On Monday 10th February, the Year 12 geography cohort headed to the Lake District for the week to collect their primary data for the non-examined assessment (NEA).
After arriving at the Field Study Centre at the base of Blencathra in the Northern Lakes, they carried out a pilot study to perfect the methods for their data collection on Thursday.
On Tuesday they also experienced the beauty of a glacial landscape they had been learning about in class. They walked from the small village of Grasmere to Easedale Tarn where they had lunch before heading back down the side of Sour Milk Gill (a waterfall fed by the lake) to Grasmere.
On Wednesday they visited the small town of Keswick. Keswick sits on Derwent Water and was the inspiration for many Beatrix Potter’s stories. Here they looked at methods for data collection for a place study. These methods may be used by some to carry out a place study back in London.
On Thursday they went to Brund Fell to collect the primary data that would help them investigate the impacts of land cover on the water and carbon cycle, to better understand the merits of different attempts to mitigate climate change and flood risk. Many of the photographs were taken from the top of the peatlands that overlook the southern Lakes.
On Friday morning, the students used the laboratory at the Field Study Centre to examine carbon and moisture content of soil samples taken from a number of environments including the peatlands. We then caught the train from Penrith arriving back in London.
