On Wednesday 4 October, Lower V went on a Geography trip to the River Chess to investigate how the channel characteristics changed and varied downstream. 

We visited three sites along the river experimenting with different methods to learn about the changes in the channel as we went along. We measured pebble size using a calliper and also calculated the roundness of the pebbles and tracked how that changed as we moved down stream. 

We measured depth and width using tape measures and metre sticks which required lots of teamwork and enthusiasm. Finally we calculated velocity by measuring with a stopwatch how long a floating cork took to get from the student who dropped it to another student standing five metres away. We repeated these experiments at the source of the river, the middle course and at the end. We did in fact get a bit wet in the process but we all had so much fun. 

After visiting the first two sites we had lunch before walking to the third one. We worked in groups to carry out our investigations and answer our task question. I am proud to say that no one fell in and by the end every group had substantial data from three points of the river to answer all of our questions. We helped each other to collect our data effectively and had fun in the process.

Erin, Lower V