For two days – Wednesday 10th and Thursday 11th June, Year 7 pupils have been collecting river data for completion of their key assessment. Pupils visited Daisy Nook Country Park and conducted primary data collection in the River Medlock. Band 1 visited the river on Wednesday and band 2 on Thursday – the two hottest days of the year so far.
Natasha Farrand describes the fieldtrip on Thursday:
After a walk around the country park, we started our river work at Site One in the river. We got into our groups and then started to collect data. We had to measure the width and depth of the water, the sediment size and the velocity of the water. To measure the depth of the water we had strong wooden meter rulers to put into the water to measure how deep it was every 50cm. At the same time we picked out a rock, also every 50cm, to measure against the ruler to see the sediment size. To measure the velocity of the water we measured 5 metres downstream and we recorded how long it took a dog biscuit to float across to the other side. We used a dog biscuit because it doesn’t sink or disintegrate in the water and they are biodegradable!
We all got wet because our wellies got filled with water and Mr Douglas made us jump for an action photo and we all got splashed.
Secondly we went to Site three where we had lunch. Then we collected our data. As we knew exactly what to do, some of us finished in about five minutes so we went into the deeper water. After we’d collected our data from stage two we all started splashing about and it quickly turned from being a few splashes into being a massive water fight. It was great fun and we all got drenched!
Lastly we went to stage two. We drew a sketch of the river meander and we began to collect our data. When we had finished we waited for the coaches whilst the boys had a contest to see who could jump over the ditch of mud!
All this data will help us understand how rivers work and create the various landforms associated with rivers. Far better learning in the river than in the classroom!!
