The Geography Department were delighted to be out on Geography fieldwork again earlier this term, this time with our Year 10 GCSE geographers. Fieldwork (whether it is human, physical, a day trip, residential, local or further afield) is an essential component of our GCSE geography studies. It offers pupils practical activities to help them to better understand the ‘geography reality’ of the world beyond the boundaries of GGS. Fieldwork allows pupils to develop subject knowledge and to gain a range of skills that are difficult to develop if we stay in the classroom.
The pupils worked in small groups to collect data at five survey points along the River Darent, collecting a range of qualitative and quantitative data to examine how the river characteristics change downstream. This involved organising themselves in their groups, physically collecting the data and recording the results as a team, working together to identify the characteristics of the river channel. The days saw lots of our Year 10 pupils popping on their wellington boots, stepping into the river and collecting a range of primary data; including measurements for the river depth, width, velocity and the wetted perimeter. We also attempted to draw a field sketch at each survey point. This particular activity is always quite challenging, especially when sitting beside the river and contending with the elements. Everyone did their best and we revisited the task on our return to school, adding some annotations and looking at photographs to remind us of what we saw at each point of the river. The pupils did really well, supporting each other and correctly commenting on the changes as we moved downstream. Everyone worked hard and the weather was kind. A wide range of valuable primary data was collected and we were able to review and reflect on this on our return to Geography lessons. This data, the identified changes in the river characteristics and the conclusions we were able to draw will be essential when the pupils complete Paper 3 next summer.
Thank you to all the staff who supported us on each of the days and to the pupils for making sure that we were able to collect so much valuable data. CEN