@ MacRitchie

Name: Class:

Contents

IntroductionHistory of MacRitchieNavigate MacRitchieFeatures of MacRitchieWater WatchBiodiversity – PlantsBiodiversity – MammalsBiodiversity – ReptilesBiodiversity – InsectsBiodiversity – BirdsBiodiversity - OthersRate the ImpactImportance of MacRitchieReflectionsMy Notes

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© Project BOLE 2011

IntroductionWhat comes to your mind when you think of Biodiversity? Giraffes and elephants on the African Plains? Penguins and seals of the Antarctic Ocean? Do you know that there are also some amazing animals and plants in Singapore beyond the zoo? Today, you would be experiencing Singapore’s natural heritage firsthand at our first reservoir, MacRitchie Reservoir.

What you would learn about today?

BOLE

History and Features of MacRitchie

Quality and Importance of

Water

Biodiversity and

ConservationHuman Impact on MacRitchie

1

History of MacRitchie

Before 1867

• J. T. Thomson proposed the construction of a reservoir

• Funds were brought in

1867

• Reservoir was completed• Called Impounding Reservoir• Renamed Thomson Road Reservoir

later

1877• Supporting pumps and distributing network

completed

Early 1890s

• Reservoir expanded• Project supervised by Municipal Engineer

James MacRitchie• Reservoir later renamed MacRitchie

Reservoir to recognize his contributions

Why do you think the reservoir had to be expanded in the early 1890s? (Hint: As the years past, what happened to the number of people in Singapore?)

2

Navigate MacRitchie

Which one is MacRitchie?

N

What does the shape of MacRitchie look like to you?

3

Navigate MacRitchie

4

This would be where we would be trekking for the nature trail later on. We would start at Prunus Trail, going on to Petai, then we would turn back after a rest at Petai Hut.

Features of MacRitchie

Forest ReserveThe reserve is home to more than 500 fauna species and countless flora species and covers an area of about 3043 hectares.

The ReservoirConstructed in 1867, it contributed to Singapore’s water supply with its water’s cleanliness maintained through biofiltration, where the forest cleanses the water.

Dam and Draw-off Tower Impound and retain water within its structure, and collect water.

5

Features of MacRitchie

BoardwalkServes as a non-destructive footpath to the forest reserve, and brings visitors closer to nature.

Amenities CentreServes as an information to house information about MacRitchie, also contains a café for visitors to meet up with one another and catch up over a meal of coffee

Public Recreation FacilitiesIncludes fishing areas, kayak lanes, fitness stations and more for the public to promote public recreation there.

6

Water WatchWhat is the water quality like in MacRitchie Reservoir? Let’s use some

water monitoring methods to find out.

SMELLSince pure potable (drinkable) water has no smell, the smell of the collected water will tell you if it’s polluted. For example, if you smell oil, there might have been an oil spill.

What do you smell? What can you see? CONCLUSION

COLOURSince pure potable water is colourless, the colour of the water can tell us if there are bacteria, pollutants or algae in the water. Note that coloured water does not necessarily mean pollution.

What is the colour?Murky Brown Clear and Brown

CONCLUSION Clear and GreenMurky Black/Grey

CLARITY OF WATER

Clarity is the level of murkiness in the water, how clear is the water, which affects the amount of sunlight passing through it, which would affect the growth of aquatic plants.

Which is the faintest number you can on the turbidity disc?1 2 3 4 5

CONCLUSION

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TEMPERATURETemperature changes with the weather and depth. Different temperature support different types of organisms.

What is the temperature of the water?

CONCLUSION

OTHER INDICATORS

Additional Information

Other indicators of water quality include

pH The level of acidity of the water. If water is too acidic (like lemons or vinegar) or too alkaline (like soap or bleach), fishes will die.

Dissolved oxygenThe amount of oxygen in the water. If the amount of oxygen is too low, fishes will die. 4 milligrams per liter (4mg/l) is the minimum amount of oxygen needed to support fish life.

