Every year our Upper Sixth Biologists go on an Autumn field trip to Nettlecombe Court – a beautiful old mansion nestling on the edge of Exmoor. On their return, Head of Biology Jaimie Tarrell wrote a short account of their time there…
Field work is an integral part of A level Biology and, over the years, we have developed a very productive way of exploiting the opportunities of quantitative field work with the help of expert ecologists. The secret is to prepare the theory before donning our wellies. This way, the students know what to look for when they are identifying and counting wild organisms in the rich ecosystems that we study.
We began with a quantitative survey of a rocky shore. To many, seaweeds may just be slippery slimy ‘plants’ that cover the rocks and hide the crabs – but when you really look at the ‘zonation’ of red through brown to green seaweeds, as you progress up the shore, they take on a new meaning in relation to photosynthesis and the availability of light under water. Guess what? The red seaweeds don’t look red when the tide is in.
We also visited Braunton Burrows – the largest sand dune complex in Europe. Here, students had the chance to study ‘succession’ from pioneer to climax communities. As we walked back from the hide tide mark (sampling all the while), we were effectively walking back in time.
One activity that everyone really enjoys is the freshwater stream survey. Students have the chance actually to handle the myriad invertebrates that inhabit this cryptic ecosystem and provide the basis of complex food webs – and to use their knowledge to assess the purity of the water.
For many, the Biology Field Trip is a rare opportunity to see some of England’s beautiful countryside – in a wonderful array of different Wellington boots – whilst learning that special level of knowledge unique to an A level Biologist.
View a full-screen slideshow of the Biology Field Trip photos on Flickr
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment