David Rogers

I’ve toyed with the idea of creating a video for Jamie’s Dream Teacher YouTube channel for a while.  It wasn’t until I needed a short revision video about longshore drift for my own classes that I got around to creating the video embedded below last night.  Tide was far far far out in Goring-be-Sea yesterday, so I had to improvise! Hopefully it will be of some use for teachers. I’m posting it here as I know that revision season will soon be upon us…..

Sometimes, teaching can be a lonely business.  This week though a series of fieldtrips has lifted spirits. There's nothing like a bit of physical geography to get the mind going! We've been using a mix of technology and traditional methods this week. One nice activity, especially on cold wet days, is the pebble race. This involves challenging pupils to prove that Hurst Castle Spit is managed by people, and far from natural in its current state.  Students grab a pebble at the top of the landform and next to the sea. The shingle that has been placed there by engineers is very angular, while naturally placed material is round through the process of attrition. Field sketching is also a useful activity.  It allows young people to reflect on the features in front of them.  To finish off this week, the students finished by adding clay to their work and making the paper smell of the location.  This resulted in some interesting work!  And of...

Unconsolidated muds below Naish Holiday Village. As part of the department's plan to expand fieldwork opportunities I ventured to Barton on Sea and Hurst Castle Spit last week. The plan is to take Year 10's in order to investigate the interaction between people and physical landforms. I had hoped to upload some photos of the visit however Blogger seems to be playing up at the moment! Old chalet slabs on the cliff top. Naish Holiday Village We have chosen two sites to investigate. The first is at Highcliffe beach. This provides a classic coastal management case study where the effect of managed retreat can be seen under the Naish Holiday Park. This site also forms the boundary between two counties and councils. The second site will be Hurst Castle Spit. I feel it's very important to link any visit into the classroom both before and after. Therefore we shall be switching our coastal management case study from Lulworth Cove to Hurst Castle Spit. The visit will also be follow...