Walking down memory lane!

HELLO 403!

I know this is a really late post but yep,here's to recall on one of the topics we did before the holidays:

CLOUDS 

To refresh your memory on what we did on the lesson dated 1st February (Oops),here's a brief summary on what clouds are.

Clouds are formed when air containing water vapour is cooled below a critical temperature called dew point and the resulting moisture condenses into droplets of microscopic dust particles (condensation nuclei) in the atmosphere. The air is normally cooled by expansion during its upward movement (adiabatic cooling). Upward flow of air in the atmosphere may be caused by convection resulting from intense solar heating of the ground; by a cold wedge of air (cold front) near the ground causing a mass of warm air to be forced aloft; or by a mountain range at an angle to the wind. Clouds are occasionally produced by a reduction of pressure aloft or by the mixing of warmer or cooler air currents. 

Cloud formation mechanisms can be anything that causes water vapour to cool and condense which can be achieved through 1) Direct Cooling 2) Lifting of an airmass 3)Buoyant Lifting 4) Mechanical forcing.

Now,what is adiabatic cooling?

Adiabatic Cooling is a form of condensation whereby the air parcel is warmed and rises in pockets as thermals.The parcel of air in the lower atmosphere will compress and warm because it finds itself in a place with higher pressure.However,the parcel of air that is higher in the atmosphere will expand and cool because it finds itself under lower pressure.This process takes place without heat energy entering/leaving the parcel!

You may go to the following website for an animation on adiabatic processes:

http://www.wiley.com/college/strahler/0471480533/animations/ch06_animations/animation1.html

After learning the concepts,here's a recollection of what we did for the lesson @amphi :)

Materials:

1. Bottle (With cap)

2. Hot water

3. Matches

Procedure:

1. Add some hot water into the bottle

2. Shake it ensuring that the bottle is "coated" with the hot water

3. Pour out the water in the bottle

4. Quickly cap the bottle

5. Light a match

6. Blow to extinguish it and quickly place the match into the bottle,enabling the smoke to enter

7. Cap the bottle

8. Apply pressure on the bottle by squeezing and crushing it.

9. Remove the cap

10. Squeeze the bottle over a piece of black paper to see "clouds" emerging!

Yup,to conclude this blog post.Here's the hyperlink to similar experiments as the one we did in class!Enjoy :D

- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E8AvfXar9zs&feature=related

- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HIZq2gXBsHU&feature=related

Peace.

Glenda (05)

trip to Pulau Ubin

We went to Pulau Ubin on the 10th of May, it was quite fun :D. Our group found out a lot of useful resources to our project.

1. the waste of pulau ubin

The photo above shows the pollution in pulau ubin. As we found out, there is actuallt a lot of untreated garbage in pulau ubin. This may be caused by the lack of dustbin and the waste management system in pulau ubin is not very good. Hence, in our project, we need to solve this problem to prevent these wastes from harming the environment. Thus, we come up with a solution.

We will create a full Public waste collection System to collect all the refuse. Garbage can and refuse collection points will be distributed all over the island according to population density. After that, we will transfer all the refuse back to mainland to recycle and dissolve.

2.water sources

There are actually small revers in Pulau Ubin. We can make full uses of these water resources when we build our sustainable island. For example, agriculture area could be arranged near the water resources. If necessary, widen the river could also be a way to do small transportation.

3.the choose of location for all the plants

when we cycle around the island, we had decided where to place different plants. For example,

Here would be a goood place for agricultural development. Why? Frstly, the ground is flat. And it is near water resources.

This trip was meaningful. We got to know more facts about pulau ubin and it is very helpful to our project. Last but not least, we had fun there. :D

Saifan (24)

Essay reflection - Solar energy

My essay for the sustainable environment project is about using solar panels to provide energy. In my essay, I tried to justify why solar energy is sustainable:

1. It provides a constant source of energy for Pulau Ubin. Astrophysicists have calculated that the energy from Sun will not run out in billion years, therefore it is certainly a renewable source. Although the sun does not provide energy at night, modern technology enabled us to store energy such as thermal mass systems or phase change materials.

2. It does not harm the environment, unlike fossil fuels powered energy plants because of greenhouse gas emission.

3. Location and cost of maintenance are not problems for solar panels. An average solar panel usually occupies 3-meter square, and can last up to 25 years.

In my essay, I tried to make use the system approach to make various comparisons with other forms of energy and the impact on different spheres (atmosphere, biosphere) of the earth to justify why solar energy is eco friendly and sustainable. The input, output, flow and storage were also mentioned.

Generally, I think I did okay for the essay. It was clear and logical, however Miss Kavi commented that my essay lacked specific examples, which is quite true because I did not do much research on it. More research should have been done to provide real-life examples for the project.

In conclusion, I think it is important to follow the rubrics closely to score well for any essay. Also, you should provide specific examples to illustrate your points.

