Audrey

Before the trip to Labrador Park , I thought that it is just like any other parks and there is nothing special about it . However after the trip , my opinion for it has changed . The trip had allowed us to see how does an actual Tropical Rainforest look like . Initially , I was not quite certain if the properties of the Tropical Rainforest that was taught ages ago , apply to any of the Tropical Rainforest . However , now I can assure that it definitely does ! The hot and wet climate enables plant growth throughout the year . Therefore , Labrador Nature Reserve has a rich variety of flora and fauna that will delight nature lovers. During the trip , I had seen several climbing plants , such as lianas . On the dark and damp forest floor , there was much leaf litter . From what I had learnt previously , leaf litter is essential in the Nutrient Cycle , which is a process that allow nutrients to return to the soil . When we were at the foot of the forest , we can clearly see the five distinct layers of the forest . This evidently proved that what we had learnt was absolutely correct !


I found out that Labrador Nature Reserve contains the only rocky sea-cliff on the main island of Singapore that is accessible to the public for recreation, education and scientific research ! When I knew that we had to get down to the beach to view the wave-cut platform and calculate the Wave Period , I was reluctant to do so as it was filled with algae and other disgusting substances . However , when I was on the beach itself , I realized that it wasn’t that bad . The only difference between the beach there and the beach in East Coast Park , is that you cannot swim there ! Unless , you intend to drown yourselves . At the wave-cut platform , we saw a notch . We were told that we would not be able to see the notch if it is high tide . Therefore , we are considered fortunate to view the notch . It was totally different experience as the notch that we used to see in textbooks and notes were just pictures . Overtime , due to erosion , the cliff will eventually collapse . It was amazing that the simple waves can cause a huge cliff to collapse . Therefore never underestimate the waves !


At the Dragon Teeth Gate , the huge cliff was expose to chemical weathering , oxidation , as it was reddish brown .
The lines of weaknesses of the rock and the humid climate increased the rate of weathering . Overtime , the cliff will eventually collapse . Therefore beware when you are walking under it !
During the trip , we saw the efforts of soil conservations and coastal protection . Example like the net , which helps to prevent the soil from eroding . The seawalls , which help to prevent coastal erosion .


In my point of view , I felt that Natural Vegetation is essential to our life . Without it , we will hardly survive as it provide us with endless supply of oxygen and played important role in various aspects . Simple things such as wasting paper , hence , resulting in further deforestation . By cutting down more trees will affect the nutrient cycle , thus , the soil will be infertile and prone to erosion . Due to the development of present world now , the demands of high living standards also increase drastically . Which means that more forest has to be cleared for infrastructure . Factories are also the culprit for deforestation and polluting of water . Land has to be cleared for it and the chemical substances released into the water will harm marine life . Therefore , I strongly believed that it’s everyone duty to conserve the park .


Although we had to walk under the scorching sun , I believed that everyone had benefited greatly . It had help to broaden my knowledge . There are many things that you can at there , such as fishing . If you are fortunate enough the catch is yours . Isn’t it interesting ? However , most importantly it’s FREE ! Been to Labrador park has given me a truly unique experience and I hope that there will be such trips in the future .

Pei Sze

Location1. The Aerial Tower

Able to see the distinct layers of the tropical rainforest.

The dense forest's ground floor. This picture shows how the soil conservation is being carried out.

The dense forest's ground floor. The picture also show that the roots of the tree is shallow and buttress.

Location2. Jetty and Rocky Beach

The wave cut plateform that we saw( during low-tide), the shape of the coast.

Location 3. Promenade

This is the sea-walls that had been built to protect wave erosion.

Location 4. At the Dragon Teeth Gate

From the colour of the rocks, i could say that both chemical and biological weathering took place. But in this case, chemical weathering was much more dominant than biological weathering. As the reddish-brown iron oxide was shown on the surface of the rock, therefore it shown that oxidation took place.

Ivy

This fieldtrip to the Labrador Park has been a fruitful experience for me. Unlike usual theory lessons in classroom, this lesson has been an interesting one. This fieldtrip has helped me to link and relate what we have learned in class with our natural environment.

The first location was the Aerial Tower where we saw the natural vegetation. Recalling what I have learnt a few months ago, this staircase walk from the Aerial Tower to the Jetty allowed me to look at the structure of the forest, as well as the characteristics of the leaves. I also saw the different methods of soil conservation.

