Cicada Tree Eco-Place

MAD for Reptiles, 21 Jul

2011-08-06T16:00:00.010+08:00

On 21 July 2011, 19 eight- to ten-year-old students from Zhonghua Primary School attended the Making A Difference (MAD) for Reptiles workshop at Jacob Ballas Children's Garden, conducted by our nature educator Andrew Tay.

This "Kids Study Nature" project is generously sponsored by the Rotary Jurong Town Club. Singapore Botanic Gardens kindly sponsors the lesson venue. Voluntary Welfare Organisations, Self-Help Groups, and primary schools may email contact[AT]cicadatree.org.sg for information about these free nature lessons for kids.

The 2 hour long program kicked off with a couple of warm-up jigsaws featuring mugshots of famous reptiles - both local and foreign - such as the elegant Oriental Whip Snake and the slow-paced Tuatara.

Andrew does his best impression of a puffed-up Oriental Whip Snake; the kids play with reptile jigsaws.

Andrew then brought the class through a highly informative and entertaining slideshow of some of the different scaly species that can be found in Singapore, from beneficial household geckoes to elusive and deadly spitting cobras.

The kids got the chance to see and touch actual reptile samples, which really got them excited. Andrew came prepared with a huge number of exhibits - a taxidermised baby saltwater crocodile (below) and a confiscated reticulated python skin just to name a few, as well as numerous specimen jars containing preserved local reptiles.

The students were particularly fond of Andrew's preserved baby Hawksbill Turtle - an unlucky little turtle who had traveled inland after hatching on the East Coast Park Beach, rather than making its way back to the ocean.

The students spent the last half hour decorating and cutting out their very own Mangrove Snake spinning mobile or Flying Draco wall-hanger. The students brought their new friends home as a little memento of the MAD for Retiles workshop, as well as a reminder that all wild animals should be treated with respect.

We hope our students will help to spread the message of conservation and love of nature throughout their communities, and grow up to be part of Singapore's next generation of eco-crusaders.

Photos and Writeup by volunteer Aaron Toh.

Photographs from Fraser's Hill

2011-01-23T15:40:00.004+08:00

After visiting Madagascar last year (check out our photographs here), we made a trip to Fraser's Hill in Malaysia. We went on a night walk in search of nocturnal animals, or animals that are active at night. Of course, we didn't miss out on the opportunity to take some photographs, which we would love to share with you!

A Small-toothed Civet peers curiously at us from among the tree branches. Do you notice its shiny eyes? This is due to a reflective layer in the civet's eyes, which helps it to see better at night. Many nocturnal animals also have this layer in their eyes.

The Red Giant Flying Squirrel doesn't really fly, but glides from one tree to another, much like a kite. Can you see its eyeshine?

Many nocturnal animals, such as this Slow Loris, have big eyes that improve their eyesight at night. Did you know that the Slow Loris can be found in our Singapore forests too?

We also saw this Western Striped Squirrel, whose patterned fur provides camouflage against the tree bark, making it harder to see.

The Montane Horned Frog lives among dead leaves on the forest floor.

The Thai Peninsular Pit Viper is a beautiful emerald green.

Madacascar Trip

2011-01-11T21:10:00.007+08:00

Some from us from Cicada Tree visited Madagascar, an island located near the coast of Southern Africa, late last year. Here are some photos we would like to share with you!

This is Brochette, the female fossa we saw at the field station at Kirindy National Park. The fossa is only found on Madagascar.

This is a ringtailed lemur. The lemurs at Anjah Private Reserve are used to people peering at and photographing them.

This multi-coloured frog was one of many calling from a shallow stream by the side of the road. Ranomafana National Park.

We saw this ring-tailed mongoose, which has a beautiful striped tail, also at Ranomafana National Park.

Hope you enjoyed the photos!

MAD Lessons Go To School

2010-09-05T16:07:00.003+08:00

Cicada Tree Eco-Place is proud and excited to bring our MAD lessons to schools!

Our first school was First Toa Payoh Primary School where we shared the wonder and beauty of butterflies and moths with 150 pupils of Primary 2 in May. Run for 5 classes over 5 days, our lessons covered butterfly and moth characteristics, diversity and ecology.

We brought live caterpillars and pupae to class. The kids were lucky to observe the stages of a butterfly life-cycle and participate in the release of newly emerged plain tiger butterflies at their school assembly yard.

Besides live butterfly and moth caterpillars, we also brought preserved specimens of butterflies and moths to show the kids.

The lesson ended with art and craft where the kids made colourful atlas moth wall-hangings which later decorated their classrooms and corridors.

Reflections from the kids were heartwarming. Here is one: “I hereby pledge that I will build a garden for the beautiful butterflies and moths to suck up the nectar from flowers to flowers.”

We hope to bring our MAD lessons to more schools soon. To register, write to Celine Low at contact@cicadatree.org.sg.

Pupils and their teacher, Ms Lee, look in awe at newly emerged plain tiger butterflies in the terrarium

What furry yellow caterpillars are those?

The kids proudly showcasing their atlas moth art & craft

The kids looking at a preserved atlas moth specimen

Uncle Andrew teaching the class

A moth wall-hanging and a pledge card

Ms Lee releases a newly emerged butterfly, much to the pleasure of everyone around!

Bat lessons!

2010-09-05T16:03:00.002+08:00

False Vampire Bat
Photo by Nick Baker

The month of September was dedicated to one of our favourite mammals, bats!

Bats are awesome flying mammals. Bats are important to humans as they help pollinate plants which in turn produce fruit for us. Bats which eat insects help control our insect-pest numbers, while bats which eat fruit help disperse seeds and hence help us grow forests.

In this lesson, kids were grouped according to three types of native bats found in Singapore - common fruit bat, cave nectar bat and false vampire bat. Each group presented about their special bat once they were familiar with them-- where they lived, what they ate, and why we should protect them.

Later, Uncle Andrew, Auntie Irene and Auntie Teresa took everyone out into the garden for a bat roost and bat food hunt. Although we didn't find any bats roosting under the huge leaves of the Chinese Fan Palms at the Children's Garden, kids got to see a make-belief tent roost which Uncle Andrew simulated in class, by showing everyone how fruit bats bite through palm leaves causing them to droop all around them hence providing shelter from rain and strong sun. Uncle Andrew even made make-belief bats out of African Tulip seed pods to make the classroom tent roost look real!

