We had an educational and fun day where we strengthened our knowledge and understanding of rivers for our GCSE course by immersing ourselves in the beauty of the River Wye, even if that meant getting a little soggy!
Our first sight was Desborough Park, where the upper course of the river was found (3.5km from the source of the river). Here we learned about different risk assessments of being near a river, in addition to how to measure the width, length and velocity of a river! We used tape measures, metre long rulers, hydro props and stopwatches to do so. We further studied how to use the equipment correctly to obtain accurate, reliable and representative results. We collected this data to disprove or approve our hypothesis that the discharge will increase with distance downstream on the river. For this, we learned we could calculate the discharge by multiplying the width, length and velocity which I found interesting as I didn’t know this before! Furthermore, I found the hydro prop to be a very fascinating instrument which could measure the velocity by spinning around for an equivalent of 3 metres at a time!
We continued with our insightful fieldwork by travelling to our second site, Wooburn Park. The lower course of the river was located here, being 14km from the source. We learned how to draw an effective field sketch of it, the flood plain and any other vegetation around it. Using our knowledge from earlier geography lessons, we discussed how several factors surrounding the river could affect its flow. We then reflected on our methodology of measuring our variables (width, length, velocity), method, justifications, limitations and improvements to implement the next time we carried out this investigation! We concluded with collecting data in the same way for the lower course as we did for the upper course (measuring length, width and velocity of the river) to compare them.
Throughout the day, we gained several key skills and knowledge and had lots of fun along the way!
Leyla G, Year 11
