Year 11 Visit Malham
Recently, Year 11 GCSE geography students from The Skipton Academy visited Malham, a small village in the Yorkshire Dales, to conduct a river study as part of their fieldwork experience which will be assessed in their upcoming examinations. The Skipton Academy is proud to have been able to collaborate with the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority’s Education team who assisted in running the day. We are excited to see how this collaboration can develop to allow more students to experience fieldwork opportunities within the National Park.
During the day, students conducted two investigations. Firstly, they investigated how the River Aire changed downstream and then looked at how tourism impacts Malham. The visit to Malham also gave the students a chance to appreciate the natural beauty of the Yorkshire Dales and to understand the importance of protecting the environment for future generations.
The river study involved students forming small groups and collecting a range of measurements in the river and its surrounding environment, such as its width, depth, velocity, as well as the size of material carried in the river. These measurements were conducted at several points down the river to allow for a conclusion to be reached.
The second part of the day involved questioning locals and tourists about their activities within Malham and asking them to consider how their experience could be improved. Students also conducted land use surveys, vehicle counts and environmental quality surveys at several points throughout the village to consider if tourism had greater impacts on certain areas of the village.
Students spent the day working hard to collect as much data as possible, and by the end of the trip, they had a wealth of information to analyse and interpret. They were able to use their findings to draw conclusions on their investigations within the classroom where they were able to present their findings to each other.
The trip was a fantastic opportunity for the students to put their classroom learning into practice and to experience the real-world application of geographical concepts. They were able to see first-hand how river processes influence the characteristics of the channel and how the lack of public transport connections in Malham creates challenges for the village during peak periods of tourism. The trip was a great success, and the students returned to school with a newfound appreciation for the natural world and the importance of studying geography.