Last but not least, everyone made a bat wall-hanging to bring back home.

Fruit bats presenting

Vampires presenting

Bats are cute and some live in caves

Bats are nocturnal and hang upside down while resting

Bananas are a favourite meal of fruit bats

Our make-belief classroom tent roost

Uncle Andrew teaching us about parts of a bat

Events Gallery

2010-08-20T22:18:00.004+08:00

Check out photos of our previous events on the left sidebar!

We're working on transferring write-ups and pictures of past events to this blog, but for now, you can view them on our main website by clicking on the links to the left. :)

Our first fundraiser: Save the Pangolin!

2010-05-01T04:24:00.014+08:00

Pangolins are being poached to extinction in Southeast Asia and need our help
(photo of Sunda Pangolin by Vilma D'Rozario)

Cicada Tree Eco-Place’s very first fundraiser was a bold initiative to raise funds to employ a person to work with TRAFFIC (www.traffic.org) to conduct research on pangolins and oversee efforts to curb illegal trade in its scales, meat and skin. Help is definitely needed for the pangolin, a not too well known mammal – except for the hunters – and eaters. Pangolins are the most traded mammal in Southeast Asia and their numbers are dwindling due to this trade which is illegal.

A dinner was held at HortPark on 18th April, and after donations, table ticket and raffle ticket sales, CTEP found it had netted a glorious sum of S$41,000 to aid pangolin conservation. All thanks to generous donors, dinner guests and supporting partners, The Vertebrate Study Group (NSS); Nature’s Niche Pte Ltd., RMBR (NUS), SOTA, ACRES, and venue sponsor, HortPark.

Thank you to Rod Monteiro, our celebrity emcee, for saving pangolins!

Celebrity singer, RJ Rosales with CTEP's Teresa Teo-Guttensohn

SOTA students sway to the divine voice of RJ Rosales in a hall packed with nature lovers

Sizzling belly dancers enthralled diners

There were about 140 dinner guests in all, charging the hall with chatter and laughter. This special evening event included culinary innovations in vegetarian food, entertainment complete with belly dancing, poetry reading, singing, a veena recital, and a competition based on tables identifying various bird calls. A highlight was an informative though heartbreaking talk by Chris Shepherd, from TRAFFIC, on the plight of the pangolin, revealing statistics of violation, entrapment, and kingpins laughing all the way to the bank. But now, with the stage set for a dedicated pangolin officer, things are looking brighter for pangolins.

CTEP worked hard. They must have experienced many give up moments. Only three years old, they’ve already pulled off an event which usually has event management firms in a knot.

Also read TRAFFIC's writeup on the dinner here.

By Talking Tiger

More pictures:

TRAFFIC's Elizabeth John with volunteer, Tia Guttensohn at a booth set up to showcase the work of TRAFFIC

Yang Mulia Tunku Rogayah Yaccob draws the winning raffle ticket

Thank you Mr Ng Lang for helping us with the raffle draw!

Dr Hsu Chia Chi of NSS wins "Sungei Buloh-Green Reflection" donated by eco-artist Teresa Teo Guttensohn

Teresa recites a poem "Ode to Birdwatching" while Subaraj makes authentic bird calls from behind a screen to illustrate the poem

All photos by Cyril Ng.

Tiger Tiger

2010-02-23T22:32:00.008+08:00

Tiger cubs Zhihui and Zhixin

Tigers are pouncing out at us from almost every corner. It’s the build up to The Year of The Tiger. Tigers cavort and carouse, pivot and prance, dally and dance, looking so cute, who can resist buying whatever they’re being used to sell. We’ve been regaled with how ferocious tiger women are, goodness knows what the men are like, and other assorted tales, not of tiger, but what tiger symbolizes.

Through the deluge of tiger tiger, no column has related any facts about the actual animal being paraded. No items have cautioned to the possibility that in the next Year of The Tiger (12 years from now), there will be fewer tigers, if any, left.

These facts were the subject of CTEP’s MAD lesson on Tigers on 7 Feb 2010. It was a relief – finally some real tigers. The slide show cum talk had the children wide-eyed with wonder as they displayed many not known scenarios of the tiger – tiger swimming, tiger with cubs, tiger on snow, etc. A video with some rare scenes of a real tiger with its cubs followed. The children then transformed themselves into little tigers roaring around as they put on tiger masks which they had colored. The sad part, how tigers are killed for almost everything they have, their skins, tails, teeth, claws, meat, you name it, some mad human being wants it. The children were taught they had to do their bit to keep tiger around, to never eat tiger, or buy anything that once belonged to tiger. They had to spread this message around, especially since only very few are doing it.

By Talking Tiger

Drawing of tiger by Zhihui (aged 6)

Firdaus and Qisti colour their tiger masks

Bengal Tiger Panthera tigris tigris

All photos by Vilma D’Rozario

Critters in their Cribs

2010-02-02T17:31:00.006+08:00

This pitcher plant is a cosy crib for a Four-lined Treefrog. (Photo by Andrew Tay)

Sometimes you wonder how different we really are from animals. CTEP’s MAD lesson on critters and where their home sweet homes are was about how every living thing needs and has a home. Nature Educator Andrew showed real examples, some alive, while Vilma slide-showed some beautiful and dramatic photographs, to about 15 children on Sunday 24th Jan at the JBCG. They were then taken for a walk through the gardens with some of the children going wild to discover red ants, butterflies, and other critters. And critters are? As defined by the children in attendance, fast, small, little, cute things, and so they are. Some examples: Flying squirrels, bats, dragon flies, spiders, slugs, snakes (yes, them, too), ants, butterflies, cockroaches, carpenter bees, pangolins, potter wasps, cave centipedes, etc, etc, and they all live in houses custom made, such as tree hollows, root caves, mud cribs, etc. The lesson was another demonstration of CTEP’s specialty, a skilful selection of enough information to keep the kids all agog (and some of the parents, too), alongside some value added educational gains, of stimulating the kids to think through their answers to certain questions, developing their spontaneity as they got excited to answer Andrew’s questions. As you sleep in your crib tonight, join God’s critters.

