Y8 Geography Field Trip

Published by St Nicholas' School on Thursday 4th of May 2023

Year 8 spent the day at the seaside last Friday as part of their Geography topic on 'Coasts'. We set off after registration and travelled by coach to Hayling Island. On arrival, we discussed the coastal process of longshore drift and then measured the heights of the groynes to find out if they were helping to stop the movement of sediment along the coastline. We then measured the length of pebbles randomly selected in different parts of the beach to see if erosion was having an impact on their size. Finally, we looked at the human impact on the beach by counting litter and completing an Environmental Quality Analysis; all in all, we were pleasantly surprised!

We walked along the beach to repeat some of these data-collection methods in a new location, and then ate lunch and treated ourselves to ice cream – while trying to avoid the sea gulls! The pupils said the most enjoyable method of data collection was the soundscape, which involved lying on the beach silently for 3 minutes and just listening to what we could hear. Glorious!

Our final stop was at The Inn on the Beach, a pub which is trying to protect itself from coastal erosion using several different methods of coastal defence. The students examined each of these methods and completed a survey on how effective they thought each defence was.

The day was a great success, and the weather very kind. Year 8 have developed a much more thorough understanding of coastal processes, and it was great to see some geography in action. Many thanks to Miss Firth, Mrs Mills and Miss Willmott for accompanying the trip.

Mrs Porter