SFC1 Fieldwork Trip
SFC1 Fieldwork Trip
Slapton Sands, Devon
SFC1 Geography students recently visited Slapton Sands in south Devon to complete our coastal fieldwork for our physical geography NEA. The coastline had been subject to frequent winter storms in the past year, so teachers and students were curious to see the damage that had been done to the local area.
As soon as we arrived at our accommodation, we were met by the lovely Em, our fieldwork leader, who helped us settle in and gave us the briefing for our pilot studies. Then, bags packed to the brim with snacks and chocolate crunch, we were driven by our incredible chauffeur, Mrs Brewis, to Slapton Sands barrier beach.
The initial walk into Torcross came as a shock – the road had been eroded so far inland that cars were unable to drive down it, and the sea wall protecting the car park had been destroyed by powerful, destructive waves. Along the front of Torcross, the windows of the houses were boarded up as waves had come over the sea wall and crashed onto the houses. This was a real-life example of coastal erosion.
The following day, in the bright sunshine, we all took part in beach profiling. We used range poles and clinometers to work out the angle of the beach at each change in relief, and measuring tapes to document the distance of the site.
At each site, we also collected sediments, which we later sieved and grouped into rock types to show how the sediment changed across the length of the beach profile and width. This was a definite highlight, and we got to expand our knowledge of the local geology as well as having a lot of fun shaking the sieves later that evening.
As we moved down the beach towards the south end, we got to witness firsthand the effects of longshore drift changing the morphology of the beach as it became narrower further due to less sediment being deposited. We were then able to put the data we collected into scatter and line graphs to create beach profiles to use in our NEA.
Overall, the trip was a great success with students learning new skills and seeing parts of the UK that we had not seen before. We left Slapton, excited to start writing our NEAs and some of us slightly more rosy, red than when we arrived!
Isla, SFC1
Birmingham
As part of our A-Level Human Geography course, we went to Birmingham for our fieldwork investigation. The aim of the trip was to collect primary data to explore how different transects vary in terms of regeneration, economic activity and environmental quality. This allowed us to apply geographical theories learned in the classroom to a real urban environment.
Throughout the day, we visited a range of locations, including the Central Business District and Brindley Place. At each site, we completed a set of questions on Survey123, carried out questionnaires with members of the public and recorded our observations through note-taking and photographs. We also noted factors such as building age, accessibility and green spaces. Fortunately, Birmingham decided to put on its annual week of summer while we were there!
The data collected will enable us to carry out detailed analysis and evaluate the success of regeneration projects. This will be extremely useful for our NEA coursework, enabling us to investigate how urban change has affected Birmingham's economic, social and environmental characteristics.
Overall, the fieldwork trip allowed us to develop a range of practical geographical skills, including accurate data collection, sampling techniques and the opportunity to work collaboratively. Observing geographical processes operate in a real urban environment strengthened my understanding of the area and topics studied in class, which will help us analyse our data in greater depth back in the classroom.
Jiya, SFC1
