Biology Field Trip

The first trip was a training day to Portobello which began with an early start and a bus trip through the road works to the Marine Lab. There were seminars on the features of the area between the tides, how tides work and the types of animals that live in the area between the tides in Otago Harbour. The students were then taught how to randomly sample the populations on the beach and then went and put it into practice. There was also a chance to get up close and personal with the insides of crabs and dogfish. There was also an investigation of primitive human dive reflexes which involved some students putting their faces in buckets of ice-water.

2 days later, we went to Warrington to give students a chance to work with what they’d learned in a different place with different conditions.

It’s wonderful to be able to have these wonderful places on our doorstep.

The next week, the Year 13 classes headed for Portobello for a 1 day evolution seminar using the organisms that live around the Otago coast. We investigated examples of how species form and how evolutionary relationships form all living things. The investigations were practical, using the touvh tanks, shells, live examples and dissection to elucidate evolutionary relationships. It was a great, full, challenging day.