Scouts of The World Award - Discovery 13 - 14 Sept 2008
I was staying overnight at scouts HQ for a night for this course. And on the first day, we had a visit to Raffles Museum located at NUS.
Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research
The field trip was pretty interesting. All locally found specimens are brought here to be preserved and exhibited. The museum is said to house the largest collection of specimens in the whole of S.E.A. which is amazing since Singapore is just a tiny little red dot on the map right O_o
We were guided by Sijie, the Education and Public Relations Officer of NUS Raffles Museum. He first brought us to the museum.
The skull of an Asian elephant. Freaking huuuge.
The specimen of a spider. Cool whip o_o
Specimens of a real tapir and tiger. Oh and the leopard behind. Wires and frames are used so that the leopard would look as if it's alive.
All the specimens are real. The organs and everything inside are took out before chemicals are applied to preserve them. Only the skin and fur are kept. So the inside are usually just wool.
The scientists used to kill the animals to take their specimen. But nowadays they no longer do that. They just collect specimens that are already dead, provided that the specimens are in good condition, i.e. not decomposed.
Highlight of the day!
Can't remember what species this is... think it's King Cobra?
See where the finger is pointing? Guess what's that thing? =X
.
.
.
.
It's the...
.
.
.
.
snake's...
.
.
.
.
.
...penis.
Right, and the reason why it's forked is for reproduction reasons! You know snakes' movements are restricted due to their physical characteristics. So instead of going through all the hassle moving here and there, the forked penis is actually very useful =X
Like if the female's on the male's left, then the male will just use the left penis. And if the female's on the right, then the male use the right penis! And the penis will come off when the snake dies!
Amusing right? XD *hears people gasping in awe*
The snake was found in a golf field in Singapore. The head is actually dented because apparently some golfer saw the snake and immediately smashed it on the head with his golf club.
Yep, and next Sijie brought us to the collection centre!
These chambers that are used to keep the specimens are pretty entertaining. With the push of a button, the chambers will just zhhhng open. And push once more, the chambers will zhhhhng close and kiap die mosquitoes. Then zhhhhng open again, ohhh~ the mosquitoes can be preserved and used as specimens now!
*lame*
Birdies.
Lizards?
Snake eggs.
Confiscated snakes-in-bottles.
_____
In the evening during our reflection session, he mentioned a few current topics that had us ponder upon.
Why don't people take part in conserving the environment? Why are there more and more wildlife going extinct? Why isn't anyone doing anything?
Ignorance.
People are just ignorant when it comes to issues relating to the environment.
And yea, we had a presentation on field trips to Pulau Semakau (21st June) and Raffles Museum (13th Sept).
My drawing! XD
Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research
The field trip was pretty interesting. All locally found specimens are brought here to be preserved and exhibited. The museum is said to house the largest collection of specimens in the whole of S.E.A. which is amazing since Singapore is just a tiny little red dot on the map right O_o
We were guided by Sijie, the Education and Public Relations Officer of NUS Raffles Museum. He first brought us to the museum.
The skull of an Asian elephant. Freaking huuuge.
The specimen of a spider. Cool whip o_o
Specimens of a real tapir and tiger. Oh and the leopard behind. Wires and frames are used so that the leopard would look as if it's alive.
All the specimens are real. The organs and everything inside are took out before chemicals are applied to preserve them. Only the skin and fur are kept. So the inside are usually just wool.
The scientists used to kill the animals to take their specimen. But nowadays they no longer do that. They just collect specimens that are already dead, provided that the specimens are in good condition, i.e. not decomposed.
Highlight of the day!
Can't remember what species this is... think it's King Cobra?
See where the finger is pointing? Guess what's that thing? =X
.
.
.
.
It's the...
.
.
.
.
snake's...
.
.
.
.
.
...penis.
Right, and the reason why it's forked is for reproduction reasons! You know snakes' movements are restricted due to their physical characteristics. So instead of going through all the hassle moving here and there, the forked penis is actually very useful =X
Like if the female's on the male's left, then the male will just use the left penis. And if the female's on the right, then the male use the right penis! And the penis will come off when the snake dies!
Amusing right? XD *hears people gasping in awe*
The snake was found in a golf field in Singapore. The head is actually dented because apparently some golfer saw the snake and immediately smashed it on the head with his golf club.
Yep, and next Sijie brought us to the collection centre!
These chambers that are used to keep the specimens are pretty entertaining. With the push of a button, the chambers will just zhhhng open. And push once more, the chambers will zhhhhng close and kiap die mosquitoes. Then zhhhhng open again, ohhh~ the mosquitoes can be preserved and used as specimens now!
*lame*
Birdies.
Lizards?
Snake eggs.
Confiscated snakes-in-bottles.
_____
In the evening during our reflection session, he mentioned a few current topics that had us ponder upon.
Why don't people take part in conserving the environment? Why are there more and more wildlife going extinct? Why isn't anyone doing anything?
Ignorance.
People are just ignorant when it comes to issues relating to the environment.
And yea, we had a presentation on field trips to Pulau Semakau (21st June) and Raffles Museum (13th Sept).
My drawing! XD
Comments
Sharon Lok, miss you lo~
Pig do not lie.
I miss you. =(
NVM. WE'RE MEETING EACH OTHER SOON!