Head's Newsletter 14 July 2017

BIOLOGY FIELD TRIP

On July 3 rd , 63 Y12 students travelled to Pembrokeshire, Wales, on a Biology field trip. Our home for the next 5 days would be Orielton Field centre, a beautiful Georgian mansion with over 100 acres of Woodland - a fine setting to learn about the ecological aspect of our A level course. As well as a plethora of green space for us to explore, there were many other facilities, the most popular being the ‘Ein Geddi Table Tennis Championships’ where Mr Bala and Miss Bond proved to be a formidable doubles pair.

results back to our initial hypothesis. Our progress across the week was aptly illustrated through a sheet given to us on the first night. We were asked to complete a Venn diagram listing as many ways humans are affected by the ocean; many students sheepishly handed back near- empty sheets. However, on the final night, the same sheet was given back to us to update; this time there were no struggles in listing as many points as we could.

Over the 4 days after our arrival, we were able to visit and carry out investigations in a variety of settings ranging from the rocky shores of South West Wales to the Sand Dunes found at Freshwater West (which incidentally was also a Harry Potter filming location!). Combined with our classroom lessons in the evening, we were able to learn vast amounts such as different sampling techniques, working with statistical tests and becoming more ‘Ocean literate’. This all culminated in our final full day, where each student was required to carry out their own independent ecological investigation. This included us setting up a hypothesis, devising and

We are tremendously grateful towards our tutors for the week, who were both dedicated and determined to share their passion for ecology with us. Special thanks must also go to the lovely field centre staff for their hospitality over the 5 days, and of course, the Tiffin Biology Department, without whom this trip would not have been possible. Vith Ketheeswaranathan Y12

carrying out our own methods to obtain results, and using the skills we obtained regarding statistical tests to relate our