Our year 10 Geography students recently completed two fantastic field trips, fulfilling the AQA specification through two contrasting investigations – one in the heart of Birmingham’s city centre and one along a local river.
Pupils explored Birmingham’s urban environment collecting data on the effectiveness of urban greening. Working in small groups, they assessed green spaces, measured environmental quality indicators and evaluated how features such as parks, green walls and green roofs contributed to improving air quality, reducing noise and enhancing wellbeing in busy urban areas.
Pupils also travelled to a nearby river to investigate how its characteristics change downstream in line with the Bradshaw model. They measured width, depth, velocity and sediment size at different sites gaining hands-on experience of fluvial processes and seeing textbook theory come to life. Despite a few soggy boots, pupils showed excellent teamwork and scientific accuracy throughout.
Both studies provided invaluable opportunities for pupils to apply geographical skills, collect primary data and deepen their understanding of physical and human geography.
