National Competitions The Department of Geography

TheGeography department continues to enjoy many fieldtrips and excellent results. This year saw the introduction of a new trip to study Microclimates in Activity Week One, and a second opportunity to visit Iceland – “the land of ice and fire”. Geography is an incredibly wide-ranging subject and students this year learnt about a wide range of topics including Tectonics, the Geography of Conflict, Rivers, Globalisation, Glaciation, Energy, Ecosystems, Tourism, Development, Coasts and much more!

Victoria Watson S___Head of Geography

Bromley Worldwise Competition

In the Bromley Worldwise competition run by the Geographical Association, well done to Samuel Wootten (11K), Oscar Ridout (11K), Edward Tolmie (11J), Seraphin Gnehm (10N) and Coby Plews (10J) who came 1st in this ‘pub-quiz’ style competition and now have the opportunity to host the next event.

Year 12 AS Geography fieldtrip to Malham, Yorkshire

In the week preceding half term, the Year 12 geographers travelled to Malham Tarn. The first geographical feature of note was Watlowes Valley, as we walked part of the way to the field centre, giving us a taste of the beautiful scenery of the Yorkshire Dales. This valley was a perfect example of a U-shaped glacial trough, complete with misfit stream and truncated spurs – landscape features we had studied at GCSE.

On the first day, we investigated local energy generation schemes. This involved visiting a small scale hydroelectric scheme and asking local people their opinions about it, as well as studying the site of a proposed wind farm to study the topographic exposure and potential environmental impact. Throughout the day, we filmed interviews about the schemes and in the evening we used Geographical Information Systems (analysing data & information using computerised map overlays). On the second day we planned and completed an investigation into Cowside Beck, a small river. We constructed our own hypotheses based upon geographical theory, and conducted a risk assessment – very important in the icy conditions! Having collected the data, we dried ourselves out and analysed our findings.

The weather held and was glorious the first day, with snow falling overnight – a good excuse for a snowball fight! The field centre staff were exceptionally impressed by how polite and conscientious the students were – they even said this was the first group they’d ever had where nobody whinged or complained whilst completing their data collection, which was particularly remarkable given the weather conditions. Well done to all the students.

Geography & RS Fieldtrip

Year 7 classes have enjoyed a joint Geography and RS trip to Farningham, Eynsford, and Lullingstone Villa this activity week. The boys were brilliant both days, they walked a fair way and fully immersed themselves in the Kent countryside; each class was given the challenge to match the full range of Dulux colours to their natural environment, a game which proved very popular. For RS, visiting St. Botolph’s church and St Peter & St Paul’s church enabled the boys to appreciate the differences and similarities and think about the design of their own church for their IPM. For Geography, visits to the different settlements helped the boys visualise the OS map we had studied and develop their understanding of siting factors and modern day functions of settlements.

Left: Students practice field sketching

Adjacent: Year 12

Post-AS trip

Maidstone Geography Trip

On Friday 2nd May, 97 Year 10 Geographers went on a fieldtrip to Maidstone, collecting data to ascertain whether it is possible to delimit the Central Business District. They planned their own hypotheses regarding various things like functional land use, building height, evidence of planning, urban heat islands, traffic, people’s perceptions of place and so on. Their findings are to be fully analysed during the summer term.

Year 8 Study Microclimates!

On Tuesday and Thursday of Activity week, Year 8 Geography students took advantage of our local environment to study microclimates in Priory Gardens park, Orpington. We had created our own hypotheses and planned our own methods for data collection during lessons. These included things like “temperature will decrease with height from surfaces” or “people create microclimates affecting temperature and windspeed”. On the day of our trip, we first created a map of the park (pictured) and then collected the data we needed for our investigations. We will interpret and analyse our results next half term.

Iceland

During Activities Week 2, a group of 14 students from Year 12 went to Iceland for a Geography field trip. Having met early at Gatwick on Monday 14th July, we boarded our flight, which took us into Keflavik airport, about 50km south west of Reykjavik and the largest airport in Iceland. It was there that we met Dave, who would be our tour guide for the trip.

The first thing we did was go to Vikingaheimar, a Viking museum just outside of Keflavik. The centrepiece of the museum was a replica of a Viking ship that sailed across the North Atlantic over a thousand years ago. From here we drove south to bathe in the Blue Lagoon, a geothermal spa and one of Iceland’s most popular tourist attractions. After spending over an hour relaxing in the near 40-degree water temperatures and covering our faces with silica mud, we left for our hotel in Hveragerði.

The next morning we set off early to walk around Þingvellir National Park, a UNESCO world heritage centre, where the Althing, an open-air assembly representing the whole of Iceland, was established in 930 and continued to meet until 1798. Next on our itinerary was Geysir, the famous spouting hot spring which can periodically hurl boiling water up to 70m in the air. After that we visited Gullfoss, a spectacular staircase waterfall, before checking into our hotel in Hvolsvollur for the night.

Our third day began with a visit to Seljalandsfoss waterfall, which is 60m tall and unique in the fact that you can walk behind it, the only waterfall in Iceland where this is possible. On our way to the second waterfall, we stopped off at a visitor centre looking at the damage caused by the eruption of the Eyjafjallajokull volcano and its lasting impacts on the Icelandic landscape and its people. The second waterfall of the day was again 60m high, and called Skogafoss, and despite not being able to stand behind this one, it was just as impressive as the previous waterfall. The next stop of our busy schedule was to visit the Solheimajokull glacier, and having donned our crampons and helmets, and armed with an axe, we set about walking on it. The glacier was very different to our expectations. Instead of it being white as you would associate with ice, it was largely grey and black, the ash from the Eyjafjallajokull eruption four years previously still prominent. After a brief stop at Reynishverfi beach to look at the basalt columns, we headed towards Reykjavik for an all you can eat pizza and finally onto our hotel to conclude our busiest day of the trip.

We made our way towards Reykjavik to start our final day of the trip, and our first stop was Hallgrimskirkja, the unmissable and striking church located in the heart of Reykjavik. After a wander through the capital city, we made our way back to Keflavik airport, but not before stopping at the Krisuvik hot sinter pools. A great time was had by all.

Charlie Grozier 13T

Post AS Trip

On a lovely sunny Friday afternoon, the Lower VI Geographers took to the River Darent to collect data about changing river variables downstream. Despite Friday 13th being unlucky for some, we were able to measure the river this year despite the high amounts of rainfall recently which had threatened to make it too deep for us to safely work in. The students managed to stay bright and cheerful even though most of them succeeded in filling their boots with water - once again proving that they are the most willing and practical cohort of geographers that we have had in many years at St Olave’s. The data will be used to build the foundations of their Unit 4A exam in Upper VI.

Geographical Society

Geographical Society has been going from strength to strength this academic year with the managing of it superbly taken over by Shunta Takino (13I) and Cameron Garrett (13L). Attendance has been consistently good and students have enjoyed talks such as ‘The Future of Population’, ‘When Pigs Fly: vertical farming and food sustainability’, ‘The Facts about Fracking’, and Chris Eaton’s (12X) ‘When the Ice Caps Melt’.