SAKURA SCIENCE High School Program Group 3
Experiencing High School Life with Classes at Shibuya Kyoiku Gakuen Makuhari Senior High School
On Thursday, June 29, 110 high school students and supervisors from SSHP Group 3 (Vietnam, Brunei, Myanmar, Cambodia, and Malaysia) visited Makuhari Senior High School (Chiba City).
Upon arrival, the welcoming ceremony was followed by a special lesson given by Dr. Takao Someya, a professor at the University of Tokyo. His lecture was titled "Electronic Skin and the Future Society." Professor Someya introduced a "skin display" he developed. This sticks to the skin like a band-aid (or adhesive). The display can stretch and shrink according to the wearer's movement. He also explained the latest engineering to support that and its application to health care and other fields. The high school students showed great interest in this revolutionary device. It can be said "wearless". "What about the power supply?" "How long until it will be commercially available? " "What are some applications for animals?" The students one after another raised their hands to ask one question after another; it became a very special lesson.
After that, the high school students were divided into 19 groups, and got to experience aspects of Japanese culture such as calligraphy, okinawan music, and wind chime making under the guidance of the students of Makuhari Senior High School. There were also active international exchanges between students, such as when the Japanese high school students offered help when the guests didn't understand something.
In the afternoon, the students enjoyed an experiential science class. The students were divided into groups and they worked with their Japanese high school students counterparts on physics and biological experiments under various themes including "the function of enzymes," "drawing with natto juice," "extracting iodine from kelp," and "visualizing tone with Fourier transformation." The SSHP high school students also had time to give presentations about their home countries and they all enjoy games together. This made it a day for them to enjoy high school life in Japan.
This time, there was a lunch meeting between the supervisors from each country and the teachers at Makuhari Senior High School. There were also questions about the Japanese educational environment. They asked about the Japanese semester system, how we evaluate results, and are there research programs for teachers. This led to an active exchange of opinions.
