the plants. One week later, the plant dried up due to excessive fertilizer. The students learned to use fertilizer in moderation now.

August, September, October: Herbs were regularly harvested and used by teachers. They were also introduced to teachers who were ignorant on the usage of herbs.
Students trimmed the tree. Students cleared weeds and rubbish.

September: Students did maintenance work. They also planted new plants. Students did some weeding as well as harvested some herbs.
Students planted roselle.

October: After the PMR, Form 3 students constructed a stand for a potted plant. They were proud of their efforts.

Many hands made the work light.

Ms Liew KY
Teacher-in-charge

12:34:56 7/8/09: Pelancaran Program Rakan Muda

Program Rakan Muda Cintai Alam telah dilancarkan pada bulan 7 Ogos 2009. Pihak sekolah telah memilih masa pelancaran pada pukul 12.34:56 tengah hari sempena mengingati masa dan tarikh istimewa iaitu 123456789.

Memandangkan bulan Ogos - Sept adalah bulan puasa, jadi aktiviti telah dirancang untuk dijalankan selepas sambutan Hari Raya dan sebelum bermula peperiksaan akhir tahun.
Antara objektif Program Rakan Muda Cintai Alam ialah " ... menghargai keindahan alam semulajadi. Ianya dapat meningkatkan kesedaran tentang Pentingnya menjaga dan mengekalkan keindahan dan kebersihan alam sekitar. ... " dapat dihubungkaitkan dengan program BP myscience yang sedang berjalan.

Dengan adanya program ini, sumber kewangan yang diterima melalui program ini adalah dalam RM2,400. Sumber kewangan ini dapat terus meanmpung perbelanjaan untuk menambahbaik aktivti yang sedia ada serta mengadakan aktiviti baru seperti Sudut Membaca Dalam Taman.

21 Aug: 5Rs Report

a)Results of Aluminium rings collection Inter-class Competition
The third and final collection of aluminium rings was held on the 31st of July.
The gross total number of rings collected during the period of the competition was 78,938 !
The winners are as follows:
First : Class 5S - 20,082 rings
Second: Class 4S - 16,082 rings
Third: Class 5C - 15,976 rings

A cash prize of RM 150 in total ,donated by Interact Club of the school , was awarded to each of the above classes .
First :RM 70
Second :RM 50
Third :RM 30
b) Prizes were also given out to the class which brought the most amount of newspapers for the newspaper-collection Inter-class Competition held on the 14th and 15th of July. Each student of Class 5C including the Form-Teacher were given prizes, courtesy of Papermate and Syarikat Chee Wah . This was to reward them for their team-effort and to encourage them to be aware of recycling as one of the ways to reduce the carbon footprint.

The school would like to thank each and every student who participated in these competitions , as this showed their support for the Recycling Program.

Hopefully, this will instill a sense of caring for the environment and make recycling a part of their daily routine.

By: Pn ShamalaTeacher-in-charge

15 Aug: ECO Enzyme Report

This batch of Garbage Enzyme was done on the 4th of April 2009. On the 15th of August 2009, the Garbage Enzyme was harvested. The uniform-bodies had participated in this activity. They were requested to bring a pail and a few bottles (1.5 liter). The teacher in-charge for this particular activity is Miss Loo. The whole activity took around an hour and half to conduct. After the activity was completed, Miss Loo instructed that the enzyme to be kept at the Taman Sains.

This activity started by a short briefing about how to do. Everyone that participated in this activity had a jolly good time. Miss Loo said to use our hand to squeeze the filter bag because the Garbage Enzyme is very good for the skin. Some of the Garbage Enzyme had a very bad smell because the container was not close properly. After harvesting the garbage enzyme, they had to put it into the bottle that was brought by the student. The student that participated in this activity had finish the harvesting and later after that the students cleaned the area.

Through this activity, the ozone layer will be healed because the gas released by this garbage enzyme to the atmosphere is carbon trioxide, CO3.We hope that all students of SMK SRI PERMATA will give their full support and co-operation for this activity to be successful.

Reported by,
ECO Lavinesh

8 Aug: A Day Trip to Enderong Organic Farm

The day trip was held on the 8th of August 2009 which was on a Saturday. The Enderong Organic Sdn Bhd is located at Tanarimba Bukit Tinggi, Janda Baik in Pahang. It took us about 3 hours to reach there. There were a total of 30 people including students and teachers who went on that trip. Students who went on the trip are members of Kelab Pencinta Alam and the BP myscience's ECOs.

The cost of the trip was RM650 in total. The money for the trip was sponsered by Justlife (RM200), BP myscience seed money (RM 200) and from the school’s unit ko-ko (RM 250).
We were told that an organic farm must be 40 km away from the city centre because of dirty rain water and contaminated city pollution. That is why Enderong Organic farm is located on the highlands. Furthermore, plants at the farm can receive more sunlight when it is on the highlands.

Enderong Organic farm is 2 acres wide and it is used to educate farmers on organic farming. There are many types of fruits, herbs and vegetables planted there such as terung, cabbage, ladies finger, lada, sawi, bayam and more. Enderong Organic practice crop rotation which is one of the procedures to obtain high quality plants. Crop rotation is an agricultural practice in which different crops are cultivated in succession on the same area of land over a period of time. This practice ensures that soil fertility is maintained.

