pbms norway 2012 - city university of hong kongfinal) pbms... · 2018-05-06 · except giving ideas...

PBMS Norway 2012

Department of Biology and Chemistry PBMS Norway 2012

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Content

PBMS ……………………………………..…………………………………………………………………………………........... 2

Programme …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 3

Mentor’s Reflection …………………………………………………………………………………………………..……….. 4

Project Introduction and Student Reflections

Group 1: Heat tolerance of starfish ……………….……………………………………………..………………... 5

Group 2: The effect of predators on the aggregation of blue mussels ……………..……………. 13

Group 3: The effect of salinity on the curling action of arms of Asterias rubens ……………. 22

Group 4: The study of camouflage of the mysid shrimp (Praunus flexuosa) ……..………..…. 30

List of Participants …………………………………………………………………………………………………............. 36


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PBMS

PBMS is a short form of “Broadening students’ international outlook: Project-based

Mentoring Scheme”. This is a project supported by the Department of Biology and

Chemistry. The goal of this project is to enhance students’ international outlook in their

pursuit of learning activities in Drøbak and Oslo, Norway. The objectives of the activities are

to facilitate students’ learning and development in science disciplines, enhance students’

exposure different cultures and promote international contacts.


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Presentation

Venue : CY-311

Date : 30 November 2012

Time : 17:00 – 18:30

The Programme:

17:00 – 17:10 Welcome address by Tang Sze Wing

17:10 – 17:25 Heat tolerance of starfish

17:25 – 17:40 The effect of predators on the aggregation of blue mussels

17:40 – 17:55 The effect of salinity on the curling action of arms of Asterias rubens

17:55 – 18:10 The study of camouflage of the mysid shrimp (Praunus flexuosa)

18:10 – 18:15 Question and answer

18:15 – 18:25 Closing remarks by Prof Lilian Vrijmoed


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Mentor’s Reflection

Hey, it’s Tweety. I am this year PBMS student mentor. I was one of the student participants in last year PBMS. Last year experience to this wonderful place-- Drøbak, Norway opens my eyes to the world. That was the first time I’ve every step on the Europe land. During the trip I felt like I have learnt a lot on organization, how to efficiently use my time; communication with others, how to pull out a plan when everyone has their own point of views and make thing works; as well as take care of myself and help out each other. I am not perfect in the areas mentioned but this trip does lead me to the right way of improving myself. I do believe this trip has a great inspiration on me and other students. The things I’ve learnt from the trip did help me be a better student/person.

Benefited from last year trip, this year I decided to join as a student mentor to pay off and hopefully I can inspire the new students so they can be benefited from the trip as much as they could. My new role this time is to help general management of the programme, help mentee’s out by giving suggestions and guidance to their projects as well as taking care of their daily life. Also act as a bridge between professors and students. This is another challenge but great training to me. I have improved myself as a leader/coordinator and learnt how to settle arguments while considering peoples’ opinions and feelings.

Except giving ideas and managing mentee’s daily life, I also got the chance to know more about them as a friend. We had (at least I do) a lot fun in Norway living together and hanging out. I had a lot of great memories with all the mentees in the trip.

I am sure everyone got something from this amazing trip. I hope my presence during the trip did make a difference and I truly wish they could be inspired by what they’ve gone through in this programme and make the most of it in their future.


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GROUP 1

Heat tolerance of starfish

Because of global warming, temperature on the Earth surface is increasing. This may threaten many animals’ life as the temperature of their habitat changes at the same time. To study this effect on animals in Europe, we conducted this experiment.

In the experiment, the target animal was placed into water baths with temperature 15,

20, 25 and 30˚C, where 15˚C being temperature of the target animal’s habitat, and there were 10 replicates for each temperature treatment. To measure the response of the target animals to the tested temperature, the prey of the target animal was used to attract the target animal to move. In this experiment, the starfish, Asterias rubens, was chosen as the target animal.

This European starfish, Asterias rubens, is common and is abundant in Norway. It

settles in the Northern Atlantic region on rocky shores. Asterias rubens lives in a variety of depths, including shallow shores to up to 200 fathoms. The starfish in this experiment had a 2 cm central diameter, and was caught at shallow shores about 0.5 to 1 m depth. Blue mussel, Mytilus edulis, which was collected at shores with 1.5 to 2m depth, was used to attract Asterias rubens to move. To keep all the experimental Asterias rubens at the same starved level, they were starved for 24 hours before the experiment. During the 24 hours of starving, oxygen was supplied. The experiment was started when a blue mussel was put into the water bath, and ended when the starfish move towards and attached to the mussel.

The results of the experiment showed that Asterias rubens was found to be more

inactive at a higher temperature and it died at 30˚C.


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CHAN Ka Wun (Wing)

It is my first time to be in Norway. The breathtaking scenery is still fresh in my mind up to now. Everything in Norway is charming from the people, the life to the landscape. It is really a valuable experience for me not only to experience the Norwegian culture, but also to learn to adapt to a new environment. This trip has widened my view as well as broadened my horizons.

Norwegian is very nice and helpful. Every time when we ask the locals for directions, they will try their best to teach us even though some of them can only speak a little English. Everybody greeted me with a smile. I was really touched by the warmth of their welcome. There was one time we shopped in a boutique and we chatted with the shopkeeper for almost half an hour. We talked about the different lifestyles in Hong Kong and Drøbak. Before we left, she gave each of us a big hug. Actually, such kindness and friendliness can hardly be experienced in Hong Kong.

