Sunday 24 July 2011

Credits And Acknowledgement

Many thanks to :
www.google.com
www.wikipedia.com, for their infomations

Tay Shi Hua - photographer, in charge of write up for part A, B and C, blog editor for the blog appearance .
Wafa Shrudin - photographer, in charge of write up for Part D 
Chua Yong Yi - blog editor for all the posts, ideas contributor 
Benedict Ee - photographer 

Thank you for visiting this blog .
This is JSS Class 1-3 Science Group 2 ICON. :D

Conclusion

In conclusion, the park is actually very important for us as it provide the opportunity for people to be physically active and physical activity is an essential part of an individual’s efforts to stay healthy, fight obesity and prevent chronic conditions that lead to coronary disease, high blood pressure and diabetes so having close-to-home access to places where one can recreate is one of the most important factors linking whether people will become active and stay that way. The park also preserve critical wildlife habitat and provide enjoyment and educational opportunity for children and families. 

It is also important for us to appreciate biodiversity and protect the natural environment as biodiversity has value for us as humans.The first, most direct example of this lies in goods obtained from nature,is food. It is natural and necessary for us to consume a variety of living things, from vegetables to animals, in order to remain healthy. Cloth is another such example; we need the diversity of life in order to make clothes for ourselves, whether they be cotton, as many are now, or animal skin, as used in the past. Other goods include pharmaceuticals and medicines that are derived from naturally existing sources. These have proven to be incredibly valuable to us, and millions of plants have never been chemically tested, which leaves many open opportunities for discovery of new organic remedies. Biodiversity also helps keep water clean and naturally manages waterflow and watershed. Trees and plants keep air clean through the constant transfer of carbon dioxide and oxygen, and overall biodiversity helps regulate climate.The natural environment has done so much for us. Thus, we must appreciate and protect it.

If we do not, us, the human beings will directly or indirectly lost everything be it food, water and clothing.We may even lost our lives as we depend on food and water to live. It also will affect the image of our country badly.

So lets do our part in protecting the natural environment by not doing selfish acts like littering, not plucking any plants or flowers, not catching any animals in the park and most importantly, appreciate the greenery scenery of the park and its surrounding.

    Saturday 23 July 2011

    Impact Of Man On Jurong Lake Park

    Natural environment is of crucial importance for social and economic life. We use the living world as a resource for food supply, an energy source, a source for recreation, natural resources for industrial products and a major source of medicines. In this respect the diversity of nature not only offers man a vast power of choice for his current needs and desires. It also enhances the role of nature as a source of solutions for the future needs and challenges of mankind. Thus , Man should never abuse it . Everyone have a part of in preserving our natural environment . Same goes for the park users in JLP .

    Here are some of the impact Man did on JLP . Things like littering are acts of irresponsibility and we should never do that . Every park user of JLP have a role to protect and preserve the natural environment so we should never do selfish acts like this . Because of those impacts man had made on JLP, it will not make JLP a good and comfortable place for everyone to visit. Although it might seems to be a very small matter , but as it gets more and more serious , it might affect the whole of JLP . 
    JLP have already been like this :
    The river would be polluted and would not be as clear as before and this would greatly affect the image of JLP . 
    The impact Man have made on JLP is indeed great . Nevertheless, the park officials have also made an effort to help maintain JLP a clean and comfortable place for us to enjoy . They have put up signs to remind people not to commit irresponsible or selfish acts and they have also hired cleaners to help to keep the park clean. 
    So in the end , it is us , the park-users who need to take note of all these things and take part in conserving our natural environment in JLP .

    Diversity Of Flora & Fauna

    FERN
    Belongs to the botanical group known as Pteridophyta. They have stems, leaves, and roots like other vascular plants but they reproduce via spores and have neither seeds nor flowers.
    Ferns first appear in the fossil record 360 million years ago in the Carboniferous but many of the current families and species did not appear until roughly 145 million years ago in the late Cretaceous (after flowering plants came to dominate many environments). Ferns are not of major economic importance, but some are grown or gathered for food, as ornamental plants, or for remediating contaminated soils. Some are significant weeds. They also feature in mythology, medicine, and art.
    IXORA
    Ixora is a genus of 529 species in the family Rubiaceae, consisting of tropical evergreen trees and shrubs. Ixora now grows commonly in subtropical climates in the United States, such as Florida. Ixora is also commonly known as West Indian Jasmine. Other common names include: rangan, kheme, ponna, chann tanea, techi, pan, santan, jarum-jarum, Jungle flame, Jungle geranium, and many more. Plants possess leathery leaves, ranging from 3 to 6 inches in length, and produce large clusters of tiny flowers in the summer. Members of Ixora prefer acidic soil, and are suitable choices for bonsaiRed ixora flowers are commonly used in Hindu worship, as well as in Indian folk medicine.