By Talking Tiger

Mad lesson on Monkeys: What the monkeys taught me

2010-02-02T16:51:00.012+08:00

Long-tailed macaques (Macaca fascicularis) are native to Singapore.

Sunday 16th November 2009

Jacob Ballas Children’s Garden

We use the term monkey for mild misdemeanours, usually of the impish variety, and attributed to small children. Example, a house guest might apologize sheepishly for her child ripping your teddy bear’s ears off with Oh he’s such a little monkey, isn’t he. What would real monkeys think of this? Where did this negative comparison spring from? There are monkeys who do misbehave. The Penang Botanic Gardens has cases of monkeys who have attacked children, stolen food, destroyed car upholstery. But the CTEP MAD Lesson on Sunday 16th showed the monkey side of the story. Monkeys get up to monkey tricks because humans do. We feed them killer food like potato chips ignoring signs that state clearly DON’T. We poke and prod them with tree branches. We tease them with food withdrawing it when the monkey approaches. MAD’s lesson highlights the fact that monkeys just want to mind their monkey business. If we destroy their homes, the trees and forests, where do you want them to go? If we take away their food sources, what will they eat? If we use them for cheap entertainment, do we really think they’ll sit back and enjoy it? Especially since they’re probably more intelligent than the adults who think it funny to aggravate them. MAD brought such lessons across using the talents of Andrew, CTEP’s naturalist educator, with CTEP’s very own Vilma assisting, but the top attraction that day was the bonus performance by Vilma’s trainee and graduate teachers from the National Institute of Education with their story-puppet show. The whole lesson held 17 children (no little monkeys) captive, conveying a wealth of information about the monkey world with delightful variety. These children are all ready to make a difference with their knowledge about Long-tailed Macaques, Banded Leaf Monkeys, that monkeys are neither ape nor chimpanzee, they travel in troops of 30, use their tails for balance and hands to swing about. The most significant point the lesson made perhaps was that monkeys are human in their need to survive, keep their family together, eat, drink, and be merry. We don’t want anyone to take this from us, let the monkeys do the same!

By Talking Tiger

Photos:

Andrew talking about the Banded Leaf Monkey with Tia assisting

Oscar’s (9 years old) monkey

Supermonkey, the superhero puppet that bridges communication between people and monkeys

Kids making a presentation on the Banded Leaf Monkey

A take-home message

Kid’s reflections

Lessons and Workshops Calendar

2009-11-14T19:19:00.003+08:00

Hi everyone!
You can now view a list of our upcoming events on the top left hand corner of this page.

If you'd like more information on location and times, please do email contact(at)cicadatree.org.sg for details. If you like, we can add you to the mailing list to inform you of upcoming events.

Hope to see you at our lessons!

Joshua on MAD Lesson on Strange Plants

2009-11-12T16:37:00.006+08:00

Joshua Goh, who is from Minnesota, attended Cicada Tree Eco-Place’s MAD Lesson on Strange Plants held at the Jacob Ballas Children’s Garden in August, and enjoyed himself very much.

Joshua wrote:

"I wish I can be here (Botanic Gardens) longer...like a month or a year so that I can learn more about the strange plants here."

Here are some photos which Joshua sent us for our blog:

Joshua takes a closer look at strange plants.

Joshua takes a closer look at bananas.

MAD lessons go to School

2009-07-26T21:56:00.002+08:00

Cicada Tree Eco-Place is proud and excited to bring our MAD lessons to schools! Our first school was First Toa Payoh Primary School where we shared the wonder and beauty of butterflies and moths with 150 pupils of Primary 2 in May. Run for 5 classes over 5 days, our lessons covered butterfly and moth characteristics, diversity and ecology.

We brought live caterpillars and pupae to class. The kids were lucky to observe the stages of a butterfly life-cycle and participate in the release of newly emerged plain tiger butterflies at their school assembly yard. Besides live butterfly and moth caterpillars, we also brought preserved specimens of butterflies and moths to show the kids. The lesson ended with art and craft where the kids made colourful atlas moth wall-hangings which later decorated their classrooms and corridors.

Reflections from the kids were heartwarming. Here is one: “I hereby pledge that I will build a garden for the beautiful butterflies and moths to suck up the nectar from flowers to flowers.”

We hope to bring our MAD lessons to more schools soon. To register, write to Celine Low at: contact@cicadatree.org.sg.

Living Earth Walk - Rainforest

2009-07-21T17:26:00.001+08:00

Raul Low (8 years old) attended Uncle Joe’s ‘Living Earth’ walk to the Botanic Gardens Jungle on 18 July 2009 and made some discoveries. He said:

“I found a lot of spiders and squirrels. A Golden Web Spider was having its breakfast. There's 314 types of plants. Uncle Joe taught us some plants can become toys. There is a leaf that flies like a helicopter. Another shaped like a knife and another a boat. We brought back a boat shaped leaf to play as boat. But could not find any snakes. I am doing an experiment with a seed tonight. Tomorrow, it should turn into jelly."

Auntie Vilma says:
Raul’s seed is from the Scaphium macropodum forest tree from which we get the jelly-like substance we find in our local dessert, 'cheng tng'. See Joseph Lai’s website on this amazing native plant http://www.eart-h.com/text/scapma1.htm

Interesting stuff at Kg. Ubin Walk

2009-06-12T16:54:00.005+08:00

Raul Low, 8 yrs old, went for the Kg. Ubin Walk by Uncle Joe on 7 June 2009. Raul says, "found 5 golden web spiders. Coooool! The spider was big, huge and frightening. I managed to make two pebbles skip in the water twice and I can throw the pebble further than Uncle Joe. The aloe vera plant was so sticky and yucky. The Noni fruit was smelly. Saw lots of durian trees. We bought drinks from Auntie and found out her parrot got eaten by a snake, so poor bird. She has so many pets. But why her sinks had no pipes under it. The water just came down on the floor."

Aunty Celine replies:
I'm glad you enjoyed the walk, Raul. There are so many interesting plants & creatures out there to see when we open our eyes! Even the different sinks that different people have are most interesting!

