Sixth Form (continued) DARTMOOR


On the 1st of April, the year 12 Geography class went to Dartmoor on a residential trip. We stayed at one of Dartmoor’s residential centres called “Pixie’s Holt” for four days as part of preparation for our geography course work. We shared the trip with Corsham school which made us gain teamwork skills with people we didn’t know. The purpose of the trip was to gain experience in collecting data ready for our own coursework. We went round the local town of Totness with surveys and questionnaires to see how the locals perceived the town compared to visitors. We collected data at Elberry Cove; a beach near Paignton to collect data for beach profile and pebble size to see if there was a correlation. Finally, on the moor, we measured infiltration rates and how they effected the discharge of the river. We did this by digging a hole in the ground near the river bank and put in a plastic tube and filled it with water and after every minute we would measure how far the water went down, we did this several times to get more reliable results. The most fun section was getting into the river and measured the width and depth along three points. We also timed an orange that travelled between two points to see how fast the river was travelling. In the evening we would all go over our data and compare it to everyone else’s to get and a comprehensive view on the data we collected seeing if there were any outliers, analysing the data like we would in our coursework and we practiced quantitative skills such as spearman’s rank. Once that was completed we planned the fieldwork for the following day.


While we were in Dartmoor we did numerous team building activities. For example on the first night we played archery. Another evening, we walked to a river near the Pixie’s Holt where we had to take part in river crossing, to get from one bank to the other. We had to be harnessed to a rope which was tied between two trees across the top of the river and with help from the rest of the class pull across the river. I thought I was being smart by signing myself up to be first to have a go because I didn’t want the rope to give. However, it didn’t go to plan and as soon as I started swing across I just went straight into the river being dragged across the width of the river through the water. Lots of fun. For me our final night was the best as we had a quiz based on our time in Dartmoor and how to complete our investigation. By then we all mixed with the pupils from Corsham school and everyone all really got involved.


We also went on walks to look at the geography behind Dartmoor and what makes it the place it is today. We walked on some of the moors which overlooked Dartmoor’s rural landscape. One place that we all found interesting was the reservoir. There were plug hole spins in the reservoir to stop the water from becoming stagnant keeping it healthy and clean so that the locals can use it. It was great to see the geography that we learn in classrooms in real life. Now to complete our coursework.


Tiff Crockford-Ward www.matravers.wilts.sch.uk


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