Getting Wet and Muddy in the River Chess

Earlier this month, Year 10 geographers got their hands dirty for the first time during a field trip to the River Chess. As part of our GCSE fieldwork, we had to measure certain properties of the river, such as depth, velocity, and width. We can use this primary data to formulate conclusions about how the river changes as it flows through our local area.

We followed the source of the river down through to Rickmansworth through the course of day, taking measurements at regular intervals. We found that the river grew wider, deeper and faster downstream, and we were able to use this data in a full write-up of this investigation, which we completed back at school.

Though the geographical aspect of the trip was very interesting, the real fun of this trip was the data collection. Wading into the thigh deep river - and getting incredibly wet - meant our teamwork skills had to be excellent to ensure we could collect data. Adapting to the unfamiliar location and dealing with the cold river proved to be an exciting challenge, along with the mud, splashing, and all the rest of it.

The day showed us a new side to our fascinating subject that we could only have experienced beyond the classroom, and thanks are owed to the Geography Team for ensuring the day ran smoothly. It was an extremely productive and enjoyable day, we just have one warning for the next year group: prepare to get extremely wet!