Aunty Vilma says:
Well done, Uncle Joe! You’re a great nature teacher.
Raul, I am so glad you enjoyed the Living Earth Walk to Kg. Ubin and saw many things. We hope you will join us again!

2009-05-10T17:54:00.001+08:00

Launch of Cicada Tree Website

2009-05-10T17:37:00.008+08:00

Left to right: Ng Bee Choo, boss of Nature's Niche, Teresa & Vilma of Cicada Tree Eco-Place (CTEP), welcoming guests to the launch of Nature's Niche & CTEP website on 9 May 2009. CTEP website: www.cicadatree.org.sg

Young volunteers of CTEP receiving tokens of appreciation from Vilma.

Joe Lai, one of CTEP's fantastic nature guides.

Finally, it's launched... with imitation cicada sounds!

Guests going on guided walk on canopy walkway.

Kids colouring sea stars.

Result of kids' colouring activities.

Chek Jawa Walk

2009-05-10T16:51:00.002+08:00

A contribution from Kai, 9 years old:

We started our walk from the Chek Jawa Visitor Centre, a charming Tudor-style cottage also known as “House No. 1”. Uncle Joe was our guide and he shared with us many interesting things about Chek Jawa. One of the important things I learn is that the waters of Chek Jawa is a mix of freshwater and seawater. The freshwater comes from the Johor River. This affects the types of living things found here.

We walked on the Coastal Boardwalk which is built along Chek Jawa’s coastline. Chek Jawa has a rocky shore and we could see lots of barnacles on the rocks. It was high tide so we did not see as much of the habitats that could be found at low tide. As we walked past the Floating Pontoon, we could see more seaweed and seagrass in the waters. The Coastal Boardwalk was about 600 metres long.

On entering the Mangrove Boardwalk, we could see mangroves on both sides of the boardwalk. We saw lots of pencil-like roots sticking out of the water. These aerial roots help the mangrove trees to breathe. There are also Nipah palms and Bakau trees. The Bakau trees have long green seedlings hanging from the branches. Many of these long green seedlings can also be found on the mud and floating on the water. Uncle Joe showed us how these seedlings take root in the mud.

There are many mud lobster holes in the mud but we didn’t see any of their inhabitants. We saw several groups of little fishes swimming in the water. We could see many mudskippers including Giant Mudskippers. It was so cool because I have never seen Giant Mudskippers before. They seem to be about 15 cm long. They are ginormous! Uncle Joe said these Giant Mudskippers eat their babies. We were disgustingly horrified!!

We climbed up the Jejawi Tower which is near the end of the Mangrove Boardwalk. The tower is about 20 metres tall and has 8 flights of steps. At the top of the tower, we can see a beautiful panoramic view of Chek Jawa. The Oriental Pied Hornbill made a special guest appearance for our group. It is a big, black and white bird. It’s my first time seeing a hornbill in its natural surroundings. It was an extremely rare treat and I was very fortunate to be there.

I enjoyed myself very much and plan to go back to Chek Jawa again and again.

Chek Jawa Walk

2009-04-05T21:56:00.006+08:00

LIVING EARTH WALKS

Chek Jawa Walk

We go on the extensive boardwalk at Chek Jawa on Pulau Ubin. Here we shall see a diversity of unique flora and fauna. At low tide, exposed seaweeds used to be collected by locals to feed their pigs. From the mangroves, Attap Palm leaves were harvested for thatching while durable Nibong Palm trunks were used to build kelongs. The shallow sea here was also a rich hunting ground. Many natural resources were depended upon, and used in sustainable ways by the kampong folk who lived at CJ.

Date:
Sunday, 26 April 2009, 9.00 am

DURATION: 3 hrs.

Trails: Wooden boardwalk. Earth paths, some parts with gentle slopes.

Walk fee: $15 per person (adult or child), minimum 6 years of age, excluding the bumboat ride and mini-bus ride to Chek Jawa. The bumboat ride is $2.50 per person one way. The mini-bus ride is $4 return per person to and from the main village. Minimum 20 pax for walk to go ahead.

Advance registration & payment is required.

Registration: Email Celine Low at contact@cicadatree.org.sg

Mad lesson on Birds

2009-03-26T17:28:00.003+08:00

Oriental Pied Hornbill

(Anthracoceros albirostris)

If you’re a kid between the ages of 5 and 10, join us for our…

MAD LESSON ON BIRDS

Do birds sleep? What are the 10 most common birds in Singapore? Do all birds sing? How does a bird build its nest? What's Singapore's largest bird? If you're curious about Singapore's beautiful birds, join us for this lesson. We will share with you what we know about birds--where they live, what they eat, and how they protect themselves from predators. This MAD lesson will also include information about how you can be part of the solution to protect our environment and wild habitats.

Choose any one of the dates below:

Saturday, 4 April 2009, 2.30 to 4.30pm
Saturday, 18 April 2009, 2.30 to 4.30pm

Cost: $15 per child which includes a lovely badge and nature magazine. All classes held at the Jacob Ballas Children’s Garden.

Registration: Email Celine Low at contact@cicadatree.org.sg

Mad lesson on Butterflies & Moths

2009-03-16T16:09:00.003+08:00

Malay Lacewing

(Cethosia hypsea hypsina)

If you’re a kid between the ages of 5 and 10, join us for our…

MAD LESSON ON BUTTERFLIES & MOTHS

In this hands-on lesson on butterflies and moths, kids will learn about the diversity of butterflies and moths we have in Singapore, the differences between butterflies and moths, their ecology -- life cycle, where they live, what they eat, what may eat them. Get to know how to easily attract butterflies and moths to gardens at home, in school or in neighbourhoods! This MAD lesson will also include information about how you can be part of the solution to protect our environment and wild habitats.

Date:

Thursday, 19 March 2009, 2.30 to 4.30pm

Cost: $15 per child which includes a lovely badge and nature magazine.
Venue: Jacob Ballas Children’s Garden.

