Hong Kong holds summer camp for gifted students
Gifted students from all over the world descended on the city this summer for a very clever camp, writes Linda Yeung
Tiny pieces of paper are strewn across the floor, as young children move freely between desks, talking excitedly to one another. A male instructor, seated, is busy answering pupils' questions.
This is no regular school lesson. It's a science class in a summer camp for gifted students held at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, run by the US-based Johns Hopkins Centre for Talented Youth (CYT).
They may realise there are lots of people who are just as smart as they are, or smarter, or realise how little they know
It's the fourth year the camp for children with proven exceptional academic ability has been held in Hong Kong, providing enriching academic activities for those in attendance. For three weeks last month, 289 children spent most of their time at the camp on campus, with seven hours of lessons a day, followed by social events in the evenings and at weekends.
The children, aged from 10 to 16, were from around 10 countries, including the mainland, Vietnam, Thailand and the US, with the majority from Hong Kong.
In the science class, Ugo Lee Chi-to, an 11-year-old from Bishop Walsh Primary School, was keen to show visitors his preparatory sketches of a paper "egg drop" that will allow him to release an egg from a height without it breaking.
He and his classmates were given the task of creating such a model using the smallest amount of paper and tape.