Year 8 geographers have been very busy showcasing their creativity and research skills by creating projects on one of the following rivers: Nile, Colorado, Yangtze or the Ganges. Whilst there was so much knock-out work, each teacher selected 2/3 projects from their classes.
The Geography Department
Click on the link here to see the amazing work created by our Year 8 geographers!
Over the half-term, 40 BGS students and four teachers eagerly left Heathrow and flew to the Azores in the Atlantic for 5 days. What ensued was a fantastic trip! All 40 students were outstanding ambassadors for BGS and many people we met commented on how our students were the best group they had ever encountered! The passion and awe was evident in every activity we did and all the students and staff had fantastic experiences and took photos to capture their unforgettable time. Read on for some of the experiences shared.
Miss Ashman, Geography Department
The Azores trip was something that me and all my friends had been looking forward to for a year, and it did not disappoint!
The trip was amazing and everyone had so much fun together. The highlight of the trip for me was the first geothermal pool, which was an amber colour from the oxidised iron in the water (all our swimsuits were stained orange, but it was worth it!). It was a fantastic trip and I couldn't have asked for a better experience. Having free time every day in different places on the island gave us all an opportunity to get to know each other better and create close bonds with new people. On the third day, we went into a cave underground, and it was very interesting to see the rock formation of a dormant volcano! All the Year 11s had so much fun together, and it was definitely an experience I will never forget. Thank you to everyone who made this such an enjoyable trip!
Aqua Trumci, Year 11
Going to the Azores was such an awesome experience! My favourite part was the geothermal pools. Not only is the geography very cool, but it was lovely being in the relaxing, green environment. I would definitely recommend going to the Azores, from the hikes and views, to the waterfalls and geothermal pools and even the food. The Azores have so much to offer (and it is cool to say you have been to the most Western point of Europe). A final juicy fact for you is that the pineapples in the Azores take a whole 2 years to grow, but trust me, the 2 years wait (and our 1598-mile journey) was definitely worth it. The pineapple was delicious! Final shout out to all the teachers and our tour guide, Carlos, who made the trip amazing!
Matilda Jackson, Year 11
Our Year 8 students recently handed in their end of term ‘river projects’ where they were tasked to hand in a creative and geographical project on 1 of 4 rivers: Colorado, Ganges, Yangtze and the Nile. Our classes blew us away, and we have struggled to pick the top projects, but each teacher has managed to handpick their 2 stand out projects…see below the winners from each class!
Miss Ashman has chosen Alex Stanchev who produced a stunningly unique whilst incredibly professional looking board game on the river Yangtze!
Whilst Karan Abrol produced a professional standard and highly geographical leaflet on the River Ganges!
Astarti Manalakou created a stand-out project that had bamboo boats sailing on the River Nile; super Geographical too!
Subhan Saeed created a highly professional project on the Yangtze which was super informative as well as visually appealing - love the use of dragons!
Nimrat Matthau used mixed media to make her front cover on the Ganges stand out from the rest.
Adi Vedamuthu created a huge book which was professionally presented and was also crammed full of geography.
Mrs Belton-Owen’s Groups
Angela Long - a beautifully presented booklet that included amazing hand drawn diagrams and detailed written notes.
Maddison Lopez- I really loved the creativity used here to show the River Nile, from source to mouth. Maddison also included a lot of detail in each of her written sections that showed the effort and time that she had put into this assessment.
Reuben Sackey-James - I was really impressed with the effort and presentation of this work. All the key success criteria have been completed in good detail.
I would like to celebrate some amazing revision work carried out with my Year 10 Geography classes recently. Students were preparing for an end of unit assessment on the ‘Living World’ topic which included work on ecosystems, tropical rainforest and hot deserts.
They successfully and creatively completed revision grids to prepare them for their end of unit assessment. Have a look at the range of work produced by these students. Student work includes - Lewis Abba, Andy Yu, Jasreen Ghag, Ese Obhio, Ella Curl and Sami Ismail. Keep up the excellent geography work!
Miss Ashman, Geography Department
Click here to view some more of the amazing Year 10 Geography work!
Last week the Geography department took the whole of Year 9 out to explore, enjoy and be captivated by the awe and wonder of the Royal Botanical Gardens at Kew. This was an excellent finale to our topic of World Biomes and allowed students to explore vegetation and ecosystems from around the world. We had beautiful autumn weather which set the perfect scene as our native deciduous woodland trees and vegetation were turning red and golden. Students visited a range of top attractions in the garden including the tree top walk, Palm House, Temperate House, The Hive and the students favourite the Princess of Wales Conservatory. This greenhouse included desert biomes, tropical rainforest and ferns, carnivorous plants and beautiful orchids.
The pictures here show the delights of Kew in all of its glory. The Hive is an incredible art structure that is designed as a bee hive would be and being inside you hear the noise of bees buzzing and the lights flashing representing how the bees communicate. The image shows what the inside of The Hive looks like inside.