People in Hong Kong are living at a fast pace and most of them are living under high pressure stemming from the long working hours of their job as well as their desires for a better living condition. While in Drøbak, most of the shops closed at 5 p.m. or 6 p.m. and I can see that they enjoy living in Drøbak so much. I think long working hours may not necessarily be good in terms of profit-making. In a cozy and relaxing working environment, employees have higher motivation to work and the working efficiency can be enhanced. The company can hence make more profit. This thought comes to my mind after the trip.

In this trip, not only do we have to plan all the things for our project, from equipment preparation, methodology to data analysis, but we also have to spare some time to go sightseeing. So, good time management is very important and I have learnt to strike a balance between playing and studying. Since we took turns to prepare meals for four groups, my cooking skill has improved a lot as well. Apart from that, I have got the opportunity to take a boat trip for catching mussels for our project. It was really very exciting and I haven’t tried that before. I was very impressed by the beautiful shores and the breathtaking scenery of the Drøbak.

Drøbak is a wonderful place for living and vacation. Only by traveling once, you can really recognize what is the cultural difference between Hong Kong and Drøbak.


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NG Chui Ting (Emily)

When I knew I am one of the participants of the PBMS. I felt very excited because it gave a chance for me to expose and travel around the North Europe. Norway, a peaceful and beautiful place, all people around there are nice. Especially, the place we stayed – Drøbak, a little town with breathtaking scenery. You can enjoy a boundless sea with wonderful nature scenery every day. The lifestyle is simple; it makes you feel relaxed.

Apart from enjoying the views of Drøbak, our main theme was to do a project in Norway. It was the first time for me to do an experiment without any

laboratory manual. We needed to decide ourselves. For me, it was a challenge. Before we went to Norway, we thought that the experiment was very easy to complete. But, when we started to prepare the experiment, it came up with many problems, such as the target organisms that we chose was not easy to obtain and what should be the end point of the experiment. This caused us some troubles. Luckily, thanks for our helpful mentor and professors. They gave us some guidance to guide us to solve problems. Finally, we could solve the problem and preformed our experiment. This was a very precious lesson for me on learning about how to design and perform a good experiment. Besides learning how to set up the experiment, I also learnt what “persistence” is. Sometimes, the others challenged our statement, since we are not an expert and did not do experiment before. So we gave up our statement and started to think they are right. But actually, it was wrong. After having these experiences, I knew that I should think critically before I answered any questions. If you believed that it is true, you should try to defend your view rather than giving up. After the trip, I know that we are so tiny; the things we know are so little. We need to expose ourselves more. Our life should not just filling with books, but also need to expose to different cultures, environments and facing different challenges. I have learned some useful things (e.g. problem-solving skills, teamwork) form this trip. Also, it gave a chance for me to broaden my horizons. This trip definitely is a precious memory for me.


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NG Ka Yan (Ka Yan)

I had never been to Europe before this trip. Therefore, I had high expectation about the trip. For instance, fresh air, clean sea water, beautiful beach and wonderful western food would be found or experienced in the trip. I was so excited that I nearly forgot my main purpose of this trip was to conduct a project. As a result, I didn’t prepare well for my project and thus we couldn’t start our project on the second day we arrived to Norway as planned. Luckily, professors’ questions and comments helped us a lot on redesigning our project, and let me know that I had not enough to think about and prepare for the project.

Conducting an experiment is really

not as easy as I thought. Every step, every factor, and even the topic of our project should be considered carefully before we started. Otherwise, everything we have done will be meaningless. We used a whole day to search for the biology of the organism we tested and the relative literature. However, there were still mistakes in our project, such as the end point of the experiment. Even the result of

our project was not representative; the time we spent on the project was not wasted.

We have learnt a lot from the trip, such as the importance of asking questions and having discussions with the others. Asking question is not to embarrass others but to help them to think more about their project and for the sake of their project. On the first day we presented our project to professors and other students, the Norwegian student mentor asked us a question which was how can we measure water temperature (which is the habitat temperature of our target animal, brittle star) under 50 m. We found that it was impossible for us to measure temperature with the limited equipment in the laboratory. Therefore, we changed our target animal from brittle star (which is living in 50 m depth sea water) to star fish (which is common in Norway and lives on seashore). Having discussion is also very important in doing research as one person’s mind is not thoughtful enough or too short-sighted. Listening to others’ opinions help us to broaden our mind and discover new ideas that we never think about. When we decide the project, we only think about how to catch the animal and how to carry out the experiment but never think about how to measure the response of the animal with different temperatures. During our discussion, one of our group-mates pointed out a big problem and we found the method together immediately that is to measure the movement of the animal under different temperatures.


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Then, we discovered another question which was how to let the animal move. We tackled this problem by using food to attract the animal to move. More and more questions were raised and our plan became more feasible.

Living in Norway is very different from Hong Kong. The Norwegians do everything slowly. I find that this is not because they are lazy but due to their carefulness. They make mistake too, but not as much as ours. Moreover, I find there is a great trust between them. I have been to one museum in Drøbak and what I found is no one inside to check for the ticket! This did not only occur in the museum, but at the train station and the aquarium. I have to say that people in there are very honest as I find that everyone buys a ticket even in the situation like this!

This is really a great trip to broaden my horizon and an excellent experience to live in a western country. I highly recommend this program to my classmates and the freshmen of BCH!


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LEUNG Wing Shong (Sonia)

I am glad that I was given the chance to

participate in PBMS Norway trip. Though this trip, I not only learnt to handle things more flexible, but also became more active and spontaneous. Since our experiment needed to change a little bit because of the limitation of some environmental factors, we had to think of another way to conduct the experiment. Besides, every morning there was a presentation to show what we had done so far. Our classmates and professors would give us some suggestions to improve the experiment. We needed to make use of those suggestions to improve our presentation immediately.

