From years to years, there have always been developments in a country. So, has Cambodia? Phnom Penh is a city where growth can be seen. Koh Pich, an island in Phnom Penh can prove that this country has really become a better place. In 2019, a land that was barely seen with houses has covered with beautiful buildings and roads. In just 16 years, this place has evolved so much from 2003 until nowadays.
The Geography of Cambodia
2017 – 2018
Geography Exploration
Geography was an exploration where we create a book about the geography of Cambodia. Also, it was the first time that juniors were able to create an incredible book. I was in one of the teams to go and research the central and northern part of Cambodia which are Tboung Khmum, Kampong Cham, Kampong Thom, Siem Reap, Preah Vihear, and Oddar Mean Chey provinces. The exploration was divided into three sections which are before the trip, during the trip, and after the trip.
Before the Trip
During that time, we were gathering information and data to form documentation about the provinces. There were five main pieces of information that we researched throughout this section which included physical systems, human system and movement, environment and society, location in spatial terms and lastly, places and regions. We were divided into five teams due to the amount of data that we needed. To kept track of all the information that we found, we used Google Drive which is really helpful.
During the Journey
Throughout the trip to these provinces, we have interviewed lots of different people for their life story to later choose one and insert it into the documentation for each province. Besides, we also went to some of the famous places such as Angkor Wat, Tonle Sap Lake, Santuk Mountain, Phnom Pros and Phnom Srey Mountain and many other tourist attractions. We have taken lots of photos to use them for later purposes. The other goal of the trip was to explore the provinces and later predict what will happen in the future.
After Traveling
After we get back from the trip, we gathered the information that we need from all the data that we’ve collected to put into the documentation. We used the interview that we got and turned it into a human life story. We assembled the information that we thought is good to include in the documentation. In the end, we were able to collect all the information and data that we need to create the book.
The goal of creating the Geography of Cambodia is for government students to use it as a resource for their education but also for tourist to use it as their guide to Cambodia.
2019
The Geography of Cambodia
The Geography of Cambodia has now been published and is available in Monument Bookstore. Because our goal is to help government students, Liger students are able to bring one copy of the books for a government school in their hometown. I was able to give one to the school that I’ve learned before entering Liger and the people there were really grateful for it. Some of the books were sold out too. Lastly, I hope that this book can help lots of people to get to know more about Cambodia and appreciate this country for what we have.
Acid & Base
March 2019, 2:00 pm
There was a day in March where we had an experiment. The experiment about acid, an ionic compound that produces positive hydrogen ions (H+) when dissolved in water and base, an ionic compound that produces negative hydroxide ions (OH-) when dissolved in water. It was the day where we understand more about these two substances.
That day we were instructed to pour 20 milliliters of each solution into each cup. Those solutions were lemon juice, vinegar, sprite, water, toothpaste (with water solution), baking soda (with water solution), and bleach. We were told that these solutions represent different pH levels.
Later on, we poured the red cabbage indicator into each solution’s cup. Then we noticed the changes in color.
The clear sprite has turned into light red. The light blue toothpaste solution has turned into light purple. The other solutions also changed colors.
The final step that we did was to combine those solutions that were mixed with the indicator, together. We blended lemon juice with bleach, baking soda solution with vinegar and sprite with toothpaste solution. The result that we got was that they changed colors again.
The red lemon juice solution and light yellow bleach solution has turned into a red solution. This is because the solution has more acid than the base.
We were then asked to write a theory about this experiment and this is what I’ve written.
The reaction of acid and base is called neutralization where the products are water and salt. This neutralization helps to balance the solution but it depends on the concentrations of the acid and base in the solution. If you mix a high acid with a high base, it will produce water and salt and the solution will more likely to become neutral. If you mix a high base with a low acid or a low base with high acid, the solution won’t balance but it still produces water and salt. However, it will also contain a higher concentration of one side because of the leftover acid or base which makes it still be acidic or basic.
The Experiment has End!
The Show Must Go On
-
The performers who have to make the
Play happens, never show
That they’re in pain, they must
Continue what they’re doing to go
Meet the audience’s expectation to stay on
-
I knew that the
End will come but the show
Has to continue, it must
Make the audience happy and go
In peace, even if we’re lying, we have to keep going on
-
I know that her end is near but the
Fact that she doesn’t realize I know her end is near, make me want to continue the show
Even if it’s a lie, it must
Keep going to see her smile, can’t even cry in front of her to let her go
In peace, because seeing her happy in the last minute, is enough for me to keep living on
Doctor
A healthy person
Good care of a health
And a cured patient
Thanks to those people
who help to make our life
Happy
Who are doctors.
However,
When things go wrong
The diseases can’t be cure
Doctors are being blamed
And get hate from people
For what they’ve done.
But people never know
How the doctors feel
To hold a knife
And do surgery
With their best
But afraid to fail
Cause their job
Is to cure patients
And take care of them
Even the last minutes.
So,
Thanks to the doctors
Who cures our life
And create a chance
For us to live again.
