Reflection on 'UN calls for rice production boost in Asia'

As said by Mr Quek, this would be my last official geography blog post......... :(  For the last post, Mr Quek gave us a newspaper article titled 'UN calls for rice production boost in Asia' , to reflect about.

The article, is about the UN's food agency calling on the Asian nations to help small farmers to grow more rice to prevent food shortages in the face of expanding population.

In my opinion, I think that what the UN is doing is very useful, as with an expanding population, the lack of rice could led to serious food crisis and food price spikes. Also, as said in the article, about 90 percent of the world's rice is grown in Asia, if food shortages were to occur, it would not just affect Asia, but would affect countries around the world. Hence, I feel that "helping small scale farmers to grow more food to enhance food security is very important" as it helps to prevent food price crisis, and reduces poverty. For example, in China and Indonesia, prices have risen sharply in many local markets, with retail prices of rice reaching record high levels in January. Thus, in conclusion, I agree fully with what the UN is doing, to help small farmers to grow more rice.

Indigenous Australians

I got back my elective geography results....... For the paper, i scored 21/25, which is considered not bad, however I felt that I could have done alot better, and even score full marks, as all my mistakes were careless mistakes. :(  Other than getting back our test papers, Mr Quek also asked us to write about the indigenous australians. So, I did some research and I am going to write about it.


Indigenous Australians are the original inhabitants of the Australian continent and nearby islands. Indigenous Australians are distinguished as either Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islanders, who currently together make up about 2.7% of Australia's population. Though Indigenous Australians are seen as being broadly related as part of what has been called the Australoid race, there are significant differences in social, cultural and linguistic customs between the various Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander groups.

Flag of the Indigenous Australians
Most scholars date the arrival of humans in Australia at 40,000 to 50,000 years ago, with a possible range of up to 125,000 years ago. The earliest human remains found to date are that of Mungo Man which have been dated at about 40,000 years old. It is generally believed that Aboriginal people are the descendants of a single migration into the continent, although a minority propose that there were three waves of migration. Aboriginal people seem to have lived a long time in the same environment as the now extinct Australian megafauna
Aboriginal people mainly lived as hunter-gatherers. They hunted and foraged for food from the land. Aboriginal society was relatively mobile, or semi-nomadic, moving due to the changing food availability found across different areas as seasons changed. The mode of life and material cultures varied greatly from region to region. The greatest population density was to be found in the southern and eastern regions of the continent, the River Murray valley in particular.
It has been estimated that at the time of first European contact, the absolute minimum pre-1788 population was 315,000, while recent archaeological finds suggest that a population of 750,000 could have been sustained. The population was split into 250 individual nations, many of which were in alliance with one another, and within each nation there existed several clans, from as little as 5 or 6 to as many as 30 or 40. Each nation had its own language and a few had several. Thus over 250 languages existed, around 200 of which are now extinct or on the verge of extinction.

   

Culture
Aboriginal people traditionally adhered to animist spiritual frameworks. Within Aboriginal belief systems, a formative epoch known as 'the Dreamtime' stretches back into the distant past when the creator ancestors known as the First Peoples travelled across the land, creating and naming as they went. Indigenous Australia's oral tradition and religious values are based upon reverence for the land and a belief in this Dreamtime.





Music
The various Indigenous Australian communities developed unique musical instruments and folk styles.





Art
Australia has a tradition of Aboriginal art which is thousands of years old, the best known forms being rock art and bark painting. Evidence of Aboriginal art in Australia can be traced back at least 30,000 years.

^{Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indigenous_Australians}

Forests As A Resource

3/3/11

Today, for geography, we learnt about forests as a resources. Basically, the functions and uses of the forests can be summed up into these parts:

• Maintaining water supply
• Maintaining Air Quality
• Other useful materials
• Protecting coasts
• Natural treatment of waste matter
• Flora and fauna
• Maintain soil quality
• Habitat for people
• Recreation
• Research and education

Maintaining water supply

1. forests enable water to be collected and stored within a water catchment
2. forests are able to maintain the quality and quantity of water

• forests play an important role in the water cycle

Quality of water

• in a forested area
• in an urban area

Maintaining air supply ( green lungs of the earth )

• Plants and trees absorb carbon dioxide and release oxygen during photosynthesis --> Living organisms release carbon dioxide during respiration --^
• Replenish oxygen and remove carbon dioxide --> prevents global climate change by regulating temperature of the earth.

Maintaining soil quality

• Decomposing vegetation on the forest floor release nutrients back to the soil.
• roots hold the soil particles together --> prevent rain or wind from removing soil
• soil quality is maintained by preventing soil erosion, and thus prevents loss of nutrients.

