Geography Fieldwork

GCSE Geographers headed to Constable country to conduct environmental surveys, learn about sampling techniques and measure wetted perimeters.

Each year, pandemics permitting, our Year 11 Geography students embark on a residential fieldwork trip to the Denham Vale countryside, staying at Flatford Mill – the scene of John Constable’s famous oil painting. Olivia reports back on the highlights of this year’s adventure:

‘On the first day, we made our way up a hill to draw a field sketch of the floodplain, town and farmland below, learning the difference between an annotation and a label. The rest of the day involved a ‘bucket challenge’ – selecting one of 5 buckets then devising an experiment with the specific apparatus it contained. My group used a sound monitor and photos of Flatford Mill to monitor the biophony, geophony and anthrophony of the surrounding area, before presenting our findings on a storyboard.  Other groups monitored pond specimens and the effect of landscape on mood.

The following day, we conducted an urban regeneration case study in the town of Ipswich. We eagerly learnt about sampling techniques – systematic, random and strategic – and were drilled on how to gather information using questionnaires, urban land use surveys and environmental quality surveys. Our studies began with a field sketch of the landscape, looking onto the docks, newly regenerated buildings, and the derelict, desolate old Jammie Dodger factory. We carried out an urban land use survey, monitoring what land was used for via the ‘RICEPOTS’ (residential, industrial, commercial, entertainment, public building, open space, transport) technique.

The rest of the day was spent conducting an environmental quality survey – measuring noise pollution, litter, crime and wildlife – and questioning members of the public about traffic, their knowledge of urban regeneration, safety at night, tourism and their views on what should happen to the derelict buildings. Using Excel, we were shown how to turn our results into pie charts, line graphs and tables, which we then discussed in depth. 

Our river fieldwork was a riveting day of discussions and measurements, learning about Cross Sectional Areas and wetted perimeters. We recapped the Bradshaw model, stream orders and talked about the dendritic nature of the East Anglian rivers, before embarking on our river journey from the lower to the upper course, measuring the river’s bedload, velocity, depth and width. After a toothsome lunch in a beautiful field, we stopped at a local football stadium to investigate drainage problems in the field where we saw a mouth-drooling case of eutrophication. 

We all thoroughly enjoyed our time, forming friendships and fond memories, enlightened by a ‘one-of-a-kind’ geographical experience.’