Angles in Triangles
Triangle is a shape that forms of three sides and three angles. There are different types of triangle such as isosceles triangle, equilateral triangle and more. However, one fact about the triangle is that the sum of the three angles will always be 180 degrees. Therefore, it is easy to find the one missing angle.
To find the missing angle, we just need to subtract the two angles that are being shown from 180 degrees. For example:
180 – ( 23 + 124 )
180 – 147 = 33
So, the missing angle is equal to 33 degrees.
What We’ve Been Doing? – Math
Math is a complicated subject to learn. Therefore, we have to find the right resources and strategies that can help us learn easily. In math class, we’ve been studying from Singapore Math Books and now by the end of this year, we have finished Primary Mathematics 5B.
Not only studying from books, but we also learn from online resources. Every week, we have homework that is due on Monday in Khan Academy, an online website that you can learn about different subjects. This is a really helpful website because you can keep track of what you’ve been learning. Besides, at the end of every term, we have a celebration of knowledge, a quiz to test how well you understand the lesson. Because of all the great resources and strategies, we were able to understand math easier and study with pleasure.
In round 5, we were focusing on different lessons but the one that I enjoyed the most was the intro to algebra. Algebra is a part of mathematics where unknown numbers are represented by letters. For example:
6x + x – 5
5 – x
3x + 2x
Because I’ve learned algebra before, I find it is easier to learn this lesson. Below is the exercise I’ve done before.
Algebra Exercise:
3(x+5) = 33
3x + 15 = 33
3x = 33 – 15
3x = 18
x = 18/3
x = 6
Marine Traveling Theater
Marine Traveling Theater is an exploration where we performed a short play that we’ve created about ocean threat which our goal is to encourage people to conserve and protect marine life. Our facilitator for this exploration is from Marine Conservation Cambodia (MCC).
Before we can create a play that’s related to the ocean, we have to understand marine life and it’s ecosystem first but also the theater. We spend our first two or three weeks trying to have general knowledge and idea about these two subjects including ocean threats, marine ecosystem services and roles in theater. We even go to explore underwater life through snorkeling to see the beauty of the ocean but also to understand more about it.
During our trip to Koh Seh, we were able to do lots of many things. Some of the activities include dolphin survey, snorkeling, picking up trash but also seeing the bioluminescence. While snorkeling we saw seahorses, starfish, beautiful coral reefs and many different kinds of fish. I then realize the outside beauty of the ocean has nothing compare to the beauty inside the ocean. I’m really grateful to be a member of this exploration.
After learning about these things, we were able to divide roles in creating this play. Some of the theater roles include director, actors, costume designer, screenwriter and many more. My job in this exploration is a media director with one of my classmate. We are the one who created the poster, the pamphlet, and other technology products to advertise our play. After all the hard works that we’ve done, we were able to create a play called New Beginning.
New Beginning
A little girl finds out that her beloved ocean is being polluted: the adventure begins! Will she be able to make a change toward pollution or will this problem continue to impact the ocean?
Performances
Because our play is about protecting the ocean, we chose the people around the coastal area to be our target audience. We were able to present to Sala Monkey and Kep Garden in Kep.
To make our play more influence and effective to the kids, we decided to do an activity about ocean threats with them. We explain the effects of ocean threats and give them a chance to find the solutions they can.
We also got the opportunity to perform our play on Ocean Day at Trapeang Sangkae Community Fisheries. Because of all the opportunities we got, we are really grateful that our play has reached out to many people.
Pamphlet
This is a short video about our exploration.
Help Protect Our Ocean!
Simple Acts of Throwing the Trash in the Bin & Reducing Single-use Plastic Can Help Save Our Ocean!
How I Change Cambodia – Marine Traveling Theater
Humans need oxygen to breathe which the ocean provides more than 50% of it but people don’t realize. We eat fish to stay healthy which is given by the ocean but we never appreciate. We make money from turning a place into an attraction for tourists which is the ocean but we never take care of it. One day, all of these amazing resources and services that the ocean gives us will be gone because of human.
Ocean Threats
Illegal Fishing – Trawling
Every day, there are people who do fishing in illegal ways. In Cambodia, trawling is very popular but only allowed when it is deeper than 20 meters. However, people usually don’t respect the rule. Trawling in shallow water can cause damage to the ocean surface such as destroying the coral reefs and seagrass which are the marine habitats for many different kinds of fish to secure themselves from their preditor. Besides, these habitats also provide food for some of the marine animals. Imagine, if these habitats are destroyed, how would the animals that depend on the coral reef and the seagrass survive? I can say they would barely live in this situation. Moreover, there is even an electric trawling which is much more harmful than the normal trawling. Electric Trawling will grab all the things that are on its way even if they are small fish. After the fish are being collected from electric trawling or from trawling, the unwanted or unneeded fish that have trapped and died already will go back into the ocean. In this state, the population of the fish will be reduced.
