Middle & lower sections of river systems are focussed upon as students examine the effects of flowing water in terms of erosion, transportation and deposition. Landforms and their features are identified and recorded through the use of field sketches and digital photography.
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Sand dunes offer a unique environment where students can see a visual repre-sentation of succession from pioneer species to climax community. Quadrats and transects are completed allowing students to analyse the change in vegetation type and individual species as distance from the sea increases. These results can be transferred onto a kite diagram for further analysis.
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Primary data is collected in the form of specific land use maps allowing patterns of special zoning in the Central Business District to be identified. Pedestrian and traffic counts, surveys of environmental quality and questionnaires of service provision or amenity usage are completed, allowing a more comprehensive overview of the settlement to be reached and recorded through written reports and annotated photographs.
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Landscapes vary spatially across the UK but also change with time. Coastal zones are dynamic areas, their shape and form constantly being remodelled by the natural processes of weathering and erosion combined with human influences, underpinned by shoreline management strategies. Students study a stretch of coastline to identify the changing natural features along it.
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Regenerated areas within a city are visited and analysed with students collecting data on land use, pedestrian and traffic counts, traffic management schemes, industrial activities & residential environments. Field sketches and photographs are used to help establish the reasons for, and implications of, change that has taken place at each study location.
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A range of fieldwork techniques can be studied in accordance with the individual requirements of students. Knowledge, understanding & application of techniques for gathering information are gained through a number of environments to allow vegetation sampling, stream analysis and pebble analysis. Consolidation and presentation of data is demonstrated through graphical representation and statistical calculations.
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Urban and rural settlements are used to collect data on land use, traffic counts, pedestrian movements and environmental quality. Students are introduced to different sampling methodologies & encouraged to take part in their own questionnaire design and creation. Patterns shown from the data collected can be highlighted through the use of graphs and statistical techniques.
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Following an introduction into either physical or human field study techniques students continue with group data collection, leading to individual coursework research. Planning, data collection, results presentation, analysis and evaluation sections can all be discussed and designed for individual student projects.
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Succession and climax in plant communities is analysed through the collection of data on plant species over space within an established sand dune system. Comparisons between species diversity and the exposed dunes and sheltered slacks can be made.
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A woodland ecosystem provides students with the opportunity to demonstrate their understanding of the distinction between biotic and abiotic components of an ecosystem. Interspecific and intraspecific interactions are also discussed within this context. Indicator species of freshwater invertebrates are collected using sweep and kick net techniques within a river ecosystem to give students practical experience of using indicators to monitor water quality.
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Diversity of species from pioneer through to climax community is recorded in relation to abiotic factors such as wind speed, soil pH and temperature. Quadrats and transects are used to systematically collect data ready for visual representation and analysis though graphs & kite diagrams
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Groups can be introduced to a range of fieldwork & data collection techniques depending on their individual requirements. These skills may be used to collect information from a selection of ecologically based environments close to the centre. Alternatively they may be transferred for use on projects closer to home. Planning, data collection, results presentation, analysis and evaluation sections can all be discussed and designed for individual student projects.
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