Another thing I learnt from this trip was time management. We needed to plan our time by ourselves, like when to do the project or when go to sightseeing.

Moreover, courage and curiosity had opened a new world to us. It was hard for us to

know what activities were happening around in Drøbak as we cannot read Norwegian and most notice and posters were written in Norwegian. Luckily, we did not hesitate to ask. Otherwise, we will miss the first berry festival. The most fascinating part of the berry festival was the cake’s competition. Participants needed to use local berries to make a cake and who made the yummiest cake will win and get a big box of local berries for free. If we were shy or incurious, then we will lose our chances to have a bite on those delicious cakes and to see the life of Norwegians.

The most memorable part of this trip was to catch starfish with my group mates. Two

girls searched their way to a beach at 10 pm! Although there was sun light, the temperature was so low and there were no people on the streets. When we arrived at the beach, hundreds of star fish were on the shallow sea area waiting for us to collect. We ran into the sea and pick them up eagerly like they were gold! This little trip was like an adventure, scary, but was entrancing at the same time!

Not only I learnt a lot, but also my horizon is broadened. I will never forget living a day

with the sun on my head for almost twenty hours, walking in the forest, picking up star fish, visiting the Oscarsborg and the urban area of Oslo. If you want to have a valuable and educational experience like we did in PBMS, do not hesitate and apply for it.


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CHENG Sum Yin (Sum Yin)

In the project-based mentoring scheme Norway trip, I experienced a lot of ‘first try’ after I was born. I tried to fish successfully, to live without parental care, to conduct weekly research on marine animals, to talk and live with foreigner… lots of thing that impressed me and will bear in my mind for long time even...forever.

Norway is a beautiful, elegant, enjoyable country. Some news I heard is that Norway’s is

an environmental friendly place when every Norwegian concerns their nature and beautiful environment. Indeed, when I step into this place, I cannot find any rubbish before my eyes. There are extremely clean! Modern facilities, clean environment and very polite citizens make me think where should be a paradise rarely on the Earth.

Then we go to an ancient village named Drøbak where is coastal. I start to possess two roles in the place, one is tourist and the other is marine researcher. This two double identities make me feel excited and relaxed. Actually, I need to conduct some experiments and research on what a topic of interest during the scheme. Usually, we are easily attracted by the beautiful view around us when we are conducting experiment. Although we are under pressure to do this within a short period, the whole picture present can make us to enjoy and relax in this environment research. Therefore, we can finish our research on star fish successfully. There are lots of factors to contribute to our success, including fresh air, beautiful sea view, fantastic animals, magnificent buildings… I started to realize why Norwegians can become the happiest all over the world!


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When I carry out an experiment, I can learn that animal or organism should have their

right to survive. No matter what experiment do we conduct, the necessary condition is to respect their life. I saw Chris (our local helper) leave the fish we caught before departure, I could see the sympathy inside his eye. He indeed loves animals and the whole habitat. Then I think I start to concern all animals more than that created by God.

Something made me excited and amazing included professors brought us to visit an island named Oscarsborg Fortress. I felt astonished that this was full of culture and history instead of marine, science, and environment and why professors brought us to there. After the trip, I understood culture and history are also important for people, especially for us --- university students to develop whole personal development. Of course I enjoyed the cultural trip and later on I decided to visit Berlin in Germany to continue my cultural exposure.

‘Less is more’. This 2 week project-based trip can sufficiently let me grow up in research and widen my horizon. Thanks for our department to give me this valuable chance!


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GROUP 2

The effect of predators on the aggregation of blue mussels

Mytilu edulis (Blue mussel) is widely distributed in the North Atlantic coast and abundant in the low and mid intertidal zone attached to rocks. They are filter feeders which ingest plankton and other microscopic sea creatures. Byssal thread is secreted for attachment and locomotion.

Our experiment aimed at investigating the behavior of the blue mussels under different

predation risks. Different predators of the blue mussels were used such as crabs and star fish. The species of crabs we used is Carcinus maenas, which is distributed in the northeast Atlantic up to northern Norway. They are abundant in shallow water and under stones in the intertidal. Moreover, the species of starfish we utilized is called Asterias rubens which are also abundant in rocky shores of the Atlantic Ocean. The density of Asterias rubens population is correlated to the distribution of blue mussels. One of the possible behaviors of the blue mussel under predation risks is to achieve better protection by the aggregation of blue mussels. Our group posed a hypothesis that the higher the predation risk, the higher the degree of aggregations of the blue mussels. The degree of aggregation of blue mussels is the end point of the experiment.

In the experiment, 20 M. edulis are put into each water tanks, one with only mussels,

one with empty net, one with dead mussels in net with mussels, one with crabs in net with mussels and one with starfishes in net with mussels. The predators are separated by net.


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The distance between each mussel is 5 cm. After putting the predators (starfishes and crabs) into the tanks with 20 mussels for 1 hour, the mussel aggregation levels are measured. The experimental set up is shown below.

The starfish were caught in the net with the mussels.

The mussels without anything.

The crabs were caught in the net with the mussels.

The dead mussels were put in the net with the mussels.

The net with the mussels.


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In Norway, we were not only doing

experiment!! We also had fun and experienced the exotic atmosphere. The picture shows the market at the public square in Drøbak. In the market, second-handed goods are one of the major items. We could see vases, dishes, glasses, etc. For the collectors, here may be the best place to “dig out” treasures.

Here is Avery buying things.


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We also visited Oscarsborg, an island used to be important military station. These photos were taken in the castle.

This beautiful harbor is located just outside our house. One of our group mates always sat there and enjoyed the nature.


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Some may believe the origin of Mermaid is in Norway.

