Wet Rice Cultivation

The Process

Seeds are planted out by hand in rows in fields that are puddled. The water levels in paddyfields are maintained a few centimeters deep so as to prevent weed growth. The toil of the workers are lessened if the water is due to flooding during the rainy season or by natural means. Irrigation using canals or wells also helps. The lack of rain often leads to drought, while flash floods can damage the crops. The grains are harvested approximately 30 days after the rice plants have flowered. Previously, a sickle is used to harvest the rice plants but now, mechanical harvesters are becoming more popular. The harvested grains are then threshed to remove the grain from the stalk. Previously, animals would trample on them or by hitting the stems on a hard surface but now, threshing machines are becoming more popular. 

A picture of a rice farmer clearing grass to create space for the rice paddy field.  






















A picture of neatly arranged wet rice plantation.

A picture of a worker observing the work of the threshing machine.

A picture of terracing on sloping land to help irrigation based on the law of gravity and it also helps prevent soil erosion. 














Problems faced:


Floods are mostly good as it provides water for the rice crops but sometimes when it is too strong and not irrigated properly, it would destroy the rice crop. Shortage of land due to the inability to house the large families of the farmer. Little use of machinery as there is little capital as an input. Abundant manual is needed or hired labour as most of the methods of wet rice cultivation is through manual labour. Too much fertilisers would contaminate the water and cause eutrophication. 

Mixing land use

Implications of a growing human population

As the human population increases, the need for certain resources increases as well (e.g. the land and water)

Increase in human population leads to the growth of urban areas. There will be more high-rise buildings to support the amount of people leaving in one area.

However, there is still a problem pertaining to the lack of space for housing, offices, schools, recreational activities, government buildings, tourist attraction. The conflicting uses of land result in the government setting priorities. For instance, if the government wants to concentrate on a certain aspect (Education) then the land that is initially used for schools will be expanded and focused on.  Depending on the needs, different amount of land is allocated differently. But, there are some cases where the area is very concentrated and has many activities going on there.

Mixed land use is apparent in the One-North area (Buona Vista)

One-North is currently undergoing a development to house various facilities. For instance, there are houses, media industries, schools, businesses industries, transport system.

Although to some people, mixing the various facilities together in one area may not a good idea as in many cities, creating a mixed land use area requires a lot of construction, reconstruction, installation. For example, old buildings, offices and the transport networks have to be redeveloped and it is very expensive. Locating residential areas close to other functions such as industries/shopping areas may result in the traffic congestion, air/noise pollution because of the increased amounts in human and vehicle traffic.

However, I personally feel that it is beneficial towards many people because a mixed land use encompasses several facilities located within a short distance between one another and it allows people to enjoy the convenience of having their working area/schools close to their homes. Besides, a variety of activities can be carried out and meet the needs of many consumers, (e.g. shopping/ recreational complex) thus maximizing the land use in an urban area.

So, what do you think?

What affects Birth Rates and Death Rates?

There is a total of about 196 different countries in the world and all of them have varying Birth Rates(BR) versus Death Rates(DR). What exactly affects the BRs and DRs of the different countries? First things first, in general, less developed countries (LDC) such as China and India have much higher birth rates compared to already developed countries(DC) such as Singapore. The most obvious difference would be that LDCs tend to be more rural, in the way that they generally do more farming and mass rearing of animals while in DCs technology is everything and majority of the jobs are not physically, but mentally-tiring.

In LDCs, since they need more manpower to work in their fields, families would often be bigger so that more children can provide help. Another reason for high BRs in LDCs would be because the people there (especially the women) lack proper education relating to sexuality and thus contraceptives preventing unwanted pregnancies are not used. These women then become very family-orientated, putting their focus on expanding their families and caring for them instead of securing a job. Religious beliefs or status quo also encourages the people to have big families. Furthermore, besides due to high infant mortality rates, the most common would be the preference for male babies who carry on the family name and are physically stronger. The parents might have many daughters while trying for a son.