Prevents floods

• Decreases likelihood of river overflowing its banks

Protecting coasts

• Mangrove forests --> break momentum and force of storms and strong waves
• 90% of wave impact absorbed
• Sediments held together --> reduce coastal erosion

Natural treatment of waste matter

• Mangrove forests are able to process waste materials carried by the water.
• The roots of the mangrove trees help to trap waste materials and filter the water before it flows into the sea.
• Soil containing bacteria --> aid in breaking down biodegradable wastes --> convert them into nutrients
• Mangrove Forests act as the natural treatment 'plant' of waste water and minerals.

Flora and Fauna

• Forests are natural habitats for many of the world's flora and fauna.
• A habitat is the environment where plants and animals live in
• Eco-system --> forests provide food for smaller animals and insects --> food for bigger animals
• Tropical Forests cover 7% of earth's land surface, but 50% - 70% of world's flora and fauna found in them.

The above is what I learnt for this lesson of geography - forests as a resource.

Continuation Of Natural Vegetation 3

17/2/11

Today, for Geography, we learnt how to answer structured essay questions about Natural Vegetation.

When the question asks to compare the climatic conditions, you must always answer in terms of the temperature and the rainfall. For the temperature, first mention whether it has a high mean monthly temperature or low mean monthly temperature. Next, mention the temperature range for the two places you have to compare. After talking about the temperature, move on to talk about the rainfall. Like temperature, firstly state whether the two placs has high total annual rainfall (at least 1000mm) or low total annual rainfall. Next state whether the place has a distinct wet and dry season or a evenly distributed rainfall throughout the year. You can also state the months thatb has the wet and dry season (if applicable)


This graph shows that this place has an evenly distributed rainfall throughout the year, and has a high mean monthly temperatures.

• the bars represents the rainfall
• the lines above the bars represents the temperature

This graph on the other hand shows that this place has a high total annual rainfall of at least 1000mm and also shows that this place has a distinct wet and dry season. Also, the graph shows that this place has a high mean monthly temperature.

When the question ask  to explain the ways in which the forests found in the two different places are different in their adaptations to rainfall and temperature, nswer according to three points, the bark, the roots, and the nature of the trees. then explain why there are these adaptations and characteristics and elaborate on the use of these adaptations.

This is what I learnt from today's lesson on how to answer the structured essay questions.

Reflection on Singapore’s ugly mangrove swamps

11/02/11

After reading this article written Ron Yeo, I feel that what Ron said is very true. In his article, Ron mentioned that Singaporeans these days felt that mangroves are dark, smelly scary… etc, and did not like going to mangroves. In my opinion, I feel that mangroves aren’t as ugly and dirty as they seem to be. This is because, in mangroves, one can find many different types of animals like mudskippers, crabs and many more. Also, one can find many different types of plants, and vegetation, like the teruntum merah trees. With all those animals and plants, one would find that the mangrove is not as ugly as what many people say, but is infact a very fun and interesting place.

Ron also suggested that we should visit the Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve, if we had time to spare. He mentioned that at the Reserve, one would be able to see migratory birds feeding on the mudflat from September to March every year; crocodiles lazing on the river bank; and otters hunting for fish in the river. Even though I haven’t visited the Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve, but based on what Ron described about the reserve, I can’t wait to visit the reserve some day.

In his article, Ron also mentioned that the importance of mangroves goes beyond their value as a venue for leisure activities and relaxation. I totally agree with this statement. In my opinion, the usefulness of mangroves can be divided into two parts: ecological and economic.

Ecological:

Mangroves can help protect the coasts from coastal erosion, and is also a natural habitat for many organisms such as fishes and crabs.

Economic:

Mangroves provide valuable resources such as food, medicine, firewood, charcoal and construction materials to build boats, kelong, boomerangs and spears.

Lastly, in my opinion, the most important sentence in the article is “Like the Ugly Duckling, there is beauty in our “ugly” mangroves, and this beauty can only be appreciated with patience and an open mind”. I find that this sentence is very meaningful as mangroves are not as ‘ugly’ as they seem once you get to know their inner beauty.

Continuation of Natural Vegetation 2

25 / 01 / 11

Today, our geography lesson was taught by Mr Kwek. Today we started of the lesson with a video about forests and the different layers of the forest.
Next, we learnt that tropical monsoon forests are found in places with :

• Tropical monsoon climate, between 10 degrees North to 25 degrees North and 10 degrees South to 25 degrees North South of the equator
• High mean monthly temperature of about 25 degrees Celsius 
• High total annual precipitation of more than 1500mm / year --> 600mm / month rainy season
• Distinct wet and dry season 

Also, we learnt about the characteristics of the three layers of the tropical monsoon forests, the features of the monsoon forest and the adaptation of the tropical monsoon forest.