________ oc

CONCLUSION: Overall Water Quality is

Generally Good Poor Cannot conclude

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PlantsSilent but nonetheless amazing

Characteristics:__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Did you know:Our native rattan has the longest stem of all plants.

Fan Palm

Hydrilla

Singapore Rhododendron

Golden Hairy Fig

TembusuTree

Rattan

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Sunda Pangolin

Slender Squirrel

Colugo Plantain Squirrel

MammalsConquerors of the land, sea

and sky

Characteristics:________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Did you know:Two mammalian species called monotremes lay

eggs. Can you name them?Common Palm Civet

Long-tailed Macaque

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ReptilesRulers of the Dry

Characteristics:______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Did you know:Reptiles evolved from

amphibians, and the first reptile was Hylonomus.

Common Sun Skink

Malayan Water Monitor Red-eared Slider

Oriental Whip Snake Clouded

Monitor

Changeable Lizard

Green Crested Lizard

Common Flying Dragon

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InsectsSmall in size,

gigantic in variety

Characteristics:___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Did you know:Beetles are the most

diverse organisms of all, with over 350000 species

identified so far.

Common Blue Sprite Damselfly

Carpenter Bee

Red Darter Dragonfly

Micropezid Fly

Common Forest Cricket

Common Posy Butterfly

Malayan Eggfly

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BirdsMasters of the Skies

Characteristics:________________________________________________________________________________________________

Did you know:Singapore’s national bird is the Crimson

Sunbird, not the hummingbird.

Magpie Robin

White-breasted Waterhen Little Heron

Collared Kingfisher

White-throated Kingfisher

Common Striped Tit Babbler

Greater Racket-tailed Drongo

White-bellied Sea Eagle

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OthersStill more …

Did you know:While there are estimated to be over 1.5

million species of fungi, we only know about 0.075 million up to 2010. There’s still so much more to learn and discover

about Biodiversity.

Field Frog

Javanese RicefishPond Wolf Spider

Fungi Common Striped Scorpion

Common Tree Frog

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Red Millipede

Rate the ImpactHuman Activities in the Reserve impact the environment in one way or

another. Observe the human activities at MacRitchie Reservoir and determine their impacts, and whether they are good or bad to the

environment.

Visitors Impacts Why?

Canoeists Positive Negative Depends

Joggers Positive Negative Depends

Fishermen Positive Negative Depends

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Rate the Impact

Others Impacts Why?

Overall Rating of Human impact on MacRitchie Reservoir

High Low Cannot Conclude

___________________________________________________

How does human activity affect the water and Biodiversity?

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Importance of MacRitchie Reservoir

Why is this beautiful nature sanctuary so important to us?

People (Community)

Water (Hydrology)

Environment(Ecology)

What can you do to ensure that MacRitchie remains healthy?

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What can you do to conserve Biodiversity?

What can you and your family do at home to conserve water?

ReflectionsWhat have you learnt through this programme?

What can you do to conserve Biodiversity and water?

How can you and your friends do to help keep our nature reserves clean?

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MY NOTES

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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Bibliography

Microsoft ClipArtPage 3 MacRitchie Map - Running Alck http://www.alck.org/blog/?p=907Page 6 Amenities Centre – Urban Forest http://uforest.blogspot.com/2010_09_01_archive.htmlPage 6 Boardwalk – Panoramio http://www.panoramio.com/photo/31371421Page 6 Kayaking – A Walk across the Giant http://hikethegiant.blogspot.com/2011/02/macritchie-

reservoir-park-singapore.htmlPage 10 Colugo – National Parks http://www.nparks.gov.sg/cms/gallery2/main.php?g2_itemId=1908Page 10 Common Palm Civet – Blue Planet Biomes

http://www.blueplanetbiomes.org/common_palm_civet.htmPage 10 Plantain Squirrel - Into the Wild http://intothewildsingapore.blogspot.com/2010/08/plantain-