Registration: Email Celine Low at contact@cicadatree.org.sg

Mad lesson on Reptiles

2009-03-16T16:00:00.005+08:00

Banded Krait

(Bungarus fasciatus)

If you’re a kid between the ages of 5 and 10, join us for our…

MAD LESSON ON REPTILES

If you're keen to learn more about snakes, geckoes, skinks, crocodiles, turtles, tortoises and terrapins, then join us for this lesson! We will share with you what we know about reptiles--where they live, what they eat, and how they protect themselves from predators. This MAD lesson will also include information about how you can be part of the solution to protect our environment and wild habitats.

Choose any one of the dates below:

Sunday, 1 March 2009, 2.30 to 4.30pm
Saturday, 21 March 2009, 2.30 to 4.30pm
Wednesday, 25 March 2009, 9.30 to 11.30am

Cost: $15 per child which includes a lovely badge and nature magazine. All classes held at the Jacob Ballas Children’s Garden.

Registration: Email Celine Low at contact@cicadatree.org.sg

Mad lesson on Mammals

2009-01-24T12:21:00.004+08:00

Common Palm Civet

(Paradoxurus hermaphroditus)

If you’re a kid between the ages of 5 and 10, join us for our…

MAD LESSON ON MAMMALS

Do mammals still live in Singapore’s wild habitats or do they only exist at our zoo? Join us to find out! You will learn some fascinating facts about mammals--where they live, what they eat and how they protect themselves from predators. This MAD lesson will also include information about how you can be part of the solution to protect our environment and wild habitats.

Choose any one of the dates below:

Sunday, 1 February 2009, 2.30 to 4.30pm
Wednesday, 11 February 2009, 2.30 to 4.30pm
Sunday, 15 February 2009, 2.30 to 4.30pm

Cost: $15 per child which includes a lovely badge and nature magazine. All classes held at the Jacob Ballas Children’s Garden.

Registration: Email Celine Low at contact@cicadatree.org.sg

2008-12-24T23:22:00.004+08:00

Slender Pitcher Plant (Nepenthes gracilis)

If you’re a kid between the ages of 5 and 10, join us for our…

MAD LESSON ON CARNIVOROUS PLANTS

Can plants gobble insects up? Do we have such plants in Singapore? We will learn some fascinating facts about carnivorous plants and the special ways they grow, where to find them and how to grow them. This MAD lesson will also include information about how you can be part of the solution to protect our environment and wild habitats.

Choose any one of the dates below:

Wednesday, 7 January 2009, 2.30 to 4.30pm
Sunday, 11 January 2009, 2.30 to 4.30pm
Wednesday, 21 January 2009, 9.30 to 11.30am

Cost: $15 per child which includes a lovely badge and poster.
All classes held at the Jacob Ballas Children’s Garden.

Registration: Email Celine Low at contact@cicadatree.org.sg

2008-11-16T15:49:00.011+08:00

If you’re a kid between the ages of 6 and 11, join us

UNDER THE KAPOK TREE

This invigorating lesson will involve animal yoga and story-telling and will be carried out right under a large kapok tree ((Indian Cotton Tree). You will hear the story of “The Great Kapok Tree” written by Lynne Cherry and learn yoga movements which represent animals of the rainforest!

When: Saturday, 6 December 2008, 9.15 - 10.15am
Where: Upper Seletar Reservoir Park
(meet at foot of Viewing Tower)
Cost: $10 per child
(minimum 10 kids to run session)
Wet weather plan: If it rains, we will postpone lesson.
In case of rainy weather, please call Celine @ 96932554
or Vilma @ 98254467 to check if lesson is to be postponed.

Registration:
Email Celine Low at leopardcat@pacific.net.sg

Your thoughts

2008-10-05T12:21:00.003+08:00

Charles Windle, who has just turned 6, emailed us yesterday with his thoughts on the MAD About Butterflies and Moths lesson. Here's what he has to say:

'I like mad lesson on butterflies and moths because I can contribute my ideas and learn more about them. I like my "mathematics" moth too. Thank you Uncle Andrew.'

Thank you Charles! We hope you'll keep learning about butterflies and moths.

Hi kids! If you attended a MAD lesson and would like to share with us a story, idea or something which you learnt, please email us here and we will post what you have to say on our blog!

(Sept 08) Jungle Friends—Kids’ lessons on Ecology

2008-10-01T12:12:00.002+08:00

Above: Looking for dragonfly nymphs.

The month of September saw Cicada Tree Eco-Place focus on ecology. Lessons centred on relationships in our natural world.

Above: Uncle Joe teaching about cherry trees and bats.

The lessons began with Joseph Lai, our naturalist-teacher, telling a story about the relationships plants and animals have with each other and with the sun, air, water, and people. Using pictures, Joe started the story with an Indian cherry tree that provides food to its friend, the fruit-loving bat. Returning the favour, the bat carries cherry seeds to other places and drops them in soil so that baby cherry trees can begin to grow. The story continues with friendships between and among birds’ nest ferns, trumpet trees, carpenter bees, simpoh air trees, fish, butterflies, air, water and the sun.

Kids then visited the Children’s Garden to look for bats under bird’s nest ferns and carpenter bees sipping nectar from flowers. After the walk, the kids returned to the classroom to play Cicada Tree’s very own carbon footprint game called “Cool Earth”, which taught them easy daily eco-actions to protect our environment and wild habitats.

Above: Confidence building.

Above: Getting up close with a cherry tree.

MAD about butterflies & moths

2008-09-29T23:35:00.003+08:00

Above: Kids with their origami butterflies and moths!

In August 2008, Cicada Tree Eco-Place kick-started MAD Lessons for Wildlife. Kindly sponsored by Intel, and held in conjunction with the Singapore Botanic Gardens, 4 lessons on butterflies and moths were run at the Jacob Ballas Children’s Garden.

MAD stands for Make A Difference, and it is hoped that all 63 children who attended this series of MAD lessons are carrying out the simple eco-actions they had pledged to do.

Some suggestions were:

1. Don't kill butterflies and moths, and ask others not to do so.
2. Free butterflies and moths after reared caterpillars have undergone metamorphosis, so they can make friends and have more caterpillar babies!
3. Do not trap butterflies and moths. Observe them in the wild.
4. Protect caterpillars. Do not harm them.

Above: Observing Observing pupae of the Lime butterfly.

Above: Learning about butterfly and moth ecology.