We then learnt about the similarities and differences between tropical rainforest and tropical monsoon forest.
Similarities:

•  both forests are dense
• leaves are waxy with drip tips

Differences: (TR= tropical rainforest, TMF= tropical monsoon forest )

• Diversity : TR more , TMF less
• Density : TR more dense , TMF less dense
• Leaves : TR evergreen , TMF deciduous
• Barks and branches : TR smooth, thin bark branches at top one third , TMF thick bark branches around middle of tree
• Roots : TR shallow , deep tap roots

Other than Tropical monsoon forests, we also learnt about mangroves.

We learnt that mangrove forests are found in places with :

• Tropical climate, between 25 degrees North to 25 degrees South of the equator
• Distributed along low-lying, sheltered coasts with muddy and waterlogged land
• Eg. Australia, Southeast Asia, West Africa, Tropical areas of America

Next, we learnt about the features of the mangrove forests and the adaptation of the leaves, roots, fruits and flowers in the mangrove forests.

Lastly, we learnt about the ecological and economic use of mangroves.
Ecological

• Protect the coasts from coastal erosion
• Natural habitat for many organisms eg. mudskipper, fish, crabs, shellfish, prawns

Economic

• Provide valuable resources such as food, medicine, firewood, charcoal and construction materials to build boats, kelong, boomerangs,spears

This is what I learnt from this lesson of geography.

Continuation of Natural Vegetation 1

20/01/11

Today, our geography lesson was taught by Miss Lee Chin Lee. Today, Miss Lee continued on the chapter of  Natural Vegetation. On that lesson, we learnt about the different types of natural vegetation vegetation.
eg.

• Algae
• Lichens
• Mosses
• Fungi
• Tress
• Grasses

We also learnt what a biome is, and learnt the major types of natural vegetation / biomes.
Other than that, we learnt that:

• Climate is a major factor of in influencing the distribution of natural vegetation.
• Annual rainfall determines the main groups of natural vegetation.                                             1000mm - >2000mm : Forest , 250mm - <1000mm : Grassland , <250mm :                            Dessert vegetation              
• Annual average temperature determines the types of forest, grasslands, dessert vegetation found in a place.

Also, we learnt that tropical rainforests are found in places with :

• Equatorial climate, between 10 degrees North to 10 degrees South of the equator
• High mean monthly temperature ( 20 degrees Celsius - 30 degrees Celsius )
• High total annual rainfall ( 1000 - 2000mm / year )

Lastly, we learnt about the features of the tropical rainforest :

• Adaptation of leaves
• Adaptation of roots
• Adaptation of fruits and flowers
• Adaptation of bark

The above is what I learnt on this lesson of geography.

Chapter 3 Types of Natural Vegetation

Natural vegetation refers to plants that grow naturally in a place with little or no human interference.

NATURAL VEGETATION AS PART OF AN ECOSYSTEM:

An ecosystem is a community of living organisms like plants, animals and people, within a physical environment and the interactions between them. In a forest ecosystem, trees and other plants provide food and shelter for the animals and native people that live in the forest. Without vegetation, the animals and people will suffer from hunger and lack of shelter.

MAJOR TYPES OF NATURAL VEGETATION:

Natural vegetation can be grouped into: forests, grasslands and deserts. These vegetation types are known as biomes. A biome is the living or biotic part of an ecosystem.

WHAT IS CLIMATE?

Climate refers to the atmospheric conditions of a specific place over a considerable period of time, usually 30 to 35 years. The two main elements of climate that affect plant growth are temperature and precipitation. Temperature (measured in degrees Celsius) refers to how hot or cold a place is, while precipitation, (measured in millimeters) refers to water returning from the atmosphere to the Earth’s surface in any one of these forms: rain, snow, sleet or hail. The amount of precipitation collected, is called rainfall.

TYPES OF CLIMATE

• Polar climate
• Temperate climate
• Tropical climate

INFLUENCE OF CLIMATE ON VEGETATION GROWTH:

Temperature:

Most plants cannot grow where temperatures fall below 6 degrees Celsius. This explains why most plants cannot grow in the region with polar climate. On the other hand, where temperatures are consistently above 20 degrees Celsius, such as in places with a tropical climate, the growth of plants especially trees, is abundant.

Precipitation:

Water is required by plants to make food. Trees need more water than grass to grow, thus many forests are found in areas where precipitation is high. In areas with moderate precipitation, grasslands are more common. In areas with little or no precipitation, there is hot desert vegetation or tundra dominate.   

GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION OF NATURAL VEGETATION:

TROPICAL RAINFORESTS:

Tropical rainforest

• Found in places that experience tropical equatorial climate.
• Mainly located in the Amazon Basin in South America, the Congo Basin in Africa, and parts of Southeast Asia like Malaysia and Indonesia.

STRUCTURE OF THE FOREST

Emergent layer:

• Tall trees called emergents reach heights of 30 to 50 metres.
• Crowns appear above canopy layer
• Have tall, thick and straight trunks.