Year 9 groups outside The Palm House before we entered the humid rainforests that span the equator. It was not long before coats were taken off as the heat inside helped to create a real experience. Inside the drips off the leaves help to create the damp jungle conditions that you would experience in the tropical rainforest. Students had to find examples of fruit, medicinal plants and drip tip leaves!
The treetop walkway was another highlight of the trip. Where students experienced the top of the trees from 18m up and could look out across the treetops and west London.
Click here to view the Kew Gardens field trip album.
The Geography Department
Year 8 Geography students have been completing a series of lessons from the unit of work “Oceans on the Edge”. Over the last few weeks we have covered ideas such as plastic in the ocean, threats to coral reefs and oil spills. Students in 8PDH and 8LPV were asked to write a pledge on ways that they can reduce the amount of single-use plastic that they use. I am delighted to share with you some of their amazing responses.
At the beginning of 2021 my family already made a pledge to reduce single use plastic. So far this year we have:
During recent bin men strikes we were the only ones on the street who after weeks still had pretty empty plastic bin. That made me feel happy. I still hope we can further reduce food packaging - most of our plastic is still from food packaging (some fruits, yoghurt, oil bottles). I also want to use anything made from plastic for as long as possible - it is better to choose things more carefully, rather than keep buying new ones.
I am going to buy non single-use plastic, try to buy more biodegradable items such as paper straws, biodegradable bags, metal bottles and metal cutlery. I am also going to try and recycle more. I will try and encourage friends and family to cut down on waste, for example my mum's friend only drinks bottled water which can end up floating around in the ocean for millions of years. I will encourage her to stop doing this and buy a metal bottle. Many of my friends only drink bottled water too, so I could try and help them too.
To reduce the amount of single use plastic that I use, I will try my best to make educated purchases regarding plastic wrapping as well as buying cardboard cartons. I will try to avoid cling film and foil in favour of paper bags, and I will make sure I put my litter in the right section of the bin. Hopefully, I can also participate in organised litter picks my local area, and I’ll try to persuade my family and friends to also take steps towards a plastic free future. I’ll transform plastic bottles into art projects. Hopefully it can make a difference.
I can reduce the amount of single-use plastic I use by finding alternatives that aren't made from plastic. For example, instead of using plastic straws, I could use paper straws, bring a bag made from cloth instead of receiving the plastic ones, and not use disposable plastic cutlery for your food. Choosing what you use for your daily life and finding replacements for plastics such as paper or metal is good for the environment as we are reducing our plastic intake easily.
I can reduce my use of single-use plastic by always carrying around or sticking with one single water bottle as it ensures I don't need to buy a plastic water bottle that I'm just going to throw away. Many plastic bottles are thrown away into the ocean daily, adding to the pollution and danger of the wildlife in the environment. Even if I do buy a plastic bottle, I shouldn't throw it away, just reuse it. I could also use metal straws as they can be easily carried around and don't need to be thrown away after every use like normal plastic straws. Even using paper straws are better than plastic ones as when they get thrown away, they get recycled and made into something else instead of adding to the millions of stray rubbish around the world.
We are delighted to be out on Geography fieldwork with our Year 12 IB students and this should mark the start of a year of Fieldwork at BGS.
Students worked in groups to collect data at 10 sites on the River Darent, Kent. We made our way from source to mouth collecting qualitative and quantitative data to examine how the river changes downstream and reflected on whether this is what the Bradshaw model would expect. It was a great day to get out in the countryside to carry out a practical enquiry and the Year 12s showed outstanding teamwork and progress with their learning.
On a grey cloudy day the Year 12 IB Geography students left BGS at 8am to head out to the River Darent to collect primary data for the internal assessments. Once all the students were on the coaches we left school and headed out. Miss Thurlow’s and Miss Ashman’s group headed to the first location near the rivers source while Mrs Belton-Owen’s and Mrs Surplus’ group went to site 2, a farmers field at Brastead 5km from the source. This year the field had sweet corn growing in it which made for an interesting walk to the river. For most the sweet corn was taller than their heads!
The first couple of study locations gave students the opportunity to get used to working in their groups and collecting the data, as this was the first time that they had completed fieldwork. Students collected primary data on river depth, width, velocity, wetted perimeter and gradient as well as drawing field sketches and taking photographs.
These photographs show some of our lovely Year 12 students completing river depth measurement at site 6, Farningham, now 23km from the start of the River Darent. The day saw many students with wet feet and wellingtons full of water! But thankfully it stayed dry, and we managed to collect all of the data that is required for this work. At site 9, the small bridge that crosses the river gave us the perfect opportunity as always for a group photo!
Click here to view the River Darent field trip photo album.
The Geography Department
Please click here to read this collection of articles recently featured in the BGS Newsletter...