Kids learnt about the diversity of butterflies and moths in Singapore, the differences between the two, and their ecology: life cycle, where they live, what they eat, and what may eat them. There were museum specimens, as well as live caterpillars and pupae, to learn about.

Above: Colouring and decorating their butterflies/moths.

The children got to bring home an origami butterfly/moth they decorated themselves, a lovely wall-poster on butterflies, a button-badge, and a bookmark on which they could pledge to help butterflies and moths in their daily lives.

Above: Looking for butterflies and moths.

Hi kids! If you attended Uncle Andrew’s session on butterflies and moths, and would like to share with us a story, idea or something which you learnt, please email us here and we will post what you have to say on our blog! Read what Charles Windle has to say here.

Article and photographs by Vilma D'Rozario, edited by M.J. Tan.

M.A.D. for the Nightlife!

2008-09-29T16:45:00.004+08:00

On 16 August, Cicada Tree Eco-Place invited experts Mr Fam Shun Deng and Mr Norman Lim to present a slide-show and talk on Singapore’s little-known nocturnal mammals – the slow loris, the pangolin, and the colugo.

Held at the Singapore Botanic Gardens' Botany Centre, the talk highlighted the animals’ characteristics, ecology, the threats they face, and how we can make a difference.

Above: A little girl with her colugo!

The talk was targeted at adults, but kids also had the opportunity to learn about slow lorises, pangolins and colugos. Photos, colugo and slow loris skulls, and even a stuffed pangolin specimen (confiscated from the illegal wildlife trade) helped the kids better understand the physiology and ecology of these animals.

At the end of the lesson, the kids got to make their own paper colugos and let them climb the wall! Here are some photos we took:

Above: Busy with colouring their colugos.

Above: My colugo will glide soon!

Above: The children with their finished colugos.

We would like to thank Nick Baker and Chan Kwok Wai for their wonderful animal photographs, and the Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research (RMBR) for specimens. Thanks also to the Singapore Botanic Gardens for the venue.

Article and photos by Vilma D'Rozario, edited by M.J. Tan.

Our Roots & Shoots Day of Peace

2008-09-28T16:26:00.007+08:00

On September 21, young people around the world joined Dr Jane Goodall in celebrating the Roots & Shoots Day of Peace by flying giant peace dove puppets in their communities to symbolise their commitment to peace.

“With the Peace Doves, we remind everyone of the truth they sometimes forget—that peace is possible. We celebrate all that is free and noble in the human spirit. And we celebrate all that so many people have done throughout the year—and will do next year—to create a better world,” said Dr. Goodall.

Above: Peaceful doves. Photo by K.C. Tsang.

A UN Messenger of Peace since 2002, Dr. Goodall established the global, annual Roots & Shoots Day of Peace in 2004 to encourage Roots & Shoots members and other interested individuals to promote peace in their communities and around the globe.

Above: Kids with their lanterns!

In Singapore, September marks the month of the Mid-Autumn Festival.

Traditionally celebrated on the fifteenth day of the eighth lunar month in celebration of a bountiful Autumn harvest in China, Chinese families typically gather in the evening to drink tea, eat mooncakes, and carry lanterns.

To celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival, Roots & Shoots member, Cicada Tree Eco-Place, a non-profit environmental education organization, marked this evening of nature, culture, and peace on September 12 with 15 children and their parents and teachers, drinking orchid tea, eating vegetarian mooncakes and making lanterns.

At this event held at Orchidville, an orchid farm in Mandai, children learned about native peaceful doves which symbolize peace. We talked about how one could make peace by not fighting, and making friends. The kids learned about bats, which in Chinese culture symbolise blessing. Each kid then made his or her own lantern with Chinese papercut-style motifs of peaceful doves and bats.

Above: Kids learning about the various animals.

Above: Beautiful Chinese papercstencils by Andrew Tay.

Above: Busy stencilling...

... and paper-cutting!

When night fell, everyone went for a walk with their lanterns and watched insect-eating bats take to the night sky in search of food.
Apart from bats, other animals spotted included a nightjar as it flew into the nearby forest. With the aid of Vilma's bat detector, the kids were introduced to the concept of echolocation, in which insect-eating bats use sound waves to hunt for food.

A bat detector works by converting bats' echolocation ultrasound signals, which are normally too high-pitched for us to process, to frequencies audible to the human ear. Echolocation is primarily used by insect-eating microbats (as opposed to the larger fruit-eating macrobats) to hunt for flying insects.

Above: Kids lighting their lanterns.

Above: Bat-detecting at dusk.

It was our Singaporean way of celebrating the Roots & Shoots Day of Peace!

Article by Vilma D’Rozario, edited by M.J. Tan. Photos by Vilma D’Rozario and M.J. Tan, unless otherwise stated.

Click here to learn about the Roots & Shoots Day of Peace and how to make giant peace dove puppets.

If you’d like to know how to make peaceful dove lanterns, email Andrew Tay of Cicada Tree Eco-Place.

Events Calendar

2008-09-12T00:51:00.003+08:00

Want to view upcoming CTEP lessons, talks and other events? Click here to have a look at our new events calendar!

Gardening for Native Wildlife

2008-09-05T12:04:00.000+08:00

Above: Black-veined Tiger Butterfly and Plain Tiger Butterfly feeding on nectar from the Indian Turnsole, a wildflower. Photo by Angie Ng.

Did you know that a pretty garden pond with a fountain tends not to be the ideal habitat for our native fish, frogs and toads? A naturally “messy” eco-pond overgrown with pond weeds is more what these animals consider their ideal home, and where they will likely build their nests and rear their young ones.

Above: Grow Torch Ginger (Bunga Kantan) in your garden and Crimson sunbirds will visit to sip nectar from the ginger flowers. Photo by Y C Wee.

Many ornamental and hybridised plants are bred only for their showy flowers, not for their natural nectar-producing capabilities. Thus butterflies, moths, sunbirds and honeybees that survive on nectar depend on native wildflowers for their food.

Above: Common Palm Civets will visit Cherry Trees for their ripe berries. Photo by Chan Kwok Wai.

