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Assignment 1A: TANAH AINA
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This is our first assignment for the ENBE module (Elements of Nature and Built Environment), and we had to go on our very first site visit on our first month of university life!
Our class is quite big, with over 90 students, that's why we had to break in 10 group, which each group will have 10 or 11 members. My group had 11 members.
For this assignment, our main task is to explore and experience the natural habitat during our site visit.
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For our site visit, we went to an eco resort called Tanah Aina, which is located inside a forest in Raub, Pahang.
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In this site visit, we are going to explore the whole area with our group, and together decide on a site of approximately 4x4 metres in Tanah Aina. We have to study our site thoroughly, through our five senses which is sight, smell, touch, taste and hearing. We need to record our studies and findings, and if possible, draw some sketch of our site or even bring back some soil samples. It is because that after going back to our universities, all groups have to transfer and represent all their studies and experiences collected from their site in an infographic poster that is produced digitally.
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Tanah Aina is actually a good place, it has a natural environment, fresh air, nice views and sceneries, and also good food and accomodation! Honestly, it really is comfortable staying here, and the only flaw about this trip is the cost. Frankly speaking, it is not cheap at all.
On the left is a map of Tanah Aina. There are actually a lot of things to do here, such as river trekking to the waterfall and doing the "leap of faith", and also playing the flying fox.
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Unfortunately I can't get pictures of the leap of faith, the river+jungle trekking and also the flying fox, but here it works like this: for the leap of faith, first we have to go jungle trekking and also crossing a few rivers, then when we reach a waterfall we can jump from a tower that is almost as high as the waterfall. Then we use a different route on the way back, which is by river trekking. It could be dangerous and we might get hurt, as the rocks are all slippery and some were sharp. So before we commence the site visit, our lecturers reminded us to bring a pair of river boots, and it did come in handy.
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And for the flying fox, it is just an ordinary flying fox with a relatively short distance of "flying".
v Our chosen 4x4m site.
Our recordings out of five senses in our site:
Spiders
Sight
Ferns
Dragonfly
Crystal-clear water
Water spiders
Touch
Feel of rough sand with small and pointy rocks mixed inside,
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Feel of cold river water running across our feet,
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Warmth of sunlight touching across our face and leaving glitters on the river surface.
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Slippery rocks.
The water feels colder at morning and night, and slightly warmer in noons.
Taste
Sour and unpleasant half-rotten rose apple.
Funny taste of river water.
Hear
Gushing of the river water and the sound its flow brought upon.
The sound of bugs and insects singing, and the chirping of birds.
Smell
Fishes smell weird, plants don't really have a smell, and the half-rotten rose apple smells rotten.
Our Infographic poster
We are required to summarize, reorganize and represent our studies and experiences of our 4x4m site in an infographic poster, and are required to do produce it digitally. From the information we collected from our site during the site visit at Tanah Aina, we wouldneed to decide on which information is useful and which is not.
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According to the brief, we need to make an introduction about the project in our infographic poster, as well as to introduce our group's theme or focus of our site. For our group, we chose the theme "Riverside", as we agreed that this theme would have a wider variation of information, as it includes land and also part of a river, and have the advantage to study both land creature and aquatic life.
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We are also prompted to select a colour theme for our infrographic poster, and use a consistent layout for all of our slides, to make our infographic poster look more harmony and organized. Because of this, we decided that the overall infographic poster should only be done by one person, however others may contribute or help in producing the infographic poster. As I am quite confident with powerpoint, I volunteered to be the one creating the overall poster, but also with the help of my fellow groupmates. Not sure if what I did was good or bad, but I did try to not disappoint anyone.
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So we did 8 A4 sized slides with powerpoint and also with the help of photoshop, as per requested by our lecturers. In which the contents are: Our site, Biotic & Abiotic Factors, and Five Senses. We included some interactive mechanisms in the poster, as well as some audios and videos. Though, it is truly regretful as our speakers are not working at the time of our presentation. No sound came out at all.
I was informed that we need to have a big A1 sized poster to contain everything in our 8 A4 slides on the night before our presentation. One of my groupmate volunteered to do that and he stayed very late in our campus to finish it. I'm quite sorry as I went home earlier to rest as I can't resist the tiredness i feel at that time. Nonetheless I felt grateful to have such great groupmates.
Our presetation went good, except that something went wrong with the audio. Not even a bit of sound came out. Not sure if its my laptop, or our wire, but i went and tried it the second time after everyone's presentation ends, and it worked miraculously. I guess I need to check everything and make sure they works perfectly before any presentations starts in the future.
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In the end we got B- for this infographic poster, It is not a very good mark, if I would say, but nontheless I'm quite happy with it.
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This marks the end of our first group assignment~
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Thanks to all of my groupmates~ <3
Reflection
Overall, it is a fun experience during our site visit at Tanah Aina. I couldn't find any unpleasant memories there other than the early morning wakes, and the late night thoughts of worrying over other assignments that its deadline was just 2 or 3 days after coming back from our site visit.
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Other than that, actually I think that my group should interact and communicate with each other more. As a group, we are not actually so united as to be with each other at all times. Most of the times, we still stick with seperate, smaller groups rather than be with the big group. It is quite a pity to be like this, for a group. Maybe we are all too shy and we just have the quiet-type personalities, but still, I hope that in the future we get more chances to know each other better.
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In this assignment, I had learnt the importance of TGC 4.1, which is to communicate appropriately in various settings and modes. In a group, members are supposed to communicate more to each other in a friendly manner, and try to understand each other better. If noone starts to talk, maybe we should try and step out to break the ice. To our lecturers, and during presentations, we should be polite and be open-hearted to listen to advices and opinions. I have also developed the TGC 5.1, to understand team dynamics and work with each others as a team. Everyone should contribute, more or less in a team, to achieve a bigger success, and also to share the fruit of success, and be happy together. We should be resonating with the efforts of our group members, to not let their efforts be in vain, and also to learn more by giving more.
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Last but not least, I had achieved the TGC 8.1, to effectively use ICT and its related technologies in our assignment. For communication between group members, we created a group in whatsapp. And for the presentation slides, we used powerpoint and also Adobe photoshop to realize our needs.
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