The housing in Drøbak may be the most beautiful and fashionable in the world. We always imagined living in these dream houses.


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WONG Pok Man (Kelvin)

Participating in Norway Project-Based Mentoring Scheme (PBMS) is a wonderful and unforgettable experience. The group experiment of the Norway trip was carried out wholly by ourselves providing us chances to train critical thinking skill, data analyzing skill, and time management skill. Since everything has a reason to happen. It is important that the designed experiment is supported with sufficient biological knowledge.

Furthermore, there are many uncertainties and difficulties in the experiment. The

original plan for the experiment was not feasible due to the unexpected behavior of the local blue mussels on the predators. Our group has changed the topic and the end point of the experiment. This experience allowed us to learn how to find out solution by ourselves in order to deal with the difficulties. Effective problem solving skill is important in doing scientific research.

Besides, each group has responsibility for cooking meal and cleaning duty. These

housekeeping duties allowed us to be more independent. Moreover, since most of the tasks (such as cooking meal, cleaning duty and conducting experiment) in Norway were required to work as a group. In order to be cooperative with group mates in a good manner, it is important to share opinions with others, to listen and accept others’ opinions and learn how to respect others. After the trip, I learned the importance of teamwork and effective communication skills when we were doing group work in Norway. These skills are very useful in my future study and work.

Beside the group project, this trip also provided me a chance to experience the local

Norwegian cultures, history and their lifestyle. I visited Oscarsborg, Drøbak, and Oslo in the Norway trip. Oscarsborg is a good place to learn more about Norwegian history, especially for the war history in Norway as there were war museums, machine guns, bomb shelter etc. In addition, Drøbak is a very relaxing place which is suitable for vacation. I was pleased that I have chances to learn some fishing techniques and to have a boat trip in Drøbak. It is a remarkable experience for me. I have a lot fun in Drøbak, I realized that the eastern and western lifestyles are quite different after the trip. The lifestyle of Norwegian is quite relaxing and they know how to enjoy their life and this is something that we need to learn from them.

Finally I appreciated that the useful guidance that I received from the project

supervisors, the student mentor and the Norwegian student helper. They provided us a lot of support and great help in this trip.


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HO Kim Yan (Avery)

In the interview section which is the beginning of the trip, honestly, I thought the trip is full of relaxation although I said I expect to learn experiment design technique and experience Norwegian lifestyle. But after the flight, after the journey, I have totally different thought, and we call it reflections.

One of the reflections is the experience of designing an

experiment. During the exploring process, many difficulties occurred. We did not standardize the sample animals, did not find the zoology of the animal species we studied on, we did not even understand and realize what the end point we should measure. Although time has flown and no plausible result was found, I understand more on the factors should be included in ecological research. Science is a tool in mind to solve problem, so I can say learning experimental design is learning problem solving skills.

Moreover, the experience in limited time research is

tough which let me think about which career I should choose. When I was child, my dream was becoming scientists because I found the interest of exploring and learning new things. However, besides fulfilling the

satisfaction of curiosity, this is also important to fulfill the parents’ wants and resolve the expenditure. In addition, sometimes the inability to create and study frustrates me. Thanks for the trip; the reconsideration of my target will lead me to the better future.

Furthermore, departure from my mother land to Norway, a western country I have

never been let me to think deeper. If we talk about Norway and Hong Kong, one of the similarities is the extremely high price level. It is easy to see some restaurant advertisements with unbelievable price of dishes on the streets. They may adapt for it, just like we adapt the tragic prices and rents of housings in Hong Kong. Behind the relaxing lifestyle, like a fairytale in my angle, there may be tons of difficulty in this county, for example the serious problem of the highest suicide rate in the world, which may not be easy to understand as a tourist.

As I mentioned before, one of the observations on Norwegian is that they seem to be

relaxed. When comparing with us, we can all feel the crowdedness and nervousness in our city--- busy to work, busy to play and busy to learn which may be the best portrayal describing our lifestyle. We may have never stopped for enjoying the view in front of us, feeling the nature peacefully, thinking about life and resting in the deep soul. Then questions came out. “Are we living for working only? What do we really want and need?”


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HO Cheuk Ue Kelly (Natalie)

The most precious profit I can get in this trip was the ability to broaden my horizon in different aspects. It is wonderful to see such a nice natural environment in Norway, and it is a great experience to explore the forest and coastal area. It is rare to see wild animals, for example star fish on beach. I was astonished by the wild creatures and unpolluted coastal water, no matter what my future career will be the seed of environment protection is planted.

On the other hand, the trip has led me to improve my confidence in using English to

communicate with locals in Norway.

As I need to go out to the

town and buy groceries for group meals, not as well as Hong Kong, The western environment forces me to speak more English in daily life. Also, thanks to the student mentor in the University of Oslo, I have more chance to speak to foreigners and share experience and different cultures, and even

languages. Before I started to go on the trip, my group-mates and I did research on which topics that we designed going to begin with. It is a new challenge to design an experiment by ourselves. The project allowed us to learn conversation skills and organizing skills. It is difficult to start with zero, so we did ask our senior classmates for their experience. Also, we learned how to allocate our jobs briskly and explored our strength and creativity. There is a great example in making handmade equipment for our project: We initially want to buy some long and thick transparent water pipe, yet we cannot find a suitable one. Therefore, we tried to make some by plastic sheets and cream soda bottles. It sounds funny and easy, but tried many times and finally we made it not to leak out any water.

Another challenge came when we found that our original project was not as smooth as we expected. We needed to plan a new topic in a few days. That was an unforgettable experience that we needed to respond fast. Those experiences really help us to build up confidence in working in English media environment and I will definitely recommend my classmate to join this unique program.