How can we make a difference for native wildlife?
• Grow native plant species in your garden, below your windowsill, along your corridor and in your balcony. Native wildlife will naturally recognise them as food sources and will visit.
• Be generous, allow a portion of your garden to grow wild. Wildflowers will naturally colonise this patch and wildlife will tend to stop by and stay.
• Create an eco-pond. Water is life for our native species of frogs, toads, dragonflies and damselflies and where they complete their life cycles. It’s also a source of clean drinking water for thirsty wildlife.
• Go organic! Do not use chemical pesticides, herbicides, fungicides and fertilisers in your garden. They kill wildlife and their toxins are harmful to you and your family. Do choose to use more natural, herb-based options available.
• Always go for a non-chemical option. For instance, instead of fogging with chemicals, have fish in your pond to eat up mosquito larvae. Many herb and spice plants such as Citronella Grass and Tea Tree repel pest insects.

Above: Common Fruit Bats love to roost under fan palms. Photo by Chan Kwok Wai.

How Cicada Tree Eco-Place can help you make a difference:

We provide eco-gardening services like
• Creating an eco-garden for your home, office or school
• Creating herb, spice, fruit and water gardens.
• Conducting native plant identification guided field trips.
• Conducting native plant propagation and gardening workshops.
• Conducting kids’ fun Flora Exploration sessions.

For enquiries and program registration, please email andrew.tay@pacific.net.sg or call 9 856 2262.

‘Grow Things’ Program

2008-09-01T12:22:00.002+08:00

Click here to view our events calendar!

One sure way to lessen our carbon footprint is to grow a plant.

Learn all about plants and how to grow them in this creative, hands-on fun flora lesson for kids!

Lesson structure:
* Introduction to plantlife and their importance
* Our native species (Photos & live specimens)
* Where they live, their habitats, how they adapt to their environment.
* Observing floral specimens, both live and preserved, e.g., ant plant, orchid, vegetable, cactus, wildflower, seeds, fruit, etc.
* Learning about plant & animal symbiotic relationships.
* Introduction to soil, pots and other planting materials. How to grow a plant.
* Demonstration on various ways to grow a plant e.g., in soil, in water and pebbles, growing epiphytes on bark.
* Demonstration on how to do propagation.
* Distribution of a cutting to take home to sprout in water first then pot up themselves later.
* Distribute planting materials (coco-pot, soil).
* Distribute eco-pledge bookmark & fun plant worksheet.
* Conclusion: Global warming, conservation of plant habitats, Make A Difference!

Details:
Class length: 2 hours
Suitable for: kids 5 to 12 years old
Venue: Your school or other suitable venue
Cost: S$15 per child participant, for a maximum group size of 20. No minimum group size. A minimum cost of $300 per session applies.

For registration and enquiries, please email leopardcat@pacific.net.sg .

Click here to view our events calendar!

12 September 2008: Lantern Festival

2008-08-22T16:25:00.005+08:00

The Lantern Festival is well-loved by children, especially for its colourful lanterns. Cicada Tree Eco-Place invites children to come together to promote peace by making peaceful dove lanterns as part of our Lantern Festival celebrations. Traditionally celebrated on the fifteenth day of the eighth lunar month in observance of a bountiful Autumn harvest in China, Chinese families typically gather to relax, drink tea, eat moon cakes, carry lanterns around their neighbourhood and pray for peace. Upon this occasion, the legend of the Moon Goddess, Chang-Er, is often told to children.

At this event held at an orchid farm, you will learn to make lanterns out of recycled material and hear about the Lantern Festival and the Roots & Shoots Day of Peace. As night falls, we will admire the moon, drink orchid tea, eat mooncakes and watch for bats that take to the night sky in search for food. Come to also find out how bats are symbols of prosperity in Chinese culture.

Date: Friday 12 September 2008
Place: Nature's Niche @ Orchidville (click for directions)
Time: 4.30pm to 8pm
Cost: $20 per child (includes lesson notes, craft materials, floral tea and mooncakes)

SUITABLE FOR CHILDREN 6 TO 10 YEARS OLD.

Registration: Email Celine Low at leopardcat@pacific.net.sg

16 Aug 08: M.A.D. About Nightlife!

2008-08-12T23:09:00.005+08:00

Ever wonder what lives in our forests at night? Well, join us and find out!

Cicada Tree Eco-Place, an environmental education NGO, in conjunction with NParks, is happy to present a talk for adults and, concurrently, a kid’s workshop on Singapore’s little-known nocturnal mammals – the slow loris, the pangolin, and the colugo.

Presented by Fam Shundeng and Norman Lim, the talk for adults will highlight the animals’ characteristics, ecology, the threats they face, and how we can make a difference.

Kids will learn about slow lorises, pangolins and colugos too, and make mammal art & craft. All kids will take home their craft.

When: Saturday 16 August 08

Venue: Function Room, Botany Centre, Singapore Botanic Gardens

Time: 10am to 12 noon

Admission is FREE for both adults and kids!

Kids' registration is necessary: Please email lim_wei_ling@nparks.gov.sg by Thursday 14 August to let us know if you are coming.

All are welcome!

Nature Culture Guided Walks

2008-08-07T21:04:00.000+08:00

Kampong Ubin Walk
A stroll through parts of rural Ubin. We will look at what the locals grow in their backyards, from the herbs used as traditional medicines, to vegetables, wildflowers and fruit trees. Many of these are ‘old-fashioned’ plants no longer common, such as Sawtooth Coriander, Ceylon Spinach and Rambai. Durian trees abound on Ubin, with two fruiting seasons a year.

Duration: 2 hrs
Trails: Mostly level earth paths and tar road. Suitable for all.
Walk fee: $13 per person, 6 years and above, excluding bumboat ride, for groups of 20. For groups of less than 20 pax, the minimum fee is $240. The bumboat ride is $2.50 per person one way.

Chek Jawa Walk
We go on the extensive boardwalk at Chek Jawa on Pulau Ubin. Here we shall see a diversity of unique flora and fauna. At low tide, exposed seaweeds used to be collected by locals to feed their pigs. From the mangroves, Attap Palm leaves were harvested for thatching while durable Nibong Palm trunks were used to build kelongs. The shallow sea here was also a rich hunting ground. Many natural resources were depended upon, and used in sustainable ways by the kampong folk who lived at CJ.