Canopy layer:

• Trees reach heights of 15 to 30 metres.
• Their wide, shallow and umbrella-shaped crowns form a canopy, which prevents sunlight from reaching the lower layers of the forest.

Understorey layer:

• Trees reach heights of 6 to 15 metres.
• Trees here have narrow and oval-shaped crowns.
• Young trees of the emergent and canopy layer are found here.

Shrub layer:

• Tree saplings and woody plants are found here
• They grow up to 6 metres high.

Underrgrowth layer:

• Made up of grasses, ferns, mosses and fungi.
• Plants reach a maximum height of 5 metres.

PLANTS IN THE FOREST:

• Epiphytes
• Not parasitic
• Examples, bird nest fern and orchid
• Grow on and use trees for support
• Rainwater and decaying leaves provide them with water and nutrients
  
• Lianas
• Thick woody vines that wind up tree trunks for sunlight.
• May grow up to lengths of 90 metres
• Not parasitic

• Parasitic plants
• Example, the strangling fig
• Competes with the host tree for sunlight, space and nutrients.

Leaves

• Remain green all year round due to the constant high rainfall throughout the year
• Do not shed their leaves at the same time
• Surfaces are waxy and have drip tips, 
• Allow rainwater to drain off easily, which prevents harmful bacteria from growing on them

Flowers and fruits

• The plants flower and produce fruit throughout the year.
• Colourful and sweet-smelling to attract insects for pollination and animals for seed dispersal.

Barks and Branches

• Developed thin and smooth barks
• Branches are only on the top one–third potion of the trunks

Roots

• Are shallow and spread widely as they do not need to reach deep into the soil for water and nutrients.
• Buttress roots

TROPICAL MONSOON FORESTS

• Found in the tropics
• However, they are found only in places that experience tropical monsoon climate
• Located in South Asia, Southeast Asia, Southern China and Northern Australia
• Around 200 species of plants can be found in one hectare of the forest.

STRUCTURE OF THE FOREST

Canopy layer:

• Trees grow up to 25 to 30 metres in height
• More spread out than in a tropical rainforest
• Creepers, vines, epiphytes and parasitic plants are found here

Understorey layer:

• Trees are about 15 metres in height

Undergrowth:

• Bamboo thickets and grasses grow densely here during the wet seasons, and are less dense during the dry season.

Leaves

• The trees are deciduous
• They shed their leaves during dry seasons to minimize water lost
• The leaves will grow back quickly during the dry season
• Waxy with drip tips

Flowers and Flowers

• Many of the tree species flower and bear fruit during the dry season while they are leafless.

Barks and Branches

• Thick and coarse
• Helps the trees withstand extreme heat
• Branches are located around the middle of the trunks

Roots

• Deep roots to tap water sources deep under the ground

MANGROVE FORESTS

• Mangrove forests are found mainly in areas experiencing tropical climate
• Contains salt-tolerant plants known as halophytes
• Dense and luxuriant due to high temperatures and rainfall

STRUCTURE OF THE FOREST

Coastal zone

• Nearest to the coast
• Trees have breathing roots or aerial roots

Middle zone:

• Trees have prop roots or stilt roots

Inland zone

• Trees are less tolerant of salt water
• They have knee-like roots

Leaves

• Mangrove forest is evergreen as there are no seasonal changes in temperatures and rainfall in the tropical climate
• Broad with drip tips
• Surfaces of are thick and leathery
• Adapted to regulate the amount of salt in the tree

Flower and Fruits

• The flowers are generally colourful
• Some of the fruits are buoyant like the fruit of the Avicennia which can be carried away by the waves, while some fruits like the Rhizophora, drop directly to the ground to take root.

Roots 

Aerial roots

• Allow the plants to take in oxygen

Prop roots

• Anchor the trees firmly in the muddy soil

Kneed roots

• Resembles bent knees

CONIFEROUS FOREST

• Found mainly in places that experience a cool temperate continental climate
• Found mainly in Alaska, northern Canada, northern United States of America, northern Scandinavia and Russia.

STRUCTURE OF THE FOREST

•  No distinct layer
•  Trees grow tall and generally uniform in height, around 20 to 30 metres 
•  Trees grow close together

Leaves

• Most coniferous trees are evergreen
• Have needle-like leaves, with small surface area that help to reduce water loss due to transpiration

Flowers and Fruits

• The trees bear cones
• The seeds can be dispersed by wind or wild animals

Bark and Branches

• Thick barks to protect them from the long, cold winters
• Trees are conical shaped to help withstand strong winds

Roots

• Shallow, spreading roots which enable them to absorb water easily from the soil surface when snow melts

The above, are what I learnt in this chapter, Types of Natural Vegetation