Although the BRs in LDCs are very high, the DR is comparable. The DRs are also very high in LDCs due to the lack of proper medical care. These countries are very poor and thus there is very minimal medical infrastructure and personnel available. Even when available, the hospitals are very widespread and patients would have to travel long distances to seek medical help. In addition, medical costs are really expensive and being simple farmers, most rural people in LDCs cannot afford medicine. Also, hygiene is another big factor. Most streets of LDCs are very filthy and are unsanitary. Germs and bacteria thrive in these conditions and diseases are spread very quickly. If a very serious and infectious disease is contracted by one human, it may very well wipe out a whole city within a few weeks.

In DCs, however, people are most focused on their jobs/careers and thus spend much less time focusing on family matters such as marriage and caring for babies. As a result, most couples nowadays marry late in their 20s or even in their 30s. Since older women are less fertile as they age, marrying later will result in less children, which leads to an overall low birth rate for the country. Singapore is an example of these kind of DCs where birth rates are very low. The government is trying to boost birth rates by encouraging couples through baby bonuses and special treatment for the pregnant or babies.

Following the low birth rates, low death rates are not far behind for most DCs as well. This is due to medical technology being very advanced in modern society. The elderly live longer as they receive proper medical care which is both convenient and non-expensive, as the government subsidies for the elderly. 

Population

How does a changing population affect the world?

How it applies to Singapore
Singapore is experiencing what we call a silver tsunami or an aging population, where the elderly are increasing in numbers while birth rates slow down. With their children so caught up with their careers and own lives, many of the elderly people are unable to support themselves as being retirees, they do not hold proper jobs to earn a living. This happens mostly because their children themselves do not even have enough money of their own or their children are too selfish to care for them in today's stressful modern day lifestyle.

As a result, the government has to invest more of the country's money into providing the elderly with financial aid and support. Currently, the government is trying to alleviate this problem by several methods, such as helping Singaporeans to save up money in their banks when they are still working. For example, a certain percentage of each working adult's pay would be saved up in a bank and left to accumulate. Thus, when he retires, he would be able to use the money from his own savings instead of depend on the government. In addition, due to the smaller working population (since most are retirees), Singapore's economy will be slowed down. The number of tourists would increase as the economical value to the Singapore dollar would decrease, providing better exchange rates.


How it applies to the world in general
Just last year the world population hit 7 billion - and it is still increasing. Below is a graph that shows the world population development from 1750 up till 2050.

In 1750, there was about 1 billion people in the world and the population only reached 2 billion in about 1925. As an estimate, it took 175 years for the population to grow by 1 billion. However, from 1925 to 2000, there was a sharp increase in the world population from just 2 billion people to slightly over 6 billion. After rounding down the 6 billion to make the general overview easier, we can see that within 75 years (1925-2000), the population increased by about 4 million. The population increase from 1925-2000 was 4 times more than that of the population increase from 1750-1925, and it took less than half the number of years!

The world's population is increasing at an alarming rate. More people means more supplies and resources are needed to sustain basic human needs. Besides more food and water, modern day technology will also require more electricity and petrol. Food production is greatly heightened with the help of technology, water is desalinated in mass amounts, and with modern technology, more carbon dioxide will be released into the air, pushing global warming to its tipping point.

Apart from struggling to not overuse natural resources, we come to the troubles of the working world. With so many people, there are simply not enough job opportunities for everyone. This will lead to much retrenchment and jobless people, all barely surviving on a few cents per day. Economies will be slowed down, global recessions will threaten to arise. The working world would be a battleground for survival as when there is no money, productions stop and companies would not be able to progress. 

The world population is increasing rapidly, and with more people, the strain on Mother Earth is gradually increasing. At our current rates, Mother Earth may just collapse at any time. We have to work together to sustain the Earth before it is too late!

-Matthea, Natalie, Mildred

Vegetation

When i first hear the words , "natural vegetation", i was thinking, "hmmmm. it  must be some boring chapter about bushes and trees growing naturally " But, oh well, looks like theres more to that in natural vegetation!

NV-vegetation that has grown natually and not man-made.
Why is NV important to us?
- provides oxygen
-home to some animals
-medicinal properties of some trees
-makes Earth looks pretty ( thats what i think, but yeah :D )

in total, there are 7 types of NV.
1. tropical rainforest
2. temperate deciduous forests
3. temperate coniferous forets
4.tropical savannahs
5. temperate grasslands
6. hot deserts
7. cold tundras



3



4.