Other than that, Enderong Organic uses biological control instead of chemicals to get rid of pests. This ensures the healthy being of all the plants. Weeds are also pulled out so the plants can receive maximum nutrients which can be absorbed easily without any competition.

Another technique to produce healthy organic plants is by mixing the soil with proper nutrients which are provided by the ‘home-made’ fertilizers (compost). Compost gives out nutrients like phosphorus, fertilizer and oxygen. Compost is made of animal feaces (such as chicken, cows, etc), food waste and even dried leaves. The ingredients are then mixed together and are collected under a small hut which will then be left to decompose and allow reactions to take place. After it has reached a certain stage, it can be used to give nutrients to the plants.
We were told that organic vegetables and fruits are good for our health because it is free of pest poison exposure and it is very well taken care of. That is why organic food is much more expensive compared to normal food. Fruits and vegetables produced by Enderong Organic are distributed to Justlife which is avaible all over Malaysia.

Our trip to Enderong Organic farm is a fun, memorable and informative trip. We are very lucky to get a chance to go on this trip. We would like to thank Enderong Organic farm and teachers who planned the trip for us. We have learnt a lot from the trip and this educates us to improve our farming/gardening skills. We hope to come again with more students with us next time and in hope to create awareness on living green and healthy.

Reported by,
ECO Arina

5 Ogos: Laporan Pengurangan Air Di Sekolah

Langkah Penjimatan Air Di Tandas Sekolah Sri Permata

Satu botol 500ml yang diisikan dengan air dimasukkan ke dalam tangki simbah.

Aras air tangki simbah menjadi lebih tinggi, dan ini dapat menjimatkan 500ml atau ½ liter air setiap anda 'flush' selepas gunakan tandas. (sumber:http://www.dbku.gov.my/recycle.htm)

Apabila botol diambil keluar, air akan mula mengalir ke dalam tangki simbah. Ini menunjukkan bahawa botol air 500ml memberi kesan kepada tahap air.

Anggaran 6 tandas di sekolah yang digunakan sebanyak 30 kali sehari oleh kira-kira 1400 orang pelajar, sekolah dapat mengurangkan penggunaan air sebanyak - 6x30x500ml=90000ml sehari.

"Berdikit-dikit ... lama-lama menjadi bukit"

dilaporkan oleh:
Pn Chong Shu Fong

22 Jul: Sumbangan Pokok dari MPPJ

Cik Liew KY, guru yang menjaga Herbal Garden sekolah memerlukan pokok-pokok. Memandangkan kos terlibat agak banyak, beliau telah memohon terus dari Majlis Perbandaraan Petaling Jaya.

Pihak MPPJ respons dengan menderma 200 pohon pokok. Cik Liew dijemput ke nusery MPPJ untuk memilih pokok.
Selain pokok herba seperti bunga raya dan senduduk, Cik Liew juga membawa balik 50 pohon pokok hiasan yang telah ditanam di sekeliling sekolah.

Pihak sekolah mengucapkan terima kasih kepada MPPJ atas sokongan yang di dalam program BP myscience di sekolah.

17-18 Jul: Changing fluorescent tubes to energy saving bulbs

During one of the BP myscience meetings in school, Mr. Ong HT, our school HM emphasized the need to reduce electricity bill. One of the ideas shared by Puan Cheah Tean Hong, our Guru Kanan Bidang Kemanusiaan was to change old fluorescent tubes to energy saving bulbs. She also offered to sponsor the cost of the bulbs and workmanship.

We have chosen the row of lights on the 1st floor for 2 reasons:
1. the lights are switched on from 7pm till 7am the next morning every day, and
2. Not easily vandalized because the grills will be locked at night.

11 fluorescent tubes (20w) were changed to energy saving bulbs (11w). Though the difference is only 9 watts, we stand by this phrase ... those who gather little by little will increase it.

Thanks Pn Cheah for your generosity! She also encouraged re-using plastic bags in the house and using tiffin carrier for takeaway food.

20 July: 5Rs Report

Collection of old newspaper, books, magazines and cardboard containers

As planned, pupils and teachers of both sessions brought these items on the 14th & 15th of July. Newspapers, old books and items made from cardboard brought by pupils were stacked in front of their respective classes on the assembly ground. ‘Kelab Pencinta Alam’ members recorded the height of the stack for each class over the 2 days . The collection on the 14th of July was a little disappointing. However , the next day, on the 15th of July , it was impressive! Please refer to table below:
Recyclable Items
Weight (kg)
Newspaper:542
Cardboard:21
Tin cans :2
Plastic bottles:18
These items were sold for RM140 and the money channelled to the BP My Science Challenge Fund.
The Recycling Program Committee would like to thank all pupils and teachers who had shown their support by taking part in this activity!
Pupils and teachers have been told to collect recyclable items made from plastic to be brought during the first week of August!

Prepared by: Pn Shamala
(Teacher-in-charge)