On Tuesday over 100 Year 10 Geographers travelled to the Forest of Dean to carry out some Geography fieldwork. As part of their GCSE they have to be able to carry out some local fieldwork and look at the stages of an enquiry. This day was focused on whether humans have had an impact on the Blackpool Brook. 

It was an hours bus ride over to the forest of Dean, where there is a small tributary that feeds into the River Severn. This is surrounded by woodlands and is a popular picnic site. There is a large section of river where pupils can decide where they get in to sample the river. The pupils were armed with wellies and spare clothes. They measured Width, Depth, Velocity and the Bedload of the river in groups, over 5 sites.

A couple of pupils got wet feet, where they had shorter wellies. However, this didn't dampen their enthusiasm for getting stuck in and measuring the river. 

We returned back to school for lunchtime and then did some follow up work, looking at what we had found. It was a great opportunity to get out and apply some of the theory we have been working on in lessons.