Once upon a time, on a small little island called Singapore, groups of Grade 2 students braved the hazy and rainy conditions in search of natural resources scattered throughout the island. Where were these natural resources hidden? What natural resources could this island offer them? How could they take, use, and change these natural resources?

It didn’t take long for the students to discover a secret little Eco Garden tucked into the back corner of the Science Centre. This garden was particularly special because it was full of natural resources that could be used for many different things. Aloe vera to heal their bodies, Neem twigs to brush their teeth, rubber to make bouncy balls and pineapple to ease their headaches. This was a great discovery! Every corner held a new surprise. The cotton plant to make t-shirts, spices and herbs for flavoring, vegetables and fruits to make so many yummy foods and drinks!

The students knew what they had found was a treasure. Now they just had to figure out how to change these natural resources from their natural state into something useable, this was the tricky part! How does cotton turn into a t-shirt? How does the latex from a rubber tree turn into rubber? Which part of the aloe vera plant could you use to heal sunburn? These were the real mysteries hidden in the garden, and mysteries that were important to their survival.

Feeling quite happy with their supply of resources from the Eco Garden, students decided it was time to venture to a new location in the hope of finding more natural resources. They heard about a quiet park called Bukit Batok and decided to explore deep in its forest.

It didn’t take long to discover that this forest had a lot to offer. There was Rattan which was useful for building furniture and baskets, Chinese Fan Palms with waterproof leaves for building roofs and shelters, the twisty Woody Liana as a source of fresh water and the yummy Fig tree for its nutritious and delicious fruit.

And just when the students thought that they had found everything they needed, they saw something so beautiful, so large and so breathtaking that they had to stop and contemplate what it was and how it could help them. For there in front of them was a gigantic, abandoned, granite quarry. They quickly learnt that granite was strong and could be used for many things, but the bigger question was, how could you get large pieces of granite rock from the side of a hill? They had to be very creative in their thinking, coming up with many ideas. But one idea seemed to stick more than the others: dynamite.

As the list of resources grew, the Grade 2 students started to ponder the idea that the earth provides them with everything they need and use. Could this statement actually be true? Maybe their next adventure at the Marina Barrage could help them confidentially support this theory.

So far they had discovered that plants, trees and rocks were valuable resources provided by nature, but how could water, wind and sun be used as a resource? And how could you capture these resources and turn them into something useful?

Squinting into the bright sunlight that flooded the rooftop of the Marina Barrage, there sat a clue that would help them answer one part of their question: a solar panel. What was a solar panel? How did it use the sun to make things work? Could they use their own solar panels to light a lightbulb or spin a motor? To their surprise, it worked. They had harnessed the energy of the sun and generated electricity - another resource from nature was helping their lives.

As the students searched for more clues, they constructed anemometers to measure wind speed so they could build a wind turbine in the windiest spot and create more electricity. This was more than they could have imagined possible when they set out on this adventure.

If they could use the sun, and the wind, what about the water? Could they use the seawater as a resource for drinking? They couldn’t survive drinking sea water. Surely there must be a way to get fresh drinking water, and there it was: a model of the Marina Barrage. After watching the demonstration model, they had found a solution to their problem. Reservoirs for storing fresh rain water was an effective and smart idea, especially because their little island of Singapore received so much rain.

With these answers in hand, the students decided it was time to take a rest after all their exploring and investigating. Feeling very happy and secure in the knowledge that the earth would provide them with the things they needed to survive, they went home, slept and rested happily ever after… or at least until their next adventure.