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LI Po Na (Leila)

I was very excited to be enrolled in the PBMS which provided me an opportunity to

visit Northern Europe.

Norway, we had stayed for 8 days, is a very beautiful place. The boundless sea, green environment, fresh air and nice local residents in Drøbak were deeply imprinted in my mind. One of the most impressive things is the day length there which is so long, lasting for about sixteen hours. It allowed us to grasp our time to do our experiments and explore this fascinating town.

However, happy moments passed so fast. Sunset often reminded us it was time for bed.

Apart from the beautiful sight there, the main purpose of this trip is to conduct a small laboratory group project. At the beginning, I felt so hard to design an experiment by our own as we have only inadequate knowledge and have no such kind of experience. However, after we did many researches on our designed topic, I understood an intention of the PBMS. This scheme provided us a chance to explore something new, rather just apply the knowledge we have. I really enjoyed doing the project because I learnt a lot from teachers, our mentor and my fellow students as well. It is a very good experience for us to discover new stuffs in a new environment.

Besides, we were responsible for the housework throughout the trip, which included

buying food, cooking and cleansing works. Cooking a big meal for eighteen people, even though it is simple, is not an easy task. Finally, I learnt how to allocate the work and manage time because we needed to handle both the project and housework.

In Drøbak, we all did really enjoy the beautiful sea and environment. I think probably

those are fruitful results of environment protection of the Norwegians. I had not seen any litters on the streets where have not many rubbish bins as Hong Kong. Moreover, even if they live close to the sea, the sea water is still very clean without rubbish. It is obvious to discover some aquatic lives like crabs, starfish, mussels and jellyfish at the water bottom. There are many alluring natural environments in Hong Kong. I think what people in Hong Kong should learn is how to treasure the natural resources we own so that destructions on our environments can be alleviated.

All in all, this is an enjoyable scheme which provides me a very special and meaningful

learning experience.


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GROUP 3

The effect of salinity on the curling action of arms of of Asterias rubensns

Due to global warming, the global mean temperature has been raising in the past

decades. Scientists discovered that the Arctic ice is melting much quicker than it is previously predicted. As the Arctic ice is made up of fresh water, the melted ice will become water and flush into the sea, resulting in a diluted salinity. Our group wonders if the effect of salinity will affect the activity of starfish. To investigate this, we used the curling actions of starfish arms as an indicator.

Before deciding to use curling action of starfish arms as the indicator, we planned to

use the movement distance of starfish to indicate its activeness upon the changes in salinity. However, we failed to observe significant changes in their movements. Surprisingly, what we can observe was that their arms were curling immediately in different degrees when placed in water with different salinities compared with their natural habitat. This was how we had chosen the curling action of starfish arms as the indicator in our experiment.


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To conduct our experiment, several tanks of water with different salinities – 0, 10, 20,

30 and 40 part per thousand (ppt) were prepared. The control water tank was with 20 ppt because it is the natural environment where the starfish live in. Different salinities of water were prepared by mixing a calculated ratio of sea water and freshwater/boiled sea water. We boiled the seawater to obtain 30 and 40 ppt water that were more concentrated. We mixed sea water and tap water to prepare water that had salinity less than 20 ppt. After that, we chose starfish that were similar in size to do the experiment. We put 3 starfish simultaneously in each tank. Video was taken during the first 3 minutes to record its immediate changes. The starfish were under observation for the next 30 minutes and photos were taken afterwards.

At the beginning of our experiment, we had set our hypothesis: The starfish will curl up

when the salinity of sea water is different from that of its natural habitat, which is 20 ppt (part per thousand). The larger the difference between the salinity of the tested one and its natural habitat, the greater the degree of curling is. In order to test our hypothesis, we also defined the curling actions of starfish arms as “No curling”, “completely curled”, and “partially curled”. Two assumptions were made for this experiment: microbial flora in the sea water dose not contribute significantly to the behavioral change of Asterias rubens under different salinities, and the salinity of fresh water is assumed to be 0 ppt.


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LIU Hei Man (Bonnie)

Time flies. This is about two month times from the day we left Norway. During the eight unforgettable days in Norway, I believed it were the most relaxing moments that I had in the past year. We stayed in the Drøbak – the town of flower, and paid a visit to Oscarsborg festning and Oslo. This trip did not only allow me to develop my practical skills in my academic aspects, but also give me an opportunity to explore the culture of Norwegians.

Only eight days for exploring such a big country is insufficient. However, by staying in

Drøbak and having a visit to Oscarsborg and Oslo, it was not difficult to discover the way of relaxing in Norway. July was the summer holidays of Norwegians, as well as HK students. When you were walking along the street, local families having tea in a café, hawkers selling interesting products during weekends, athletes running with their pets, etc., are scenarios that you could probably see. As a citizen who lives in a busy city, like Hong Kong, these were the lifestyles that I can hardly feel.

During those days, my group (Twinnie, Mimi, Eda and I) had conducted an experiment

about the change in salinity on the effect of an aquatic organism. We had chosen starfish as our target organisms since it is the most common aquatic organisms can be found along the coastline in Drøbak. With the unexpected behaviors of starfish during our experiments, we had to design our experiment again to identify an appropriate end point of the experiments. Time was so rush and there were still lots of new stuff that we had not explored. Although this would not be a good experience, it enhanced my problem-solving and time management skills.


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Last but not least, it was a fantasy approach of learning biology in a country with plenty

of natural resources. Students studying the environment have numerous chances to explore their interest by feeling what the natural environment is themselves. Running into the forest to explore how terrestrial organisms interact, going to the center of the sea to study aquatic organisms… all these experiences are intangible for students in Hong Kong. When we were walking in the forest and took a look on our surroundings, it was not difficult to discover species that are normally seen in pictures suddenly show up around you. You will find how beautiful our nature is!

