On Wednesday, 2nd April, Year 8 and 9 students embarked on a geological trip to the Isle of Portland.
Wednesday 2nd April
On Wednesday 2nd April, a group of Year 8 and 9 students ventured to the Isle of Portland on a geological adventure back into the Jurassic Period (185 million years ago).
We arrived at sunny Portland to be greeted by Portland Outdoor staff, who efficiently unloaded our luggage for us. We found our dorms, and some of us learned how to make a bed, which was a new skill for some.
It was then straight into activities. Mr. Hooper's group had the opportunity to try out some water sports: mega stand-up paddleboarding, raft building (we had to build the raft!), and kayaking in Portland’s Harbour. We had lots of fun, and some of us got wetter than others.
In the meantime, Dr. Saunders' group learned how to gut and prepare mackerel and then walked to Chesil Beach for lunch. We learned about the formation of Chesil Beach; did you know it is 18 miles long?
After lunch, we thought about erosional processes that formed the current landscape. Some of us found some exciting rocks and asked Dr. Saunders to identify them.
We then learned how to light fires using flint or solar lenses while cooking our freshly prepared mackerel that we had named Dave, Bartholomew, Jerry, for example. Most of us tried some of the mackerel; some really enjoyed it, while others were not sure. We were even more unsure about eating the seaweed.
We returned to the field centre for dinner and found it was meatballs and mash with apple crumble for dessert (yum). It was then on to evening activities: hot chocolate on Chesil Beach watching the sunset. Many of us were surprised at how many stars you can see away from the city lights. When we asked questions about the stars, Dr. Saunders made us remember what we had learned in the astrodome last autumn, helping us work out the answers for ourselves. It was lots of fun, and we asked to go back tomorrow night as well.
Thursday 3rd April
Thursday was Science Day. We started with a full English breakfast (at 7:30am; it was a little early for some of us). Due to the weather, our plans changed, and we now investigated the geology of Portland by abseiling, climbing, and weaseling.
First, we had to reach the venue…by foot! Prior to this, we learned how to use a quadrat to sample. These would normally be used to see how the abundance of species changes, but as it had been a late spring on Portland, we counted the amount of rubbish on different beaches and compared these instead.
We split into our two groups and only saw each other to wave during the day. Our first part of the walk was steep, and some of us thought we would never all make it to the top, but we did.
Along the way, we learned a little more about the history and geology of the island. Did you know the history of Portland dates back to Henry VIII or that it is one of the largest man-made harbours in the world? We were excited to walk past the wallabies at the top of the hill, as we did not expect to find them.
Then it was onto the activities. We faced our fears of heights and climbed over fossils in the Portland limestone, encouraged on by our peers. We abseiled down the limestone, which was a little scary, but came back with big grins on our faces and a real sense of achievement.
To explore the formation of the limestone and view some of the fossils, we weaselled along the coastline, scrambling over boulders next to the sea to locate different fossils. Many of us saw ammonite fossils as well as the oolitic limestone.
On our way back to the field centre, we sampled another two beaches for rubbish using our quadrats. Most of us got back just as the rain came in and were extremely tired, as apparently we had walked over 8 miles (which many of us did not know was possible)!
Dinner was chili, but I think waffles, fruit, and cream may have been the highlight. In the evening, Dr. Saunders consolidated our learning about the Portland limestone, and then we looked at our quadrat data. We found that the two beaches closer to the town and field centre had more rubbish than Church Ope Cove. This turned out to be because the locals around Church Ope often clean up the beach.
The evening was not over, as we learned we had to pack, and Ms. Ling was going to do room inspections (it was scary, and some of us did not pass the first time). This was followed by an early night, as we were tired from all the excitement of the day.
Friday 4th April
Friday morning came too quickly, and it was soon 7am (with Dr. Saunders knocking on the door), and time to get up for breakfast (not all of us made it on time). The packing the evening before was worth it, as we all made our activities on time.
Those who had not done the water sports on Wednesday got to try them out this morning, albeit in slightly cooler conditions. We still had fun and fell into the water.
While Mr. Hooper’s group had their turn at gutting and preparing mackerel before cooking them on the beach.
Overall, we had a great time and really enjoyed ourselves. We learnt many new skills, whether it was how to make a bed, believing we can walk long distances, having a go at a new activity, or challenging ourselves - whether that was climbing, abseiling, or water sports. We arrived home tired and ready for our Easter holidays.
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