Twenty-five Year 12 Biology students recently visited Somerset for a three-day field trip, staying at Nettlecombe Court, a Field Studies Centre nestled in beautiful countryside. Accompanied by Dr Yabsley, Mrs Rosier, Mr Scoble and Mrs Tapley, the trip formed an essential part of the OCR A Level Biology practical requirements.

 

 

Day One
Students arrived and headed straight to the rocky shore at Watchet. They used quadrats to study the size of limpets in different zones of the shore, applying sampling techniques in a real-world coastal ecosystem.

Day Two
A (very hot!) day at Braunton Burrows, a beautiful sandy beach with dunes. Students used transects and quadrats to investigate how biodiversity changes from the dunes near the sea to those further inland. With temperatures soaring, ice creams were a welcome treat at the end of the day. The evening ended around a campfire with s’mores, music and late-night chats!

Day Three
The trip ended with a visit to Exmoor National Park to study the distribution of freshwater invertebrates. With another hot day on the cards, students rounded off the experience by cooling off with a splash in the river!

The trip was a fantastic opportunity for students to deepen their understanding of fieldwork techniques, hands-on science, and enjoy some sunshine and s’mores along the way!