This blog was created for biology PBL. It contains 6 parts in total excluding this welcome post. All the information inside was hand typed by yours truly, SNAILS (group 8, oneone/.). We hope that after reading this, you should be able to know the importance of being eco-friendly and the consequences if we waste gaia's resources. The posts are in order (A,B,C,D,E,F) respectively. Enjoy.

Jurong Lake is a freshwater lake and reservoir located in the western region of Singapore . The lake contributes to the water supply of the country and lies next to the Lakeside MRT Station . Tourist attractions such as the Japanese and Chinese garden are located near or within the lake , in which the lake serves as a recreational ground .Public housing estates and private apartments could be found near the lake .

A landscaped sanctuary called Jurong Lake Park was built around the perimeter of the lake and was completed in January 2006.In addition, a 2.8 kilometre water promenade along Jurong Lake Park allows residents to participate in watersports.urong Lake is a freshwater lake and reservoir located in the western region of Singapore . The lake contributes to the water supply of the country and lies next to the Lakeside MRT Station .

Tourist attractions such as the Japanese and Chinese garden are located near or within the lake , in which the lake serves as a recreational ground .Public housing estates and private apartments could be found near the lake .

Our reflection:

After the trip to Jurong Lake Park, we discovered that there are so many type of plants and animals/insects that we don’t usually notice when we visit Jurong lake park. We saw many different interesting plants like a weird seedling we never ever seen before in our life!!! The park is a very nice place as it lets me feel very calm and peaceful, the air is very fresh with all the greenery. Thus, we think that we should take good care of it rather than destroying it. We really enjoy this fruitful trip to Jurong lake park!! The park also brought us even more together with nature.

Heteroptera that are named for their flat, boat-shaped bodies and long, fringed, oarlike hindlegs. Members of this cosmopolitan family are usually less than 13 mm (0.5 inch) long. They can be found from high elevations in the Himalayas to the lowest parts of Death Valley and in fresh, brackish, and salt waters. The water boatman is lighter than water and generally attaches itself to vegetation at the bottom of a pond or stream and breathes from an envelope of air stored around its body and under its wings. Oxygen inspired by the insect from the bubble is replaced by diffusion from the water, while carbon dioxide expired into the bubble is extracted by dissolution in the water. The insect swims with rapid, jerking movements. The water boatman has an unsegmented, conical beak. When feeding, it scoops up algae and other small organisms with its spoon-shaped, fringed front legs. Eggs are usually deposited on underwater vegetation. Most males have stridulatory organs, rough areas on the forelegs that make a chirping sound when rubbed together. The water boatman does not bite people.
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Pond skaters are insects that inhabit the surface of fresh water where they feed primarily on other, usually dead or drowning,
insects. Although the name pond skater is frequently used to refer specifically to the largest members of this group, belonging to the family Gerridae, here we will use it to refer to all surface-dwelling insects of the order Hemiptera .
The Hemiptera or true bugs all share highly modified mouthparts that form a jointed, sucking beak, or rostrum , enclosingthe slender mandibles and maxillae . The rostrum is used to pierce plant or animal tissues and suck out fluids. In one group of hemipterans, the wings are symmetrical and are folded, roof-like, over the back. These are in the sub-order Homoptera and include many sap-feeding insects such as aphids, leafhoppers and cicadas. In the other sub-order, the Heteroptera , the wings are folded at a slant across the back and the overlapping portions of the forewings are thin membranes. From this derives the Latin name Heteroptera or 'different wings.'
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A dragonfly is a type of insect belonging to the order Odonata, the suborder Epiprocta or, in the strict sense, the infraorder Anisoptera. It is characterized by large multifaceted eyes, two pairs of strong transparent wings, and an elongated body. Dragonflies are similar to damselflies, but the adults can be differentiated by the fact that the wings of most dragonflies are held away from, and perpendicular to, the body when at rest. Even though dragonflies possess 6 legs like any other insect, they are not capable of walking.
Dragonflies are valuable predators that eat mosquitoes, and other small insects like flies, bees, ants, and butterflies. They are usually found around lakes, ponds, streams and wetlands because their larvae, known as "nymphs", are aquatic.
Nymphs can deliver a painful bite when threatened. The wound should be cleaned thoroughly to prevent water-borne infections.
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Snails and mussels are the only molluscs that not only live in the sea, but also in the fresh waters – rivers and creeks, ponds and lakes - on the continents. While life conditions are quite constant in the vast reaches of the sea (except from the littoral zones), life in fresh water displays constant changes of water supply, temperature and currents, as a result habitats being a mosaic from small living spaces and obliging their inhabitant to adapt very closely to ecological conditions.
In the course of evolution groups related to each other may be isolated by ecological adaptation. The isolation may even go so far, that mating is not possible any more – a new species has evolved. It is because of this, that fresh water molluscs, mussels and snails, are much richer in species than are their marine relatives.
In contrary to the other, exclusively marine, molluscs, the number of species in snails and mussels is much larger: Of the 55,400 mollusc species known to science, about 53,000 are gastropods or bivalves, of these about 10,000 bivalves and 43,000 gastropods - over three quarters of all mollusc species.
Comparing some European species of fresh water gastropods it becomes obvious, that relationship is closer between some freshwater groups and certain marine gastropod groups, than to other groups of fresh water gastropods. It is for this reason it is assumed today, that the transition of gastropods from sea into fresh water has happened several times during evolution, thus creating different groups of fresh water snails not more closely related to each other, than all being gastropods.
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By late spring, the light green leaves reach nearly nine feet tall, forming a sheath where they tightly embrace the stalkís base. The leaves hide the new flower head until it nears maturity. Peel them back to reveal it. The plant is so primitiveódating back to the time of the dinosaursóthat male and female flowers are separate on the stiff, two-parted flower head: the pollen-producing male is always on top, while the seed-bearing female is forever relegated to the bottom. Clearly, this species evolved long before the Sexual Revolution. (Biological speaking, this arrangement is effective because the male part withers away when its job is done, whereas the female part must remain connected to the rest of the plant until the seeds have matured and dispersed.)
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Backswimmer common name for water bugs of the cosmopolitan family Notonectidae, so named because they swim upside down, usually near the surface of the water. They have oval bodies and long, oarlike hind legs, with which they swim rapidly, but their backs are more convex than those of the water boatmen. The exposed belly is yellowish to black. Backswimmers, 1/8 to 1/2 in. (3-12 mm) long, feed on small crustaceans, insect larvae, snails, and sometimes on small fish and tadpoles from which they suck the body juices. They can inflict a painful bite on a human being. Most of the 50 North American species overwinter as adults. The eggs are usually laid on submerged plants or rocks and development to the adult stage takes 40 to 60 days. Backswimmers are classified in the phylum Arthropoda , class Insecta, order Hemiptera, family Notonectidae.
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Mimosa is a genus of about 400 species of herbs and shrubs, in the subfamily Mimosoideae of the legume family Fabaceae. There are two species in the genus that are notable. First the Mimosa pudica because of the way it folds its leaves when touched or exposed to heat. It is native to southern Mexico, Central America and South America but is widely cultivated elsewhere for its curiosity value, both as an indoor plant in temperate areas, and outdoors in the tropics. Outdoor cultivation has led to weedy invasion in some areas, notably Hawaii. Second, the Mimosa tenuiflora, which is best known for its use in shamanic ayahuasca brews due to the psychedelic drug DMT found in its root bark.
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Pittas are medium-sized birds with a large head, short neck, strong bill often hooked at the tip, round body, short rounded wings, short tail, longish legs, and strong, large feet. They are some of the world's most brightly colored birds and are sometimes called the "jewels of the forest" and "jewel thrushes" (because of similarity to thrushes)
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The larvae and pupa are stated by Mackinnon to resemble closely the larva and pupa of P. agestor'. Messrs. Davidson and Aitken's description of them is as follows: "Not unlike the larva of the Ornithoptera group in form, having similar rows of fleshy processes, but it is by far the handsomest Papilio larva we know, being of a dark umber-brown colour with a bright red spot at the base of each proce
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The plant prefers light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils, requires well-drained soil and can grow in nutritionally poor soil. The plant prefers acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils. It cannot grow in the shade. It requires moist soil.