    Schefflera actinophylla
    Schefflera actinophylla is a tree in the Araliaceae family. It is native to tropical rainforests and gallery forests in Australia, New Guinea and Java. Common names include Umbrella Tree, Octopus Tree and Amate.S. actinophylla is an evergreen tree growing to 15 m (49 ft) tall. It has compound medium green leaves in groups of seven leaves. It is usually multi-trunked, and the flowers develop at the top of the tree. It often grows as an epiphyte on other rainforest trees. It produces racemes up to 2 metres (6.5 feet) long containing up to 1,000 small dull red flowers. Flowering begins in early summer and typically continues for several months.
    Coconut Tree
    The coconut palm, Cocos nucifera, is a member of the family Arecaceae. It is the only accepted species in the genus Cocos. The term coconut can refer to the entire coconut palm, the seed, or the fruit, which is not a botanical nut. The spelling cocoanut is an old-fashioned form of the word. Early Spanish explorers called coconuts/cocos nucifera "coco" (meaning "monkey face").
    Found across much of the tropics, the coconut is known for its great versatility as seen in the many domestic, commercial, and industrial uses of its different parts. Coconuts are part of the daily diet of many people. Its endosperm is known as the edible "flesh" of the coconut; when dried it is called copra. The oil and milk derived from it are commonly used in cooking and frying; coconut oil is also widely used in soaps and cosmetics. The clear liquid coconut water within is a refreshing drink and can be processed to create alcohol. The husks and leaves can be used as material to make a variety of products for furnishing and decorating. It also has cultural and religious significance in many societies that use it.
    Snail's eggs (The pink colour thing on the rocks)
    Snail is a common name for almost all members of the molluscan class Gastropoda that have coiled shells in the adult stage. When the word is used in a general sense, it includes sea snails, land snails and freshwater snails. Otherwise snail-like creatures that lack a shell (or have only a very small one) are called slugs.Snails can be found in a very wide range of environments including ditches, deserts, and the abyssal depths of the sea. 
    Gastropod species which lack a conspicuous shell are commonly called slugs rather than snails, although, other than having a reduced shell or no shell at all, there are really no appreciable differences between a slug and a snail except in habitat and behavior. A shell-less animal is much more maneuverable and compressible, and thus even quite large land slugs can take advantage of habitats or retreats with very little space, squeezing themselves into places that would be inaccessible to a similar-sized snail, such as under loose bark on trees or under stone slabs, logs or wooden boards lying on the ground.
    Squirrel
    Squirrels belong to a large family of small or medium-sized rodents called the Sciuridae. The family includes tree squirrels, ground squirrels, chipmunks,marmots (including woodchucks), flying squirrels, and prairie dogs. Squirrels are indigenous to the Americas, Eurasia, and Africa and have been introduced to Australia. Squirrels are first attested in the Eocene, about forty million years ago, and are most closely related to the mountain beaver and to the dormice among living species.Squirrels are generally small animals, ranging in size from the African pygmy squirrel, at 7–10 cm (2.8–3.9 in) in length, and just 10 g (0.35 oz) in weight, to the Alpine marmot, which is 53–73 cm (21–29 in) long, and weighs from 5 to 8 kg (11 to 18 lb). Squirrels typically have slender bodies with bushy tails and large eyes. Their fur is generally soft and silky, although much thicker in some species than others.
     
