Life Science 152 camp 2014 at Jonkershoek

The camp was from the 29 August 2014 till 02 September 2014 and I must say that at first I was not excited about the camp at all. When we got to Jonkershoek with our school buses we offloaded our luggage, chose our rooms and unpacked. We went for our introduction session where the reserve manager told us about the reserve and the rules and regulations of the venue. We were also divided into three teams (blue,red and green team), each group had two facilitators that they worked with and each group had to be on kitchen duty for breakfast, lunch and supper. We had different activities at different times depending on the group that you were on, the first activity that actually made the camp a bit nice was the ice breaker were we played different games and won prizes the beautiful weather also made me at ease with the idea of the camp. We also had educating sessions such as the frog talk where we were taught a bout different frogs and listened to the different sound that they make, river ecology where we learnt about the different factors the determine whether a river is health or not, mammal trapping where we set up traps for mammals using bait and we caught quiet a number of them, star gazing where we went to gaze at stars and listen to different animal sound. We also did some insect trapping and identification where we used net to trap insects and we also learn about the different methods of trapping insect and later we went back and identified the insects using microscopes and dichotomous key. The fun activities that I enjoyed the most was hiking up the mountain and the talent show  where I sang with Khanyisile although at first I was scared to do it.

The last activity that we had was doing a presentation as groups on everything that we did at the camp I believe this was the hardest because the presentation everyone was busy cramming and it was not fun at all. I also enjoyed being in the kitchen because I learnt a number of ways to cook and recipes from the chef that we had and his assistant. The food was great I must say.

To conclude the camp was great and I enjoyed myself, it was wild, I made new friends  and I would do it again if I could thank you Rose.

Experience at the Cape Point Nature Reserve

Experience at the Cape Point Nature Reserve

On the 27 September, I went on a field trip to Cape Point nature reserve which is one of the Natural World Heritage site in South Africa where tourists from all around the world come and walk and take picture of the nature reserve and the animals found there. We went there for a Life Science 151 practical. We went there with our Life Science 151 lecturers, practical instructors, practical demonstrator and tutors. When we got the, we traveled with the bus and took a tour around the nature reserve.
We first went to the Beacon of hope and I must say it was a great but also tiring as we had to walk all the way up the light house that is at the top of the steep mountain. The climbing part was really tiring because the mountain was steep; it was very windy we would have to take some breaks on the way up because it was just too much. On our way up we came across a troop of baboons and they were so cute especially the baby baboons. We took pictures with them but we were not allowed to feed them because it was dangerous for; it was said that they would actually chase us for more food and might end up hurting us. When we got to the top of the steep mountain, I was very tired; it was very windy but the view from up there was very beautiful. We saw the point where the Atlantic Ocean meets the Indian Oceans and indeed that is the most beautiful view I have ever seen.

After going to the Beacon of hope in, we then went to the Cape of Good Hope which is the most South-Western point of the African continent, so cool. On our way to the Cape pint, we came across the fastest running bird which is an ostrich and some of the students took the picture of it. When we got the Cape of Good Hope, we went on the rocky mountain and we took loads of picture, the sea breeze was so refreshing and it was a bit sunny which a good thing was. The sea view and seeing the big waves was a great experience, for a moment there I actually forgot about academic stress and I was in my own world.

This was then the end of the tour, but it was worth going. The nature reserve so very clean and everything in it was also very clean. From the daily news that we hear about pollution, it was so great seeing that some places are actually that clean and are still being reserved; it shows that change can be made. It then started raining and so it was time to go home; then the ride back to campus began. This was indeed one of the experiences I have ever has, being away from all the noise and factories was very relaxing.

My experience in Life Science 151

I have been doing Life Science 151 for the past eight months and I have to say that it has been a great and interesting experience for me. Life Science 151 is divided into four main categories which include lectures, tutorials and practical. In these three classes, we do different activities that help assist us in understanding the certain topic that we are working on. In every week, we get lecture classes, tutorials and practical’s that are all basically based on the same topic that is currently being done. The following paragraphs will further elaborate in detail in the task we do and how they assist us as the students.

My Life Science 151 lecture is Dr Maryke Malan and she works with the Biodiversity and Conservation Biology Department. At first I really could not understand what was being dine during the lecture as I could not hear her clearly but after some time I got used to her and I could easily understand what she was trying to say. She is a really nice person, very funny at times and I find myself enjoying her lectures. She firstly does introductions by giving us the background of the topics and sometimes she plays some video clip just to give us an idea of what we will be doing.

After the introduction we then go on to the main outline of the topic and tries to explain basically what the topic is about. After the lecture we have to then go read in detail throughout the whole chapter and try to make our own notes. I usually take two hours every day of my time reading through the chapter trying to make sense of it and making notes. This usually helps a lot because the more I make noted and paraphrase what is said in the text book, then more I understand the content and terminology of the chapter.

My Life Science 151 tutor is Mbandi, he is very funny and loves talking a lot; he tried being strict and always serious with us during tutorials but it did not work out well for him; we really enjoy his little funny stories and wired comments. During tutorials, we basically get tut-test, which is comprised of a set of questions that assess us on the work that was covered during the lectures with our lecturer and the work that we has to go read on in detail by ourselves. For me, knowing that I have a tutorial coming up every Thursday actually pushes me to study every week because the tutorial marks that I get contribute to my final year mark. 

In our practical sessions we have an instructor whose name is Mr Bradley Flynn, he is very nice and tries to be strict at times but it does not really work. Then we are divided into small group and a demonstrator is allocated to each group; my demonstrator is Apiwe Mdunyelwa, she is a nice person and she helps us out when we do not understand instructions and we laugh a lot with her. 

My Life Science 151 experience has been great and I have and still am enjoying doing the module.