Duration: 3 hrs
Trails: Wooden boardwalk. Earth paths, some parts with gentle slopes.
Walk fee: $15 per person, 6 years and above, excluding the bumboat ride and mini-bus ride to Chek Jawa, for groups of 20. For groups of less than 20 pax, the minimum fee is $280. The bumboat ride is $2.50 per person one way. The mini-bus ride is $4 return per person to and from the main village.

Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve
This wetland reserve is now a resting and feeding spot for migratory birds. But it also hosts a fantastic diversity of native fauna and flora. In the past, the area had several kampongs (villages) with the locals tending to vegetable and fruit tree plots. Many of these fruit trees and traditional herbs still survive and may be encountered along the trails. The people also constructed fish and prawn ponds in the mangroves. These are now used by the birds.

Duration: 2 hrs, preferably in the morning.
Trails: Level dirt paths and boardwalks suitable for children, the elderly, disabled or participants using wheelchairs.
Walk fee: $13 per person, excluding park entrance fees, for groups of 20. For groups of less than 20 pax, the minimum fee is $240.
Park entrance fee is $1.00 for adults, 50 cents for children and students during weekends. Free entrance on weekdays.

OOH Program

2008-08-06T15:21:00.000+08:00

Eco-Living Now!

2008-08-06T15:15:00.000+08:00

Cicada Tree Eco-Place is proud to bring you Eco Living Now!, a roving exhibition for schools. This new program promotes eco-living for a greener and more sustainable future. Eco Living Now! is an attractive and comprehensive poster exhibition which seeks to impart important information on eco-living, carbon footprint and how to make a difference! Suitable for students, this exhibition contains simple and practical green tips for daily eco-living, written in easy-to-read text with attractive native wildlife pictures.

The Eco Living Now! exhibition includes 5 sections:

1. Introduction to Eco-living
2. Eco at Home
3. Eco in School
4. Eco at Work & Play
5. Eco with a Passion for Birds

Charges: $200 for the whole exhibition or a choice of parts of it, for 1 week at your school, including delivery to your school.

Eco-skit option:
We can train 2 teachers and/or a small group of 15 students to perform an eco-skit based on information from the exhibition. This eco-skit aims to make learning about eco-living fun and meaningful. The skit may be performed by students at as assembly or in the classroom in conjunction with the exhibition. Training is 3 hours, over 2 sessions. A script will be provided.

Charges: Add $100

Registration and enquiries: leopardcat@pacific.net.sg

Make A Difference! MAD lessons on wildlife

2008-08-06T14:57:00.001+08:00

Click here to view upcoming MAD lessons and our other events!

Make A Difference! MAD lessons on wildlife by Cicada Tree Eco-place and generously supported by Intel will be conducted at the Jacob Ballas Children’s Garden.

This environmental education program is suitable for kids aged 5 to 10, from kindergarten to primary school.

Through MAD lessons for wildlife, kids will learn about “OOH--Our Only Home” (Planet Earth) by learning about animals, plants and ecology in a session of 1.5 hours. They will also learn about our “warming world” and our carbon footprint and how this affects the lives of plants, animals, humans and our environment. Kids will learn easy eco-actions to make a difference for earth.

Kids pay $15 for a 1.5 hour session at the Children's Garden. Maximum number for a group sign-up (e.g. school groups and groups from organizations) is 20 and minimum fee to run is $300 (even if a group is less than 20 kids). For weekend individual sign-ups, kids pay $15 each.
A button-badge and an information pamphlet will be given to all registered kids.

Enquiries and registration: leopardcat@pacific.net.sg

Current Programmes for 2008:

MAD lesson on Butterflies and Moths

In this hands-on lesson on butterflies and moths, kids will learn about the diversity of butterflies and moths we have in Singapore, the differences between butterflies and moths, their ecology -- life cycle, where they live, what they eat, what may eat them. Get to know how to easily attract butterflies and moths to gardens at home, in school or in neighbourhoods! This MAD lesson will also include information about global warming and our carbon footprint and kids will leave the lesson with a pledge to do easy eco-actions daily in their lives so as to be part of the solution to protect our environment and wild habitats.

MAD lesson on Jungle Friends

Everyone needs a healthy planet to live on. Our jungle friends share Earth with us. This lesson will focus on the relationships plants and animals have with each other and with us. This MAD lesson will also include information about global warming and our carbon footprint and kids will leave the lesson with a pledge to do easy eco-actions daily in their lives so as to be part of the solution to protect our environment and wild habitats.

MAD lesson on Frogs and Toads

Singapore has 25 species of frogs and toads, 19 of which live in our forests. If our forest is degraded due to un-natural climate change, we may easily lose some of our amphibian species. Kids will learn about the diversity of frogs and toads in Singapore, the differences between frogs and toads, learn about their ecology —- their life cycle, where they live, what they eat, what may eat them. Get to know how to create amphibian habitats that will attract native frogs and toads to breed! This MAD lesson will also include information about global warming and our carbon footprint and kids will leave the lesson with a pledge to do easy eco-actions daily in their lives so as to be part of the solution to protect our environment and wild habitats.

MAD lesson on Wild Toys

Seeds, leaves and other parts of plants may be used creatively to make engaging toys and games. Make toys from plants in this lesson! This MAD lesson will also include information about global warming and our carbon footprint and kids will leave the lesson with a pledge to do easy eco-actions daily in their lives so as to be part of the solution to protect our environment and wild habitats.

Click here to view upcoming MAD lessons and events!

For enquiries and registration, please email leopardcat@pacific.net.sg.

About

2008-08-06T14:38:00.000+08:00

Hello and welcome to the blog of Cicada Tree Eco-Place!

Cicada Tree Eco-Place is a new non-profit NGO which promotes nature, culture and eco-living through environmental education.

Founded in Singapore in 2007 by volunteer educators and environmentalists, our organisation is named after a native freshwater swamp plant called Ploiarium alternifolium (cicada tree or riang riang) whose habitat is locally endangered.

Our organization aims to:
• provide affordable and quality environmental education for all;
• promote local and regional flora & fauna; and
• demonstrate and encourage adoption of an eco-lifestyle by individuals and organisations