Tuition is provided by staff from Holt Hall Field Centre. Field Studies Council trained tutors.
Coach travel is included, and will take us first of all to the National Trust car park at the entrance to Stiffkey Salt Marsh. We will meet the tutor(s) there and spend the morning on the salt-marsh. We will then move on to Wells for lunch (not near any shops) and then onto Holkham Dunes. We will be investigating zonation on the salt marsh and will work in small groups. The afternoon's work looks at plant succession on the salt marshes. It is recommended that you do some reading on the concepts of zonation and succession before the day, using the Waugh textbook (look in the index...)
Meet in the Hall at 8.45am. It is suggested that you use the toilet at this point, as there are no toilets on the salt marsh! We will not be waiting for you if you are late.
The day's aims and hypotheses will be explained by the tutor, but we will already have done some preliminary work in lessons.
You will need at this stage:
CLIPBOARD + PLASTIC RAIN COVER if it looks like rain, or even if it doesn't..
PAPER will be supplied by us..
PENS / PENCILS - bring more than one - if your paper gets wet they may not write
When we go onto the saltmarsh you will find that it is very muddy. This is because the entire landscape is made from, yes you guessed it, mud. There will be much hilarity as people fall over and get muddy. The coach driver will be less pleased, so you should bring:
SPARE PAIR OF TROUSERS etc. for COACH - we will be coming off the salt marsh muddy and the coach driver will not be pleased if you are muddy
On the salt marsh, you will need:
WELLINGTONS (no other footwear will really do....you will be wading through saltpans which are flooded depressions on the marsh...boots will get caked with mud) - you will need a carrier bag to put these boots into when we come off the saltmarsh
NOT YOUR BEST CLOTHING
WATERPROOF CLOTHING
SUNCREAM (let's think positive)
CAMERA for PICTURES: you have to produce a report after the day - pictures help you to remember the main features and are better than sketches and your memory
After the salt marsh visit, we will go back to the coach and have lunch somewhere on the way to HOLKHAM, depending on the time. There is unlikely to be the chance to buy anything, so you will need
PACKED LUNCH / DRINKS / BIG BAR OF CHOCOLATE - Mr. Parkinson particularly likes Nestle Double Cream..
We will then be on the dunes, you may prefer to wear
BOOTS rather than WELLIES.
You will need PLASTIC BAGS: FREEZER BAGS with the little panels to write on will be ideal, although you will be writing SOIL SAMPLE 1 etc. rather than SHEPHERD's PIE in the boxes.
All equipment will be provided. A magnetic COMPASS will be used: you may have your own. We will have to stick to a bearing - hopefully you can manage this..
Enjoy the day: if you forget these items, you may not.
This is not a day trip for pleasure. The notes you take will form the basis of a major written piece of coursework which will be marked to 'AS' standards. This will not be handed in to the exam board, but will form the basis for revision of the skills paper. You will be given more details in the first lesson after the fieldwork. This will be your main case study material for the 3rd part of the Coasts syllabus. YOu will be doing a piece of Human fieldwork later in the year.
The coursework will be handed in on the first lesson after half term.
There is a useful page with information on a range of fieldwork techniques courtesy of Chelmsford County High School. It has details on various FIELDWORK SKILLS, including River studies, Farm studies and Glaciation.