The second location was the Jetty/ Rocky beach where we learnt about coastal studies. We observed the shape of the coastline and also calculated the wave period. We made our way down and saw the wave-cut platform and the notch. We were told that as waves continue to erode the coast, the cave would eventually collapse.

The third location was the Promenade where we observed coastal management. Seawalls were built to protect the coast. We were also told about the backwash and swash.

The final location was the Dragon Teeth Gate where weathering processes takes place. We were told how the rock would break down eventually by oxidation. This is due to the presence of lines of weaknesses that weaken the rock. We also got to know the historical significance of the Dragon Teeth Gate.

Nowadays, as more and more land is being used for commercial, recreational and industrial uses, it is important that we conserve a nature reserve park like Labrador Park. Everyone has a part to play. If we do not play a part in conserving the Mother Nature, what will happen in 10 years time?

Overall, I have gained much knowledge from this fieldtrip, which enabled me to understand the topics better.

Kiti

My Reflection

This trip to Labrador Park has given us the opportunity to venture outdoors to relate what we have learned in the topic of Coastal Studies, Weathering and Natural Vegetation to the field and we also observed the coastal/marine processes at work there. We also had a chance to interact with our own classmates and find out more about them.

The first location we went to was the Aerial Tower. As we journey down the staircase from the Aerial Tower to the Jetty, I recalled what have been taught in the topic of Natural Vegetation a few months ago. I find it easier to understand what we have learned by looking at the real things rather than just simply reading from the notes or looking at the 2D pictures in it. The leaves in the forest were indeed thick and leathery and smooth and waxy with downward pointing drip tips. Buttress roots were also found. The trees grow very closely to one another, forming a continuous canopy so we were actually sheltered from the sun. The condition inside the forest was hot and humid. The forest floor was dark with lots of leaf litter lying around and little undergrowth was found there. A lot of ants and insects were found in the forest and I saw algae on our way down which I find it surprising. Lianas and a few species of climbing plants were also found in the forest. Methods of soil conservation were also practiced there.

The second location we went to was the Jetty/Rocky Beach. It was lucky for us that we went there during low tide. We saw the wave-cut platform, which is only exposed during the low tide. It was a gently sloping coastal land surface that extends towards the sea from the foot of the cliff. The Rocky Beach was indeed rocky and filled with rocks, with bigger rocks nearer to the foot of the cliff and smaller rocks further away. The beach materials were indeed sorted on the beach. There was a construction of jetty going on. A notch was found at the foot of the cliff. I did not know that it was a notch until Miss Chee pointed it out. Initially I thought that the notch was just an ordinary hole. Further erosion of the notch would make it further enlarged and form a cave. Maybe 50 years later, we would get to see a cave in Labrador Park!

The third location we went to was the Promenade. The coastal protection method used along the Promenade was the building of seawalls. Actually, I have seen seawalls around in Singapore at East Coast and Sentosa in the past few years, but it is just that I did not know how a seawall looks like till this trip to Labrador Park. Building of seawall helps to reduce the effect of the waves and helps to reflect the waves away from the coast. However, building of seawalls have its own disadvantages, powerful backwashes of the reflected waves increase the rate of erosion of the beach materials and also causing the base of the seawalls to weaken resulting in the continuous rebuilding of the seawalls again and again. There are groups of anglers fishing along the Promenade too.

The last location we went to was the Dragon Teeth Gate. The type of rock that is found there is the granite rock. Biological weathering and chemical weathering mainly attacked the type of rock found there. There is evidence of oxidation taking place due the reddish-brown iron oxide that is present on the surface of the rock. The roots of the plants attacked the lines of weaknesses of rocks found there. Remnants of the past like the war relics, tunnels and a fort are also be found there.

Lastly, Labrador Park is one of the few Singapore's nature parks around in Singapore so it is very important to preserve the natural environment in our urban landscape. It is our responsibility to protect and conserve it. Also, Labrador Park is not just a normal park in Singapore. Visitors especially the history and geography students get to observe what they have learned more clearly.

Pei Sze

At the Labrador Park, I was being able to have a first hand encounter with the natural vegetation, weathering and the coastal studies, which we had learned them during chapter 5, 9 and 11. The trip had enabled me to know that geography is a subject that can be apply to our surrounding. With this trip I also can experience the things and conceive what we had learned during lesson, from both the notes and textbook.

