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.