WELCOME

The Singapore Science Centre inaugurated the IRON SCIENCE TEACHER (IST) Competition in 2005 as a commemorative activity of the International Year of Physics 2005 and the Centenary of Albert Einstein's Annus Mirabilis, (the year being 1905 in which he published his seminal papers). With the enthusiastic response of past participants, and the continued encouragement of the Ministry of Education, IST 2007 is the third running of the event.

The IRON SCIENCE Teacher Competition is based on the very popular, regular programme of the same name, organised throughout the USA and elsewhere. The US competition gets its name from the popular Japanese cooking game show, "The Iron Chef". In their events, participating teachers compete to give "the most entertaining and informative science lectures" based on a secret ingredient which is only revealed shortly before each contestant's presentation! Past examples of the secret ingredients were: dry ice, candles, ping pong balls, marbles, baking soda, tennis balls, a fruitcake, CDs, etc, ie anything (usually everyday items) can be designated the secret ingredient for a particular session of the competition. Some examples of presentations:

• Secret Ingredient: a ping pong. Use it to demonstrate Bernoulli's principle.
• Secret Ingredient: an A4 sheet of paper. Use it to demonstrate aerodynamic lift.

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OBJECTIVES

Our event aims to find local teachers

• who use their flair and their showmanship to totally captivate their audience, and at the same time,
• who produce the most creative, the most compelling Science lessons/demonstrations, and,
• who excite the greatest learning and interest in their audience.

Our principal objective is to give teachers the chance

• to try out and share novel and creative teaching ideas and methods with their peers, and,
• to raise interest and enthusiasm for science teaching and learning in our teachers and students.

The ultimate aim is to stimulate our students' curiosity, implant these scientific concepts, and perhaps inspire them to go on into careers in science.

Also, the chance to go on an overseas "study trip" to share and learn from science teachers elsewhere.