Appreciations must be given to our professors and Tweety, who had guided us a lot

during the process of our project. Moreover, they had also introduced lots of interest sightseeing places and cultures in Norway. PBMS Norway was one of the most treasurable moments in my life, and I wish my juniors can experience what I had felt in their future.


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YAU Chi Hei Eda (Hei)

Being a freshman in CityU, PBMS Norway 2012 trip was definitely one of the most enjoyable and memorable events that I had participated. It was an honor as well as a pleasure to be selected to participate in this trip. There were three main missions to be done throughout the journey: to conduct an experiment, to appreciate Norwegian cultures and to enjoy our lives in Norway.

Our first mission was to conduct

an experiment. We needed to design, plan, correct and carry out an experiment about marine wildlife that we were interested in by ourselves. It was a special experience for me as there were lots of problems which I had never thought of occurred and we had to overcome them within limited time. For example, the starfish did not behave as our expectation and we

needed to modify our experiment including the hypothesis and experimental set up according to what we observed. I learnt to be flexible and adaptable since unpredictable problems often encountered. It was obviously worthless to blame others when we discovered problems. Instead of blaming others, it was absolutely far more meaningful to think about solutions together with my group mates. Apart from that, I found that it was really important to be well prepared before conduction an experiment. We ought to be familiar with the biology of the species that we are interested in so that we can design suitable experiment.

Our second mission was to appreciate Norwegian cultures. Firstly, I discovered that

Norwegians respected the nature so much. For example, they had laws to protect the habitats of sea gull. Also, conducting the experiment by hurting or killing the marine wildlife was not recommended by Christian, the local student mentor. Secondly, I realized that the Norwegians loved to enjoy their lives in the countryside or besides the coast. They may spend the whole afternoon reading besides the coast or went on a picnic on the beach. Thirdly, I noticed there were graffiti everywhere on the streetlamps, tunnels and walls. Unlike Hong Kong people, Norwegians regarded the graffiti as a piece of art instead of daub. To me, our culture is quite different from the Norwegian culture and it was interesting to experience and appreciate a foreign culture.


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Our final mission was to enjoy our lives in Norway. Indeed, it was hard to do so unless

we had excellent time management. Throughout the eight days, we had to plan our timetable carefully as we had several duties, which include do shopping and cook for all of us, clean the house, collect data of the experiment and prepare for reporting our progress. Other than that, we went to several places for sightseeing such as Oscarsborg, the aquarium, the forest as well as Oslo. There were lots of things to do during the trip, thus we needed to manage our time thoughtfully. I enjoyed fishing and relishing the fascinating scenery of the fjord in Drøbak. Moreover, I found Norwegians were very friendly. Although not all of them knew how to speak English, they tried their best to communicate with us and to welcome us.

After participating this trip, I realized it is very important to have opportunities and

gain experience in applying the knowledge that you have learnt. Otherwise, you will not notice what you are lacking. By participating PBMS Norway 2012 trip, I learnt to be considerate, thoughtful, flexible as well as adaptable. Moreover, I developed my interest in marine biology. Finally, I would like to give my thanks to all professors, Tweety and Christian, who offered us help, supported us and took care of us throughout the journey.


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LO Tsz Ning (Twinnie)

To me, the last July was one of my highlights of this year. Exciting enough, the breathtaking scenery in Norway is certainly the thing that most of us will always recall; but the most important thing is that PBMS gives me a chance to learn outside classroom.

Doing laboratory work is not a difficult

task because it is just an execution of the steps shown on the lab manual. One will not understand how difficult it is until he or she really designs an experiment by themselves. The same happens to me too. I think the design stage of our project is the greatest stumbling block throughout the process. Thanks to the help of the professors, Tweety and my group members, we have finally come to a consensus, i.e. to work on the salinity tolerance of the starfish Asterias rubens.

However, things didn’t go smooth when we have arrived Drøbak. There were lots of

uncertainties that we have not thought of them before. For example, the starved starfish didn’t prey on the mussels immediately after we put the food in the tank; the salinity of seawater was 20 ppt instead of 35 ppt that we have found in the internet. All these have made us difficult to define an endpoint of our experiment. Eventually, our efforts were not in vain that the experiment was done successfully. I learned a lot when we overcame the challenges one by one. I learned to make prompt amendment when we were criticized by others. At school, we are provided with most advanced experimental apparatus. How to make the best use of limited equipment in Norway to do the most possible thing is another point I would like to stress too.

Textbook won’t teach us how to deal with our companions. Only by getting along with

them will I learn how to have an efficient group work. We divided our work according to our strength. All things went smooth afterwards as we were doing what we are good at. This does not only apply to our project, but also applicable when we decide who to cook and who to do housework.

What is particularly important is not what results I have obtained from our experiment,

but the generic skills that benefit me in every aspects of my life. In my opinion, PBMS is rather a lifelong lesson than a project-based study tour.


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CHAN Hoi Lam (Mimi)

Before going to Norway, there were loads for us to prepare. We had to form a group of four and design a project that we were interested on our own; a lot of meetings and discussions were carried out since then. We also had to do some research on Norway, like knowing the weather, planning the route for the daytrip and learning more about the history and culture of the country. These pre-departure preparations really strengthen our skills on planning and researching, and train us to become more considerate individuals.

During the trip, we carried out our

experiment on starfish. We had faced some difficulties in the first few days. Through the meeting held in every morning, we presented our imperfect ideas and got many feedbacks from other students and our professors. And I have learnt to analyze what others presented critically and be more outspoken to voice my opinion.

