Wednesday, January 26, 2011

25 January 2011

Finished section on tropical rain forests (:
Today was a wrap up on tropical rain forest, learned about the adaptation of fruits& flowers, adaptation of bark and adaptation of roots. I learned that flowers and fruits in the tropical rain forest are sweet smelling to attract insects for pollination and animals for seed dispersal. This is needed because these is little wind blowing in the forest due to its density of plants.
 

Next, learned more about tropical monsoon forest. Unlike the tropical rain forest, the monsoon forest has only 3 layers.. the canopy in also not interlocked as much as the tropical rain forest. I realized that although these two forests are different, they do have similarities between them, such as the waxy drip tips on plants. The differences between the two forest are caused by the weather and i learned how the trees and plants in the monsoon rain forests adapt to their surroundings, such as thick and coarse barks and branches to protect them during the dry season. Leaves in the monsoon rain forests,such as bomboo, are narrow to prevent water loss..I think that these adaptations the plants have are really clever!!


Also, i learnt about an interesting fact. I learned that the wet and dry seasons of the tropical monsoon climae are caused by the monsoon winds. Winds that blow in from different directions give rise to the monsoon climate in the rain forest. Before i knew, i thought that the monsoon rain forest had its climate just for the sake of having its climate.. hahaha


Anyways, really enjoyed geography lesson, looking forward to the next. (:

Thursday, January 20, 2011

Reflection (2)

Second lesson 20/1/11.
I learnt more about the characteristics a tropical rainforest. The lesson was easy to understand overall.
Also, i learnt about a new graph called the climotograph.
It shows the average temperature and average rainfall/year



Also, i learnt about the locations where different vegetation are grown at. They are actually influenced by the amount of rainfall and temperature in that area.
 
This geography lesson has been a fun as i learn many facts such as that half of the world`s population of plant and animal life forms are found in tropical rain forests, even though they only cover 6% of the earth`s surface.
 
It was astonish after Ms Lee told us about it. I hope i get to learn more interesting and 'bizarre' facts in geography lessons. Difinitely looking forward to the next lesson! (:





Monday, January 17, 2011

Class Reflection (1)

I had my first geography lesson on Tuesday, 11/1/11. I just started briefly on a topic about natural vegetation and and found it very interesting ! I now have a more in depth view on tropical rain forests after the explanation teacher gave. It was also a recap on lower secondary geography.


I discovered about many different types of trees after that lesson. To add on, i recently went for the secondary 3 camp in Malaysia. It was in a organic rice farm and had many types of vegetation there. I trekked up a hill in Malaysia which was located in a tropical rain forest. I saw the different types of plant and trees there which allowed me to relate to the recent geography lesson i had.

I saw the waxy drip tips the leaves had there to direct water down and away from it.  I also noticed that the trees there had a thin and tall bark, as mentioned during geography class. After witnessing all these similarities i found between geography class and the real rainforest, I am now more movtivated to study geography as i feel that its very meaningful if i can relate my real life with nature.


I definitely enjoyed my first geography lesson.