As part of the year 12 Geography Course, all students are asked to attend a field trip as part of the unit called, “ From the mountains to the sea”, on Thursday the 19th to the 20th of March situated by the Bealey River in Arthur's Pass.

YEAR 12 GEOGRAPHY TRIP TO ARTHURS PASS

As a result of the rapidly changing situation due to Coronavirus earlier in the year, modifications were made to the field trip which resulted in a sudden change in the programme. This meant the overnight trip now had become a day trip, leaving in the morning and coming back late afternoon for skills work and an orienteering event at Haswell quarry the next morning.

The “From the mountains to the sea” topic, included investigating fluvial processes using the Bealey River as a case study. The purpose of the trip was to give students practical experience with physical geography, and allow them to experience the South Island High Country and to complete the primary fieldwork requirement for the Internal Achievement Standard. Students were to collect fluvial data from the upper and lower course of the river, develop their map reading skills, become more familiar with the Big Ideas in Geography ( BIGs) and to learn about river safety. 

Students were to begin their assessment by drawing up cross-sections and graphs from the data collected before finishing the assessment by producing a discussion, illustrating their ideas and thoughts as to the reasons and results of their collected data.

The Year 12 Geography class was very pleased to be able to take part in the field trip to Arthurs Pass despite the changing COVID situation at the time which made the chances of continuing the field trip very slim. The opportunity to take part in the field trip enabled the students to gain a better understanding of the standard and enjoy the topic, while learning skills and practical knowledge of physical Geography. Overall, the class thoroughly enjoyed their trip to Arthur’s Pass and Halswell Quarry and gained a lot of insight into the topic, “ From the mountains to the sea”.

Orla Fitzgerald