On Tuesday 5 March we visited Amersham Field Studies Centre to investigate the difference between a deciduous and coniferous forest. The first thing we did when we arrived at the field centre was go into the classroom and learn a little about the two forests and their characteristics. After doing that we put on our wellies and went to explore deciduous forest; we got to use lots of different equipment like: a quadrat , pH metre, thermometer and LUX metre. After exploring the deciduous forest we walked to the coniferous forest and repeated the experiment. We then went back to the classroom, had some lunch, and started our own investigation.

For our own investigation, we decided to see if the temperature of the soil differs if the soil is further away from the tree or next to the tree. Our hypothesis was that the temperature of the soil would be warmer closer to the tree because the roots would make the soil warmer. Also, we also thought that the temperature would be higher further away from the tree as there would be no shade and the sun would make the soil warmer. Our results were not what we expected as both sets of data were very similar but we decided that this might be because the trees didn’t have their leaves on yet. It would probably be different if we repeated the investigation in the summer.

Our favourite part of the experiment was exploring the different trees and having a lot of fun in the mud!

By Anvitha, Charvi, Dia and Samaira Upper III