squirrel.htmlPage 10 Slender Squirrel, Page 14 Javanese Ricefish - Ecology Asia http://www.ecologyasia.com/Page 10 Sunda Pangolin – Mongabay http://news.mongabay.com/2008/1015-hance_pangolin.htmlPage 11 Oriental Whip Snake – flickriver http://www.flickriver.com/photos/indulgences/3230745151/Page 11 Green Crested Lizard - The Tide Chaser http://tidechaser.blogspot.com/2010/03/another-great-

trip-at-sungei-buloh-14.htmlPage 11 Common Flying Dragon, Page 14 Field Frog – Wildlife Singapore http://www.wildsingapore.per.sg/Page 12 Carpenter Bee – Narragansett Pest Control http://narragansettpestcontrol.com/?page_id=100Page 12 Common Blue Sprite Dragonfly – Nature Photography

http://sayhitoant.blogspot.com/2009_02_01_archive.htmlPage 12 Malayan Eggfly – Flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/limwy/4869531680/Page 13 White-throated Kingfisher – Oriental Bird Images

http://orientalbirdimages.org/photographers.php?p=127&action=birderimages&Bird_Image_ID=23252&Birder_ID=511

Page 13 Collared Kingfisher – Dig Deep http://digdeep1962.blogspot.com/2009/04/27th-march-2009-kapar-power-station.html

Page 13 White-breasted Waterhen – Birds of India http://www.kolkatabirds.com/cranes.htmPage 13 Little Heron – Journey into the World of Birding

http://yadz76.blogspot.com/2009_04_01_archive.htmlPage 13 Common Striped-tit Babbler – Nature Pixels http://www.naturepixels.org/blog/Page 13 Greater Racket-tailed Drongo – Animal Photo Album

http://www.animalpicturesarchive.com/view.php?tid=3&did=27456Page 13 White-bellied Sea Eagle – The Birds of Singapore http://singaporebirds.net/npassers_04/white-

bellied_sea_eagle.htmlPage 14 Common Tree Frog – Creatures of the Wild http://praying-mantis101.blogspot.com/2009/04/four-

lined-tree-frog.htmlPage 14 Red Millipede – Sg Wild Animals http://sgwildanimals.fortunecity.com/arthropods/millipedes.htmlPage 14 Common Striped Scorpion – Scorpions in Singapore

http://members.tripod.com/c_kianwee/local.htmPage 14 Pond Wolf Spider – Filickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/allanlee/2770221546/Background – Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:River_in_the_Amazon_rainforest.jpg

Acknowledgements

National Parks Board

Hwa Chong Institution

Active, Beautiful, Clean Waters for All Learning Trail @MacRitchie Lower Secondary Activity Booklet

Public Utilities Board – the national water agency

All External Sources of Photographs and Information These pictures are only used for education and not commercial purposes. All the other pictures

belong to Project BOLE.

Project BOLEBiodiversity Outdoor Learning Experience

http://www.wix.com/projectbole/projectbole

About BOLE

The literal meaning of the word ‘Bole’ in the dictionary would be the trunk of a tree. However, in the context of our programme, it stands for “Biodiversity Outdoor Learning Experience”.

Why BOLE?

Biodiversity is about all life under the Sun, as well as a crucial topic in the current Primary 3 Science curriculum. However, students are taught this topic mostly through the traditional textbook-style of learning within the limitations and restrictions of the school compound, and very few interaction chances with any sort of biodiversity. Also, many students are unaware of the rich biodiversity we have here in Singapore. With rapid urbanization and technological advancements of this small and concentrated business centre, many assume that the only “Biodiversity” we own is in the zoos. Through BOLE, students can learn about Biodiversity through experiential learning and activities with relevance to their curriculum, and at the same time be informed of Singapore’s natural heritage and spread the word of conservation.

Project BOLEHwa Chong Institution