Nguyen Anh Tuong (21).

trip reflection

On 10 of May, Monday, we had a field trip to Pulau Ubin. This is my second time to go to this island. Last time we went there for OBS, while this time we went there for the geography project of sustainable development. First we went to Changi Point Ferry Terminal to take a boat, where is located behind Changi airport. It is far away from the centre of Singapore. It took around 10 minutes from ferry terminal to get at Pulau Ubin.
As we know, Pulau Ubin is a fantastic place for hikers to explore its primordial beauty. We rent a bicycle after we landed the island. I have not ridden bicycle for a long time. It was quite pleased to ride bicycle on a luxuriant land. There are various trees around the beach. We had a comfortable break at there. Then we rode the bicycle following the main road into the hinterland of Pulau Ubin. The main road in Pulau Ubin is made of blacktop, but it does not mean Pulau Ubin has been urbanised. There are always various trees around the road. The trip with bicycle was quite relaxing and interesting. You would not hear bell ring from the car. You would not see any HDB. Our destination should be Chek Jawa. Chek Jawa is a unique natural area where six major habitats meet and mix. It is located at intertidal area of eastern Pulau Ubin. However, we did not sure whether the route is correct or not, finally we did not get there. However, we still enjoyed the fantastic class outing in Pulau Ubin. We took the boat from Jetty back to Singapore city as the end of the field trip. Zhang Ruizhi(25)

Essay reflection(Wasteeeeeeeeeeee)

My essay is about converting organic waste into compost, a fertiliser that can be used in agriculture. Organic waste is allowed to decompose under a controlled environment in a container. Heat gets trapped in the container and speeds up the decomposition process. The end product is a nutrient rich material similar to soil.

I think what my essay lacks is the evaluation part. There are many problems with compost and in my essay i merely stated them. I think what i could have done is to evaluate the problems and come up with solutions for it, also the how the problems affects the ecosystem.

For example, one problem with composting is that pests might treat the container as a food source if the container is not sealed properly. In my essay, i merely stated that a rise in the population of pests such as rats and cockroaches might occur if the pests gain access to the organic waste in the container. I could have written down the effects of the rise in population of pests, like the spreading of diseases that the pests carry and also a imbalance in the food chain.

Generally, i feel that my essay is not too bad but it lacks depth. More research could have been done to show the impact of using compost to treat organic waste instead of throwing it away.

Dylan Fu (19)

ESSAY REFLECTION

About 3 weeks ago, Miss Kavi gave us back our essay that we did on sustainable development. I am here to share about my essay content and the knowledge i have gained from it.

My essay is about photovoltaic cells. Photovoltaic is the direct conversion of light into electricity at the atomic level. Thus, it is able to provide energy for mankind to use. Using the input, output, flow and store method, I tried to convey my point that photovoltaic cells is an invention that is sustainable to both the human kind and the environment. i believe that this method was effective in bringing my message across as i was able to explain why and how photovoltic cells is benefitial to us.

However, i feel that i could have improved my essay with the use of diagrams as this could help bring out my point better.

Also, i could have be elaborate on some of my points more clearly as some of my points were quite vague.

That's about it. I feel that i did okay for my essay. Hope you all have learned something useful from your essay

DONAVON(17)

About my essay reflection (Energyyy)

Hey class,

About two weeks ago, we got our essays back and I read the comment given by Ms Kavi. My essay introduces a project idea of generating energy called Energy-from-Waste and evaluates its feasibility and effectiveness. I’m just here to share both the essay’s content and what I’ve learned from it.

Firstly, about the content:

My inspiration is that Energy-from-Waste (EfW) can not only generate energy, but also process waste and thus, save lots of time and money. This is the most However, it involves two topics and can easily go confusing. In the second, third, fourth and fifth paragraph, I write about the input, output, flow and store respectively. Although I intended to show the whole process step by step, it seemed to refer not only one project idea. In this respect, I think that my too-detailed explanation did not focus on the most important idea of the whole process. Since I am doing energy part, I should have written more about how waste is converted to usable energy and eliminate the words describing where the waste comes from and how exhaust is dealt with. That’s what I think how to make my clarification clearer.

In addition, using diagrams or graph is a very effective approach to clearly demonstrate what you are talking about. My project idea is not hard to understand but has a lot of steps. To make sure the readers are well followed, I should use a simple diagram to show the complex processes.

Secondly, about the language:

Since the essay is likely to be professional and convincing, rhetoric questions cannot be used in such kind of essays. Another thing I learned is that when you summarized the research with lots of professional terms, you should generally know the concepts first. If you just intend to make it simple and understandable and guess what the concepts mean, the ideas will be distorted.

OK, I think that’s it! Generally my essay is not so badly done…it’s not good though. Hope you all learn something from your essays, whatever the marks you get.

Lei Peng (20) :D