2p333's Science E-Portfolio 2012: Science Excursions

Term 2

Field Trip

Date: 24-3-12

Location: Singapore Botanical Gardens at Botanic Gardens Circle Line Station

Time: 6:30pm to 8:10pm

Activity: Family Picnic at Botanic Gardens

It was a day with normal weather, a little bit windy. When I first stepped out of the car, there was the smell of pandan filling the air at the carpark. And I found out there where pandan plants around the area where our car was parked. Then we set our picnic near an area with many bougainvillea plants, I started taking picture of them. There were many kinds of bougainvillea. As we also grow bougainvillea in our home, I started to grow more excited and fascinated about it. There were many species of different kinds of bougainvillea. Such as the Bougainvillea glabra ‘Cypheri’, Bougainvillea cv. Gillian Greensmith, Bougainvillea (Pink-variegated), Bougainvillea ‘Elizabeth Angus’, Bougainvillea ‘Bridal Bouquet’, Bougainvillea x spectoglabra, Bougainvillea glabra ‘Singapore Beauty’, Bougainvillea ‘Golden Glow’, Bougainvillea ‘Pink’, Bougainvillea ‘Double Red’. All these are under the family of the Nytaginaceae hort, some are from Bangalore, or even Africa. And after research I found out that the cause of having so many different kinds of bougainvillea originated from on family is because of the cross-pollination in flowers, just like commercial methods of gardeners creating new varieties of an old plant through sexual reproduction between plants, thus it would lead to the bougainvillea of different colour, size and tastes of fruit. This was something that is linked to what I have learnt in sexual reproduction in plants. I observed that many of them, has prickly and woody stems. Most of the Bougainvillea are pink or a dominant colour of red, however, some are even orange or white. Some visible structure on the bougainvillea is the stamens, carpels, and petals. The stigma, are usually not grown out, so I think that they are cross-pollinated flowers, as flowers that are suitable for cross pollination have male and female parts mature differently. The bougainvillea glabras’ have lesser or fewer thorns.

Next, I would like to talk about the interaction of nature with people. As you can see in the botanical gardens, there are many families there for picnic, sports such as jogging, badminton and throwing of the frisbee, there were also couples there, and many people also took photography there. To me this is how the gardens interact with people. Example, near the lake, there were many ducks, and people take photographs of the ducks. In the lush greenery and windy place, many people go there for jogging, due to the comfortable weather, and soothing tranquility. Many couples also go there and enjoy the scenery, there are also families, and through this, I can see that nature also helps to bond people.

( a picture of the pandan leaves beside our car )

( a picture on a bougainvillea plant )

( another picture of bougainvillea )

( a picture of the ducks )

( a picture of my brother and I at the Botanic Gardens )

Term 3

Field Trip to Zenxin Organic Farm

On Saturday 21/7/12, I went on a durian tour with my family. Before reaching the Organic Farm, the tour guide introduced to us the rules and regulations of Organic farming in Malaysia. Every single organic plant has to be certified. When organic plants are transported, they have to be separated with normal produce, and they cannot be mixed together. The farms have to submit a report every month, on what types of fertilizers or natural pesticides used, time of harvest, species harvested etc. These organic farms have a very strict rule that they have to be located 3-5km away from normal farms, unless the nearby farms is also organic, as the pesticides used by normal farms might be transported through wind.

As I walked into the farm, there was a constant pestering by the flies, which the tour guide reminded us beforehand. As this is an organic farm, no chemical pesticides are used, thus attracting so many flies. Firstly, we visited the dragon fruit section, the dragon fruit flower is very unique, it only blooms for a night before withering, and thus it is named as Queen of The Night. The size of the flower is equivalent to an adult’s face. We learnt that there were three kinds of dragon fruits. One is the normal one that we eat that has a red skin and white flesh, while the one with yellow skin and white flesh is grown in colder regions, and lastly the red skin with red flesh is the most expensive one, and it taste the best. The fruits of the dragon fruit plant will be covered with plastic bags so as to prevent insects from eating them, as no pesticides are used.

Walking around, I also learnt about the unique healing properties of many plants. Firstly is the Stevia, where it helps to cure diabetes due to it having a natural sweetness, and is also used as a food additive. Black Face General can prevent cancer and can be made as iced tea to cool you down. While there are cultural or traditional beliefs that if you eat a money plant, you will become rich. The air inside the farm was fresh, not having any smell of fertilizers or pesticides.

The methods used to grow plants in the organic farm are also very unique. Firstly, they will grow seeds in small plastic holes which are called the seeding tray, so insects cannot harm them, then after the 4 days of germination, and 7 days later, it will be ready for transplant into the soil. Before transplanting, they would feed the soil and improve the soil structure.

Later we walked for about 5 minutes to the watch tower. I imagined that it would be very high; however, it is just two stories high as it is on higher ground. We saw the whole view of the farm, one side was the places we visited just now and another is the banana plantation. We also visited their place to grow mushrooms. They grew the mushroom just like how we grow the mushroom given to us, the mushrooms were also grown in the plastic bottles, however there was no cap, as inside the giant hut, it was already very dark. The mushroom bottles were placed on shelves horizontally, thus the mushroom will seem to grow out from the side of the shelf.

In this farm, many people come here for activities, such as scouts do come here for camping, and some companies organize amazing races here. While many tour groups also come here to understand the growth of organic plants and fruits.

Reflections upon Organic Farm Trip

I learnt a lot from this trip to the organic farm. I understood how organic fruits and plants are produced, and the strict rules that they follow, so that these fruits can be so clean that it can be eaten just after picking it down, without having to even wash it. In organic farms, everything also seems more natural, where chemical fertilizers and pesticides do not need to be used. Even the water used for watering plants are collected from rain, and then filtered then sent to plants with pipes that connect them together. The conditions in organic farms are very tiring and more tedious than in normal farms. In organic farms, let me take an example of using the plastic bag to wrap around the fruit on the plant, in normal plants, the farmer only needs a plane that can just spray or pour pesticides onto the plants, and this is a much faster, efficient way. However, organic farms do not use much machinery and work has to be done manually. By doing this it helps the environment by not polluting water sources with chemical pesticides or fertilizers, and the produce are fresher, and it will not cause the plants to lose nutrients, causing these fruits and vegetables to be healthier.

Eating Durians

The tour guide reminded us that durians cannot be eaten when your stomach is empty, as it would cause indigestion. So before eating durian there were curry chicken and Bee Hoon provided so we can partially fill our stomach before eating the durians, so to start the digestion process in our stomach. Eating the durians, there were many kinds as there are sweet and bitter durians. The sweet durians have much yellowish-golden flesh, while the bitter durians have a paler flesh. The first durian I ate is a single seed durian, while other durians can be split into many sections and many seeds with the flesh. There were also watermelons provided to cool down the heaty durians. There was also a durian smell in my mouth, and the smell was still on my hand after I washed a few times. The tour guide said that pouring water into the durian shells and drinking from it after the water soaked in it for a while, it can help cool down the heat inside you. To get rid of the durian smell you can put the durian shell under the running water and wash your hands under the water flowed onto the durian. The washing method was quite effective and got rid of the smell of durian on my hands.