Bethany

Labrador Park was an ideal excursion to open our eyes and broaden our views on what we’ve been studying in black and white for the past few months. It was personally very enjoyable as we got to see with our own eyes the features e.g Rainforest, Sea Walls, Weathered rock. We were also able to study the characteristics of each feature we observed.

The first location at the Aerial Tower, was the Rainforest itself. I noticed the distinct layers of the Rainforest, namely the Emergent, Canopy, Understorey, Shrub and Ground Layer. I also observed the leaves had a down ward pointing drip-tip. Upon touching the leaves, I realized they were smooth and waxy, like what we studied in the notes, which allows rain water to flow off the leaf easily. This gave me first hand experience. I also noticed that environmentalist working at the reserve used curvy plastic (what’re they called?) to hold the soil firm to prevent soil erosion from occurring easily, the sloping forest floor contributed to it.

Moving on, we stood along a bridge above a wave-cut platform and a cliff, and were asked to draw a sketch of it. Not only do we study and know facts about it, but we were able to see it for ourselves. The cliff was covered in slight vegetation and the wave-cut platform had medium sized boulders aligned along the shore. I also noticed the swash, back wash and the white foam the waves brought in. It was pretty peaceful, calming and enjoyable to be there.

After that, we visited the Promenade. There we observed one of the methods we studied, used to protect coastal erosion. The Sea Wall. It was built along side the railing that separated the people and the water. Since the amount of water there is much more, the larger the fetch and then the stronger the wave power. The sea wall was built to repel the oncoming strong waves from eroding the shore too fast, by allowing the direct force of the waves onto the Sea wall itself. I thought it was interesting.

Lastly, we came to the Dragon Teeth Gate. There we were able to observe rock weathering taking place. More specifically, oxidation. The reddish-brown colour on the surface of the rock told us that iron oxide was present.. thus bringing along the colour upon weathering. There was also plants growing above the rock, which referred us to Biological Weathering, where this time plants were involved.

Lastly, we also read a small portion of the History of the Dragon Teeth Gate and its origin and meaning. Although, I really cannot remember any of it. Just that a certain man named William Farquar was one of the pioneers. I really enjoyed my time there as it opened my eyes to the beauty of it all, rather than just reading, studying and memorizing about it from sheets of paper. Thank you Ms Chee for the excursion (: