Geography is my favourite subject for many reasons: one of them is that you go on field trips. And, if you get lucky, instead of sitting in a stuffy classroom you get to enjoy the sunshine in the bosom of nature. Last Wednesday, our geography A2 class went to three different sites to see how a river changes as it travels downstream. We visited river Maybeck, Lealholm and Sleights Beck. The aim of our investigation was to evaluate the Bradshaw Model. In order to do this, we measured the width, depth, wetted perimeter and the average velocity of the river. As the pictures below show, Izzy and Paula did not fear the ice-cold water and looked very professional in their wellies, armed with a mighty ruler and a tape measure. I stayed on dry land and recorded the data they collected; Ms Gilmour and me also acted as photographers for the day.
At Lealholm, we had a break for lunch accompanied by hot chocolates, which were a generous treat from our favourite geography teacher.
The results of our fieldwork confirmed the claims of the Bradshaw Model – that is, speaking very generally, that the efficiency of the river increases with the distance downstream. Now we are able to further analyse our data, evaluate the methods of collecting it, and therefore are much better prepared for our summer examinations. I can confidently say that our day out was a great success, and I hope that those who think of geography with disdain will now think twice before saying that this subject is just colouring in and playing with flags. (With all due respect, it isn’t).
Joanna Koter (Year 13)