    Arecaceae/Palmae
    Arecaceae or Palmae, are a family of flowering plants, the only family in the monocot order Arecales. There are roughly 202 currently known genera with around 2600 species, most of which are restricted to tropical, subtropical, and warm temperate climates. Most palms are distinguished by their large, compound, evergreen leaves arranged at the top of an unbranched stem. However, many palms are exceptions to this statement, and palms in fact exhibit an enormous diversity in physical characteristics. As well as being morphologically diverse, palms also inhabit nearly every type of habitat within their range, from rainforests to deserts.
    Palms are among the best known and most extensively cultivated plant families. They have been important to humans throughout much of history. Many common products and foods are derived from palms, and palms are also widely used in landscaping for their exotic appearance, making them one of the most economically important plants. In many historical cultures, palms were symbols for such ideas as victory, peace, and fertility. Today, palms remain a popular symbol for the tropics and vacations.
    Myna
    The myna is a bird of the starling family. This is a group of passerine birds which occur naturally only in southern and eastern Asia. Several species have been introduced to areas like North America, Australia, South Africa and New Zealand, especially the Common Myna which is often regarded as an invasive species.
    Mynas are not a natural group; instead, the term myna is used for any starling in India and surrounding areas, regardless of their relationships. This range was colonized twice during the evolution of starlings, first by rather ancestral starlings related to the Coleto and Aplonis lineages, and millions of years later by birds related to the Common Starling and Wattled Starling's ancestors. These two groups of mynas can be distinguished in the more terrestrial adaptions of the latter, which usually also have less glossy plumage except on the heads and longer tails. The Bali Myna which is nearly extinct in the wild is highly distinctive. Some mynas are considered talking birds, for their ability to reproduce sounds, including human speech, when in captivity.
    Mimosa
    The scientific name of mimosa is ' mimosa pudica'. The word 'pudica' means shy as the leaves of the mimosawill close upon contact. Mimosa is also known as sensitive plant, humble plant, shameful plant and sleeping plant. Mimosa disperses its seed by wind and there are about 400 species of mimosa although they are very short-lived. The generic name of mimosa is derived from the Greek word which mean mimic'.
    Heliconia plant
    There are about 350 species of heliconia and they are close relatives of gingers, bananas, birds-of-paradise and traveler's palms. Heliconia is also known as lobster-claws, wild plantains or false bird-of-paradise. Contracy to popular beliefs, not all heliconias grow to uncontrollably large proportions. Heliconias are herbaceous or non-woody plants and each stem of the heliconia can only flower once. Heliconias are native to the tropical Americas and the Pacific Ocean Islands west to Indonesia. The name 'heliconia' is also derived from the greece word 'helikonios'.


    Tuesday 19 July 2011

    Introduction to Jurong Lake Park


    Jurong Lake lies next to the Lakeside MRT Station which derived its name from this geographical feature. The lake is surrounded by parkland, which serves as a recreational ground for nearby residents in Jurong East and Jurong West New Towns.
    There are several tourist attractions located near or even within the Lake, including a Chinese Garden and a Japanese Garden, which are located on their respective islands within the lake, as well as the nearby Tang Dynasty Village, which has since closed down. Amenities such as the Jurong East Swimming Complex, Jurong East Stadium and Jurong Point Shopping Centre are also relatively nearby. Fairway Country Club lies further south along Yuan Ching Road.
    Besides the 2 public housing estates (Jurong West and Taman Jurong), private apartments can also be found around the lake, including Lakeside Towers, Lakeside Apartments, Lakeside Condominium, Parc Oasis, The Mayfair and 3 brand new condominiums, Caspian, Lakeholmz and Lakeshore.
    A landscaped sanctuary called Jurong Lake Park was built around the perimeter of the lake and work was completed in January 2006. Also, a 2.8 kilometre water promenade along Jurong Lake Park would allow residents to participate in watersports.
    As is the case for most other reservoirs in Singapore, swimming is currently illegal in the lake, although this may change in line with the Singapore government's liberalisation of the use of bodies of water in the republic. Fishing is now allowed in some designated spots around the lake where only artificial baits can be used for fishing. However, the water is noted to be green in colour during dry weather and a murky brown after a downpour, the likely result of runoff from its urban catchment area.
    The lake came into prominence in 2002 when a 3-year old boy slipped out of his mum's grasp and fell into a flooded drain which led to Sungei Lanchar during a thunderstorm. His lifeless body was subsequently found in the lake after a search operation two days after the incident.
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    Our group have know more about JLP and the interesting things happening inside JLP after the trip . We felt that there is a need to protect the JLP from any harmful human activities and to preserve the biodiversity of the JLP . There is a great diversity of organisms in JLP that we have not had chance to come across and my group feel very fascinated by it so we decided to find out more about the organisms living in JLP and share with the world .