Recently our A-Level Geographers undertook their fieldwork week. Here’s what they got up to:
Day 1: Norwich
A day in Norwich allowed the students to conduct microclimate fieldwork in a city centre looking at temperature, wind and humidity at set times in different places. They were also able to investigate whether Norwich is an example of a ‘clone town’ (a town that is dominated by chain stores, rather than independent outlets).
Day 2: Holkham Beach
Being in Norfolk, we are spoilt for choice when it comes to examples of beaches to help with their unit on Coastal systems and landscapes. However, Holkham provides an opportunity to study two environments. In the morning, the students conducted fieldwork on the sand dunes, completing transects in order to study plant succession and dune profiles. After lunch, they then moved to the woodland areas in order to look at the relationships between plant height and density, light levels, soil moisture and infiltration rates. The Geography group were also joined by our A Level Environmental Studies students who completed sand dune sampling to support the fieldwork and practical skills requirements of their course.
Day 3: Canary Wharf
Day 3 gave the opportunity to venture further afield with a day in London. Leaving at 8am, the group arrived at Westfield Stratford before they hopped onto the tube to travel to Canary Wharf. Here they undertook a walking tour of Canary Wharf with an initial focus on West India Quay and Cabot Square.
Day 4: Sheringham
The final day saw a return to the coast. In the morning, the group conducted fieldwork on the beach near the town, measuring sediment, beach profiles, cliff profiles and sea defences. During a working lunch they conducted a questionnaire of local people about the sea defences. Then, in the afternoon, they moved to a part of the beach towards the west of the town where they measured sediment, beach profiles, cliff profiles and sediment characteristics.