Coastal Developments
When a place becomes a tourists attraction, there will be developments happen in that area. For the ocean, there might be a bridge that will cross to the island just like Koh Pous Bridge. There might be buildings around the coastal area or on the island. Building these things aren’t always good as they look like. For example, building the bridge that crosses the ocean can destroy the ecosystem that is underneath it. The bridge might be built on the beautiful coral reefs or seagrass which will cause damage to these habitats and other fish. Therefore, we need to consider it deeply before doing any coastal developments.
Ocean Pollution
It is common to see people throwing trash everywhere in the country. But where do these trash go? Well, it will eventually go into the ocean because of the wind. In Cambodia, some of the trash that can be found in the ocean are plastics and ghost fishing gears. Usually, marine animals such as sea turtles will confuse plastics with their food and so, they will eat those plastics. Consuming plastics won’t give you any protein or energy. Besides, it will harm you. Therefore it is really dangerous to have plastics in the ocean. While plastic can threaten marine animals, so can the ghost fishing gears? Fish can be trap in the net that has been left in the ocean from the fisher which considers being ghost fishing gear. Because the fish can’t go anywhere, it can die from starving. There are also other ghost fishing gears such as fishing tackle and many more. This ocean pollution problem can also reduce the population of the fish. Also, trash can decrease the beauty of the ocean. Therefore, will the polluted ocean attract as many tourists as it did before being polluted?
Illegal fishing, coastal developments and ocean pollution are the main costs of ocean threat. If we don’t do anything to stop or reduce these activities, our ocean will get destroy one day because of our inconsideration.
Marine Traveling Theater Exploration
Marine Traveling Theater is an exploration where we performed a short play that we’ve created about ocean threat which our goal is to encourage people to conserve and protect marine life. Our facilitator for this exploration is from Marine Conservation Cambodia (MCC).
Before we can create a play that’s related to the ocean, we have to understand marine life and it’s ecosystem first but also the theater. We spend our first two or three weeks trying to have general knowledge and idea about these two subjects including ocean threats, marine ecosystem services and roles in theater. We even go to explore underwater life through snorkeling to see the beauty of the ocean but also to understand more about it. After learning about these things, we were able to divide roles in creating this play. Some of the theater roles include director, actors, costume designer, screenwriter and many more. After all the hard works that we’ve done, we were able to create a play called New Beginning.
New Beginning
A little girl finds out that her beloved ocean is being polluted: the adventure begins! Will she be able to make a change toward pollution or will this problem continue to impact the ocean?
We chose to create a play about ocean pollution because it is the problem that can be solved through the acts of throwing the trash in the bin and reducing single-use plastic. We believe we can influence people to do these actions through our play while illegal fishing and coastal developments need more movements.
What Have We Done?
Because our play is about protecting the ocean, we chose the people around the coastal area to be our target audience. We got a chance to present our play to Sala Monkey and Kep Garden which gave us two performances in Kep. By performing our play to the kids, we hope that they will understand about it and pass the information to their families and other people because we believe that kids can make a change.
To make our play more influence and effective to the kids, we decided to do an activity about ocean threats with them. We explain the effects of ocean threats and give them a chance to find the solutions they can.
We also got the opportunity to perform our play on Ocean Day at Trapeang Sangkae Community Fisheries. Because of all the opportunities we got, we are really grateful that our play has reached out to many people.
Finally, we hope that we can make a change toward ocean pollution through this play and people would take action altogether.
Help Protect Our Ocean!
Simple Acts of Throwing the Trash in the Bin & Reducing Single-use Plastic Can Help Save Our Ocean!
Mango Picker
Six Simple Machines
Inclined Plane
A type of simple machine that uses for moving things upward or downward.
Lever
A type of simple machine that the force is applied at a point that gives the output at another point. Ex: scissors, etc
Wheel and Axle
A type of simple machine that consists of two circular objects with an axle in the middle which usually is used to move an object.
Wedge
A type of simple machine that is used to split and cut things.
Pulley
A type of simple machine that consists of a wheel and string attached to it. Usually, it is used to lift things up.
Screw
A type of simple machine that the inclined plane is wrapped spirally around a shaft.
Mango Picker
Just by seeing the name, we know that the Mango Picker is used to pick up mangoes but for a long distance without having to carry a heavy dustpan that is full of mangoes with you while collecting them. It is a compound machine that composes of three different types of simple machine which are wheel & axle, lever, and inclined plane. This Mango Picker project was inspired by the situation in our school where there are full of mango trees and those mangoes are falling down every day. We always have to collect those mangoes and put them in the dustpan. After the dustpan is full, we have to throw them into the trash bin which is at least three meters far from each other. We have to repeat this process, again and again, several times until all the mangoes are being collected. It is really tiring to keep doing that because when the dustpan is filled up, it is heavy due to the weight of the mangoes. Therefore, our team has come up with the idea of creating this Mango Picker. The Mango Picker uses wheels to reduce the force that is needed to move the dustpan and the inclined plane which make the mango rolls down into the box. It uses the lever to help the mango moving too. We have created a prototype that is made out of papers and bottle caps. In overall, I think that this project is really fascinating and educational but also at the same time it is fun to learn.