Lim, Norman (Norman T-Lon)

The diversity of terrestrial and freshwater, non-avian, vertebrate fauna of Pulau Tekong, an island used almost exclusively by the Singapore Armed Forces, was compiled. Eighteen species of freshwater fishes, 15 of amphibians, 45 species of terrestrial reptiles, and 31 species of terrestrial mammals were recorded. Singapore records of the lizards: Ptychozoon kuhli, Luperosaurus browni, Cyrtodactylus pantiensis and the bat: Murina suilla are known only from Pulau Tekong. The island also has populations of the frogs: Limnonectes paramacrodon and Occidozyga sumatrana; the snakes: Lycodon subcinctus, Boiga jaspidea and Tropidolaemus wagleri; the lizard: Cnemaspis peninsularis, the slow loris: Nycticebus coucang, and the bats: Rhinolophus trifoliatus and Kerivoula hardwickii. These species are locally rare, and otherwise known only from the mature forests of the Central Catchment and Bukit Timah Nature reserves on Singapore Island. Pulau Tekong also supports populations of the leopard cat: Prionailurus bengalensis, the Sunda slow loris: Nycticebus coucang, the Malayan porcupine: Hystrix brachyura and the Sunda pangolin: Manis javanica—small mammals that are regarded to be rare and endangered in Singapore.

Biological knowledge for citizenship rests at the nexus of two important concepts -scientific literacy and citizenship education. Scientific literacy, the ability to make sense of and hence decisions related to scientific issues, operates under the broad construct of citizenship. Citizenship education is defined by UNESCO as "educating children, from early childhood, to become clear-thinking and enlightened citizens who participate in decisions concerning society". As society moves further into the 21st century, many of the challenges facing 'sustainable societies' require scientifically literate citizens to participate at multiple societal levels. At the international level, many of the UN Sustainable Development Goals adopted by the world community have a scientific grounding in biology. This suggests that global citizenship education must take cognizance of biological knowledge. Through the theoretical lens of scientific literacy, pressing biological issues of food security, nutrition, biodiversity decline, and climate change are discussed in the chapter, making explicit the importance of biological knowledge for responsible global citizenship. These issues affect citizens at the community and individual levels through decisions linked to matters like food waste, diet, body mass index, and choice of food. Various learning approaches have been used to incorporate these matters into science curricula, such as through real-world learning.