At the Aerial Tower, where we actually recalled on the tropic on tropical rainforest, which we had studied a few months back. While walking down the steps, we saw a lot different characteristics of the trees, like the leaves, it is smooth and waxy, thick and leathery. The roots are buttress and also shallow that we can actually see the roots sticking out of the ground. Not only just that, when we will walking in the forest, we felt that it was so stuffy. This was because that the forest was so dense that the sun actually cannot enter through the ground floor easily. All this was being learned from the textbook and with this trip we will able to get to encounter the primary experience with just not seeing them in the pictures. Other than that, we also see how the human activities were being applied in order to help to prevent soil erosion from being occurred, other than just planting a lot of plants. Along the way, all of us were like eye-openers, everything to us seems so new and all of us were busy taking down notes and photos. Also reminding each other what to write down and what pictures that we should take.
Due to that we had been there during the time of low tide, all of us were able to see the way cut platform and the whole sharp of the coast. When I saw the notch in the textbook, I thought that it is actually quite small. But the notchthat we had seen there was actually quite big, compare to the notch that I had imagined from the textbook. At the place, we also do a little experiment by calculating the wave length per minute and was ask to draw out the shape of the coastal. Along the way, we saw litters along the coastal, from this I can conclude that human activities can either conserve or destroy the beauty of nature. Along the path of the coastal, we could also see the sea walls and knowing how this man-made structure actually helps to protect the wave erosion through the textbook. I also experience the sea breeze and forgetting the backwash and swash too.

Weathering of the rocks were also been seen when we process to the next location, the cliff that we seen was reddish brown in colour. From that I had applied to what I had learned during lesson that the chemical weathering actually took place, oxidation. Lines of weakness were also been shown and other than chemical weathering took place, biological weathering also took place.

Nowadays due to the development of Singapore, many of the lands had been actually used to build houses and factories, with this, it becomes very important to preserve a original green landscape which Singapore have, instead of being turn into a concrete city. Therefore, it’s our job to preserve what we have now.

All this information that we had learned during lesson actually apply fully to this trip, therefore I could say that this trip was a beneficial one for me.

Howe Yong

Hi. I feel that the trip to Labrador park was a rather meaningful one compared to the last time we were there. As it is a nature reserve, so there will naturally be a lot of conservation going on. However, by conserving Labrador park, we not only conserve our natural vegetation there, we preserve our coastal features there as well and learn the ways in which to protect it. All of this made me realise how fragile nature actually was, and it was of importance to start conserving it. However, we cannot leave such works only to the conservationist out there in the field. We ourselves must also play a part in conserving our natural elements. Ok, now on to the things that we saw during this field trip. Firstly, when we came down from the bus, i saw the floor. Ok, that was crap. Our first destination was in fact, the aerial tower, which gave us a spectacular view of the sea and the natural vegetation, such as the structure of the forest. After that, we made our way down where we came across some methods of soil conservation. After that, we went to the beach where we calculated wave period and we learned about the wave-cut platform and how it was formed. After that we headed along the pathway and along the way, we learned about seawalls and how it prevents the shore from being eroded. Following that, we came across a gigantic cliff that has been battered by the various weathering processes. However, we found out that the main weathering process happening there was in fact oxidation, as the rock was reddish-brown in colour, thus indicating the presence of iron in the rock. Also, there was a gun station just beside the cliff and that was where i met Johnny. Our final destination was at a piece of rock called(direct translation from Chinese)dragon teeth gate. This rock had also been weathered by oxidation as well as the roots of plants. I felt that i learned many things from this trip and i would gladly go back there again. Also, I learned something about my friend too. For example, wang zhi gets nose his bleeding very easily. Thats about all. Thank you.

Some Things to Think About

Dear Geographers,

You may want to address some of the following questions/ issues in your individual reflections:
1) What is the value of conserving Labrador Park as a Nature Reserve?
2) Whose job is it to conserve the environment?
3) Assess/ evaluate the type of conservation work that has taken place at Labrador Nature Reserve.
4) Have you learned anything new about your friends/ classmates on this trip?

Deadline for individual and group assignments remains as stated: 4 Dec 2006, 2359hrs. Kindly remind your friends to pen their thoughts if they have not yet done so. To those who have already submitted a post, your efforts are appreciated and do feel free to post more.

That's all for now...