The Mass Movement Trip

by Haziqah Amin.

On Saturday, the 7th of April, geography students from PTEK had a trip around Brunei-Muara district called 'The Mass Movement Trip'. Its purposes were to visit places in the district where there are mass movement or hill slopes occurring. There were 20 students who take Geography from PTEK involved in this trip. 

The trip started at around 2.15PM. They first went to Bukit Katok, which is located only a few meters away from PTEK. After having a few sights on hill slopes, they left the place and went to Bukit Telanai next. Mass movement, also known as mass wasting, is the downward movement by gravity of rock, regolith (loose, weathered rock) and/or soil on the sloped top layers of the Earth’s surface. It is a significant part of the process of erosion because it moves material from high elevations to lower elevations. It can be triggered by natural events like earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and flooding but gravity is its driving force. Fortunately for us, there has not been any reported cases of earthquakes or volcanic eruptions happening in Brunei. In Brunei, having tropical rain forest as its climate, what usually triggers these processes is the soil erosion caused by heavy rainfall. 

'The hill slopes in Mabohai were the most obvious ones. You could see patches where there used to be trees growing and not see them there anymore after being washed off by heavy rainfalls' said Aziemah from AE 20, describing the sight she was having when they visited some hills in Mabohai. 

It was a knowlegdable trip as they had learnt a lot regarding mass movement and hillslopes from it. Hopefully the trip could help them in their understanding about this particular topic and thus, assisting them in their exams. 

“Knowing where things are, and why, is essential to rational decision making”- Jack Dangermond, Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI)

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Geography Field Trip To Tasek Lama

By Al Faidz

One way of learning geography is to study them hands on and on 30th March 2012, geography class L2.1 consisting of the lower six students had a field trip to Tasek Lama. This trip is lead by the geography lecture himself, Sir Ramarao. With the permission PTEK, permission slips were given to the student who are participating to inform their parents about the educational trip. PTEK conducts these kind of trips not just for the geography students, but also for students who are interested. It all depends on the subject and availability of the lecturers. 

The trip to Tasek Lama was enjoyed by students where they were given chances to observe up close and also given on field explanation on the respective subtopics of Hydrology. As many as 18 students were given the opportunity to observe the shape of the drainage basin of Tasek Lama, the seepage of water, the process of percolation and also some other upcoming topic which haven't been taught to the students. Judging from the students' response, many of those contribute in the trip by asking questions, observing the process and also increase their understanding and ability in answering questions on spot and off spot. Such that student can imagine what they see.

At the end of the day, Sir Rama quoted “What’s more important is not what you need to learn, but what you know. Don’t just be a book smart person, be a smart person, be an A* student!”

Revised by Joanne Lim.

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Geography trip to the Beach

by Fazrenna mks.

On 29^th January 2012, Geography & Travel and Tourism students, under Sir Stuart’s and Teacher Ainun’s supervision, had a trip to 3 beaches: Tanjong Batu beach, Muara beach and Serasa beach.

Students got there early at around 6:15AM to assemble before setting off to their first destination, Tanjong Batu beach. When everyone had arrived, they set off at 6:45AM.

It took about 45 minutes to get there. They had to go through a forest, that was quite slippery as there was slight rain before they arrived and they also had to overcome another problem, that is landslide. The landslide left them no choice but to find another way to get to their destination. 

At the beach, they learned about some of the coastal features, explained by Sir Stuart, Teacher Ainun and the two other teachers that had decided to tag along. The students took some time to learn about the beach and its land forms. After that, they decided to go to their next destination, Muara Beach.

At Muara beach, the students stopped to have some breakfast to fill their empty stomachs and after that they assembled themselves at the Singapore memorial sculpture. Sir Stuart did some explaining on that about  the geography topic on tourism to the students.

Then at Serasa beach, Sir Stuart explained to the students about rip rap, something which they learned in Geograpy. There were many facilities and games in serasa beach, for example: the flying fox, kayak, water surfing and many others. Unfortunately, the students didn't have enough time to play but they took some time to buy some food from the merchants there. 

After eating lunch and having fun at Serasa beach, the students went back to the place where they first assembled themselves to make sure everyone was present. They left the place at around 1:00PM.

Overall, the trip was fun yet educational. The next class will be going for trips on the 12^th and 19^th  February, under the supervision of other lecturers.

Revised by Joanne Lim

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