5.

6.

7.

                                        

2.

1.

Effect of W&C on NV
-temp: affects rate of vital processess ion plants
-rainfall: for survival/photosynthesis

* The NV will adapt to the climate by having necesary and different characteristics.

for example:
the NV in the tropical rainforest will have characteristics like:
-having waxy,drip-tip leaves
-braod surface
-hairy surface
-high density and biodiversity
-sparse undergrowth

whereas, the NV in a TDF:
-thin,delicate leaves
-broad leaves
-thicker and fuller canopy crowns during summer
-thick,rough barks
-shed leaves during autumn

the NV in TCF:
-cone-shaped crowns
-supple/flexible branches
-small,needle-like leaves
-evergreen
-thick barks
-shallow root systems
- hard leathery fruits

* adaptations are related to surviving
* adaptations are related to the changes in climate

Climate.... how much do you know about them~

Climate, is about a long-term trend of the weather over a long period of time. The elements of weather plays an important role of how the world's climates are classified into. there are 3 types of climates:
1. tropical
2.temperate
3. polar
  these three climates are distributed differently on the map.
For the tropical climate:
latitude- near the equator, between tropic of cancer (23.5degrees N), tropic of caricorn (23.5 deg S).
characteristics-temp:20-30 degC throughout, high rainfall, 1000-2000mm annual rainfall.
the reason why the its hotter in a tropical climate, is because, the countries are at the equator, so when the sun rays strike the earth's surface, sun rays are concentrated over a small area, thus heat is more intense.

temperate climate:
latitude- betwwen tropic of cancer and arctic circle, between tropic of capricorn and antarctic circle.
characteristics- 4 seasons in 1 year, temp: 34degC, winter, below 0degC ( not constant ), moderate rainfall, 300-1000mm annually.
 in a temperate climate, precipitation and temp fluctuate a lot, unlike the tropical climate.

polar climate:
latitude-between arctic circle and north pole, between antarctic circle and south pole.
characteristics- 4seasons in a year, temp: summer ( below 0degC), winter:( lowest of -89.2degC) , low rainfall of 110 mm annually, when N.hemisphere tilts towards the sun, 24 hours of sunlight at N.pole while the S.pole is in total darkness!


The question Ms J asked was can climate changes fluctuate in the same way weather conditions vary daily?
Now, heres my answer :
  Well, weather changes on a daily basis/hourly basis, but climate is the weather trends over a long period of time. thus, climate changes cannot fluctuate in the same way because it remains consistent for decades maybe even centuries. So, nope, it cant. climate changes cant change and vary like the weather conditions.

Weather

-

What is weather?

. Weather is the state of the atmosphere, to the degree that it is hot or cold, wet or dry, calm or stormy, clear or cloudy.Weather is the change of temperature over a short period of time(daily). Weather is driven by density (temperature and moisture) differences between one location and another. Weather differs depending on where somebody is(location) These differences can occur due to the sun angle at any particular spot, which varies by latitude from the tropics. The equator and the area near the equator are closer to the sun, thus it is it is much hotter there. ( sun rays travels shorter distance-more intense heat)

 The elements of weather :

-temperature(hot or cold)

places near the equator(latitude)

mountain tops(altitude)

when the earth rotates, some places are dark, while some are exposed to sunlight. rotation causes different locations to experience different temperatures. 

-rainfall(wet or dry)

the hydrologic cycle, precipitation, the amount of rain received in a place. 

(some places may experience a lot of rainfall,while some places experience a lot of sunlight.)

-wind(air pressure)

movement of air 

wind moves from areas of high pressure to areas of low pressure. 

high pressure: air particles, compact, higher amount of force

low pressure: air particles, far apart, lower amount of force

how do the weather elements affect the way we live:
 -it affects the type of clothes we wear( in singapore, we wear shorts, slippers, tank tops)
-outdoor activities
-perspire
-schooling and work
-natural disasters