Head's Newsletter 12 July 2019

the length of salad burrett, a type of single -stemmed plant, and distance from the footpath was carried out, in order to investigate the relationship between plant growth and trampling by hikers or animals. Later, on returning to Orielton, the students completed a Spearman's Rank Correlation coefficient on the smaller investigation, to tick off another one of the required statistical tests. Later in the afternoon they took part in a woodland walk, in order to broaden their understanding on ecology in preparation for their Required Practical 12 - ‘Independent Field Investigation’ - as well as to familiarise themselves with the area and environment. On the final day of field work, students were able to sample different organisms found in freshwater streams and ponds. This included using a ‘catch and release’ system, where water snails were captured, marked with a waterproof golden marker pen and released, then recaptured. Through a short calculation, the population of water snails in a pond was estimated. The diversity of organisms found in freshwater bodies was analysed by dragging a net in figures of eight, or through kick capture where the water is slow-flowing, which entails a net being placed at the bed of the stream, then the soil just upstream being gently aggravated in order to accumulate organisms in the net in a 30 second period. The organisms were then collected in petri dishes, identified and counted, before being returned back to the stream. A Chi- squared statistics test, the last of the required statistic tests, was then completed from the data that was obtained from Stembridge Stream. The

rest of the day was left to planning and completing the Required Practical 12. In this practical, students had to independently think up their own hypothesis and investigation, set up the method and request the correct equipment. The data was accumulated over a 2 hour period on site of Orielton by the students themselves. After the data had been collected, the students returned to the classrooms in order to complete any of the three statistical tests that they had become familiar with over the past few days, to answer their question and conclude their investigation. Their findings were then written up in scientific report form. The students were then left to relax and enjoy the fresh air and sunny weather for the rest of the day ahead of the long journey home the following day. Overall, it was incredibly jam-packed week with various activities, team-building sessions, and the opportunity to experience the collection of data and data handling first-hand, which is a world apart from simply reading about it in a textbook. Although intense, it was an extremely rewarding few days for the students, who enjoyed their time both working on investigations and relaxing. We would like to extend our thanks to the Tiffin teachers, Mr Leeves, Ms Grant, Mr Rennie, Ms Caudwell and Dr Moore, for putting in the time and effort to run the trip, the FSC tutors for their expertise and enthusiasm, as well as all Orielton Field Centre staff for providing the students with such a unique experience.

Aditya Bhattacharya & Muazzam Muhammad, Year 12