Apart from gaining laboratory skills, we obtain lots of memorable experience as well.

Our home in Drøbak is a tranquil town full of different kinds of colorful flowers. The town is located at the fjord so the view outside the window is magnificent. People there are very helpful. It was also my first time to Europe, leaving my family for more than ten days, and tried to live with students from school who I was not familiar with originally. This was really a good chance for us to learn to be independent and responsible by dividing cooking and house chores among ourselves, but not relying on our family to serve us all the time.

We made friends with a student from the University of Oslo. Not only helping us on our

projects, but also letting us know more about the western culture and we had done lots of great things together. We boarded a boat driven by him and went to catch blue mussels, we jumped into the sea right outside our home to swim, and we went on a daytrip and visit a few museums in Oslo. One of the most enjoyable events was having BBQ and watching sunset along the seaside right before the night we left Norway.

Last but not least, I would like to thank Tweety, our mentor, for giving us so much

assistance before, during and after the trip. And I truly believe none of us is going to forget the wonderful days we lived and laughed together.


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GROUP 4

Camouflage: The study of camouflage of the mysid shrimp (p ((Praunus flexuosasa)

- to investigate which color r Praunus flexuosasa can change to

Praunus flexuosa is a kind of mysid shrimp which could be found in shallow water of

Oslo fjord. These shrimp have different types of pigment cells and reportedly to be capable of turning white in a white holding tank, black in a black holding tank, green in a green tank etc. In our experiment, we aimed to investigate which colour could Praunus flexuosa change to by the aid of using different colour-printed water tanks.

Firstly, we collected a certain quantity of this mysid shrimp from a harbour in the fjord.

The shrimp were about 25 mm body length. Before we put the shrimp into different coloured tanks, we did a kind of standardization of the shrimp, in which we fed them with sufficient mussels and put them into a white tank overnight.


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After that, five shrimp were selected to put in different coloured tanks, and the shrimp

had been taken photos for record. After about 2 hours, the shrimp were under observation of the colour change, and photos of each were taken. Finally, we compared the photos recorded and see if there was any colour change in the shrimp body. The photos were taken by the aid of a high resolution camera, thus the images were clear enough for observation.

In the end of our study, it was found that the shrimp could obviously change from white colour into black and green under corresponding coloured tanks, while for the yellow, red and blue tanks, we could hardly observe the changes. In addition to that, we observed that in the normal white tank environment, the pigments of the mysid shrimp are agglomerated in the head region making the shrimp virtually transparent; while in the black tank, the pigments are spread and distributed through the whole body to give an obvious colour change.


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SO Pui Yu (Soyu)

It was the most unforgettable summer experience ever. Participating in Project-based Mentoring Scheme (PBMS) was absolutely awesome. It was not only an opportunity to learn, but also an opportunity to relax.

Lok-lun Yung, Ka-ming Chan and I were in one

of the groups in this scheme. We were working on the camouflage of a shrimp Praunus flexuosa which can be found in costal line of Drøbak, Oslo. It was an incredible experience to catch those shrimps using a fishnet. Finally, we caught more than 30 shrimp. By putting them into different colors of tanks, we observed the color changes of those shrimp. Because we did not have enough samples of the shrimp and some of them did not match the expected result, we learned how to modify our experiment under limited resources.

Apart from the experiment, everyday meals

for 17 people were also one of the most important events to be concerned. Two groups were required

to cooperate to make meals for two days, which was the greatest challenge. To overcome this challenge, we firstly purchased 2000 NOK of foods for the meals of each day. It seems to be a piece of cake, but all of the items are in Norwegian, we hardly understand. Then, the more challenging part has come. We had to cook for our meals even though we do not know how to cook. Certainly, it was really a tough work. After that intensive training, we improved a lot in cooking skills and hence learned how to survive in Norway.

Even though it might be quite busy some days, we did enjoy very much living in

Tollboden, the house we stayed. I really appreciated that equipment were well prepared for us, fishing rods for getting samples, microscopes for doing experiment, even a boat for sightseeing. More importantly, mentors were very friendly. Because of these warm preparations, it did enable us to enjoy our time, go fishing after work, and relax.

I am very glad that I took part in the PBMS. It was a gateway for the preparation of my

final year project. Form this experience, I learned how to design experiment, present effectively and communicate with professors and fellow students.


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WONG Kwok Kin (Kent)

To be honest, I got a chance to be one of participants to travel to Norway luckily. Also, I am excited very much because this is my first time to go to a European country. Our destination is in Drøbak. Before going to this place, I tried to imagine how beautiful Drøbak is. But, when I first arrived at Drøbak, the scenery was very fascinating and beautiful and it was better than I expected. Additionally, the weather in Norway made me comfortable and

relaxing which has a big difference between Hong Kong and Norway. Our group was going to examine camouflage in shrimp. Thus, we had to catch many

shrimp to examine. Fortunately, Chris, is the helper from Oslo’s University, can drive us on sea to go to opposite shore for catching shrimp. This is also my first time to catch shrimp on sea, which is very interesting and memorable. Actually, there are many difficulties in designing our own experiment because we are used to follow laboratory protocol planned by professors to do experiment and we have never tried to design an experiment by our own before. Therefore, we faced a lot of problems when doing the project. However, we can learn problem-solving skills from this project. For example, we need to think of improvement under limitations and other feasible ways if the original way is not work. With helping from professors, mentor and helper from Oslo’s University, we can settle the problems eventually.

Apart from doing project in the laboratory, we also approach the natural environment and

experience their special culture. We walk in the forest and Oscarsborg which let us realize their parts of history. Besides, we discover that Norwegians regard their lifestyle as the main because they finish their work at 5 pm and then start their relaxing lifestyle. They enjoy fishing and drinking with friends although these are simple things. While many Hong Kong people only focus on working in order to make more money rather than relaxing lifestyle. I hope that Hong Kong people can be changed to have relaxing mood in their busy lives.

This PBMS Norway trip is a valuable chance for broadening your horizon and learning a

great deal of different cultures and skills. I would highly recommend you to join this scheme and do not miss this chance for gaining different experience. You may think that this trip has many challenges but you will find that you can learn more than you expected if you take part in PBMS scheme.


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CHAN Ka Ming (John)

The Norway trip is amazing! I am glad that I have the opportunity to go the study trip of Norway. I can broaden the horizon and acquire knowledge of designing a good experiment. Apart from the academic study, I also have learned the culture of Norway.

In terms of the design of the experiment, I needed

to cooperate with the group members to design an experiment for the topic given by the professors. My group decided to do an experiment about the camouflage of a shrimp to environment. Through the consultation of professors, the design of the experiment

had changed continuously. The professors not just taught us about the design, but also the attitude. I had learned to ask “what”, “why” and “how” for everything. Questions can make things more perfect and eliminate the mistakes.

An amazing boat trip is very impressive. We need to catch shrimp for the experiment so

we take boat to the beach. During the boat trip, I can see the wonderful sea scene that I have never seen. I cannot forget that scene in my mind. That feeling I cannot explain very clearly because that beauty cannot be described easily. Finally we caught the shrimp that we wanted.

For the meal of everyday, that is delicious. We often ate the delicious pasta, potatoes,

pizza and ice cream. The food was cooked by ourselves so we can learn how to cook food after the trip. There was a cooking award given by the professors. Soyu had won the best cook award finally that she had cooked many tasty food such as pasta with tomato sauce, sausage and cookies. Almost people votes to her for the cooking award, that’s means we think she is worth having the award.

In Norway, we can see the Norwegian flag on the top of the house easily. This shows

that Norwegian is proud of their country. They love their country through the showing the Norwegian flag to people. But for me, there is no concept about “our country”. I have thought that how can Hongkongers to show they love their birth place and also whether we are proud of our country. It is worth thinking about that.

In the trip, I appreciate my group mates, the professors and Chris. They made the trip

more meaningful.


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YUNG Lok Lun (Yung)

In last summer, with warm sunshine and fresh sea breeze, we had started our one week study trip in Drøbak, a small coastal town in Norway, which is a place, composed of a lot of spectacular natural scenery and many decorated wooden houses.

We were required to decide and design the

project objectives and experimental procedures. It was a challenging yet rewarding study experience for us as we had to do some background research before the trip in order to find out which kind of organisms would be available for study in Drøbak. After that, starting from our basic biological knowledge, we had to conceive the idea and methodology of the study. Designing the whole experimental procedures was entirely different from following the laboratory protocols in laboratory classes. In order to have a better preparation, we had to foresee some kinds of limitations before the trip. While life is full of uncertainty, during the trip, there were a lot of difficulties arisen unexpectedly, such as we could not catch enough shrimp for examination, the colour of shrimp hardly changed under different environmental parameters, etc. We had to cope with the problems quickly and immediately as we only got one week to do the study, sometimes we had to modify our objectives of study.

After the process of the project study, one of the precious things I have learnt was that

“to make things simple”. The purpose of the trip was not solely to conduct a biological project in Drøbak, but also to appreciate the Norwegian culture and enjoy a splendid journey there. However, the time of study was limited, as well as our knowledge and ability, thus a complicated project was not worthy to do so. So, we have to make things simple, and can easily explain to other students and scientifically sound.

The second valuable thing I’ve learnt was “Enjoyment come from well-preparation and

management”. In the limited one week time, we have to manage the time between conducting survey projects and entertainments. A good preparation before the trip could surely help the project run more smoothly. Also, how to manage the project to reach the aims efficiently was crucial. Because the faster you finish the project means that more time reserved for enjoying different kinds of outdoor activities and sightseeing in Drøbak. Fishing was my all-time favorite in Drøbak, also sailing on the sea and enjoying the fjord sea view, those were splendid memories that I would never forget.


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List of Participants Name Email Supervisor: CHEUNG, Hon Yeung [email protected] SHIN, Paul Kam Shing [email protected] TAM, Fung Yee [email protected] VRIJMOED, Lilian [email protected] Clerical Officer: WONG, M.M. Ella [email protected] Name Email Programme Cohort Mentor: TANG, Sze Wing [email protected] BSAB 2010 Mentees: CHAN, Hoi Lam [email protected] BSESM 2011 CHAN, Ka Ming [email protected] BSAB 2011 CHAN, Ka Wun [email protected] BSESM 2011 CHENG, Sum Yin [email protected] BSAC 2011 HO, Cheuk Ue Kelly [email protected] BSAB 2011 HO, Kim Yan [email protected] BSAB 2011 LEUNG, Wing Shong [email protected] BSAC 2011 LI, Po Na [email protected] BSAB 2011 LIU, Hei Man [email protected] BSAB 2011 LO, Tsz Ning [email protected] BSAB 2011 NG, Chui Ting [email protected] BSAB 2011 NG, Ka Yan [email protected] BSESM 2011 SO, Pui Yu [email protected] BSAB 2011 WONG, Kwok Kin [email protected] BSAB 2011 WONG, Pok Man [email protected] BSAB 2011 YAU, Chi Hei Eda [email protected] BSAB 2011 YUNG, Lok Lun [email protected] BSESM 2011

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