We have been assigned to the water-edge community and there is serene ambience when we have visited there. There are snails that lives in water and plants that we have not seen in common nature reserves such as a plant which have aerial roots.

HOW HUMAN ACTIVITIES CAUSED AN IMPACT ON THE PARK AND THE ENVIRONMENT

In the park,there are many users for many different activities,but some inconsiderate users tend to throw their rubbish into the lake or anywhere,examples:floor,grass or anywhere…these inconsiderate park users are ether lazy to walk to the nearby dustbin or they think throwing one of their indivisual rubbish does not affect anything..but they are all wrong!throwing rubbish into the lake can cause great harm to the marine life,the litters in the water will cause a great harm to the marine life.the litters found in the water will affect the water quality(water becomes polluted with litters) and the marine animals will mistake the plastic bags or other things they are not supposed to eat as food,they will eat those rubbish in the lake,and suffocate

thus,it causes death in the marine animals.


THE CONSERVATIONS THE OFFICIALS DID.

. the officials have put up signs in the park to warn the park users not to throw liters in the lake(or other uneccessary actions, to prevent lesser damage done to the nature of the park.they sometimes walk around to see if some park users are doing some unessary actions like fishing which can also cause harm to the lake.

The increase in activity in Jurong Lake Park has affected the natural environment there. A lot of people litter and spoil the grace scenery there. As such, when people fish, they do not control and sometimes over-fish. This can affect the food chain in the ecosystem. People usually also make a lot of noise, which causes noise pollution. There is also a construction area which can pollute the quality of the lake.

The lake can be improved by sending teams to catch people who litter and fine them or clean the lake up. The lake should not have too many activities in a month and people who participate in the lake activities should also closely monitor their own behavior.

The park can put notices or even go onto facebook or blog to attract people since we are leaving in a very high technology century. They can also go and post some videos on youtube and attract people to watch the video about conserving the lake. As such, they can also give out flyers to residents living nearby to tell them about the situation.

Yee Kiat: photographer; in charge of doing part B and part E
Yan Wen: in charge of doing part A and D and making the blog template
Su Xian: in charge of making the blog template
Li Min: in charge of doing part C and part F

SNAIL-S 8
13 years old this year, JURONG-IANS!
MOLLUSCS AND PARASITES.
TEAMWORK. HOOHA!
We are so ON biology.
HERE WE GO♥
(L)MR RIDUWAN.
(X)CONSISTS, Yeow su xian (21)// Lim yan wen (12)// Loh yee kiat (30)// Ang li min (23)

Sophisticated Molluscs.

MySpace Playlist at MixPod.com

to BIOLOGHEE!