3rd July– 6th July 2015

Friday Morning

Sun cream? Check. Hat? Check. Resilience? Check

We arrived at Euston station. Our meeting point was at the corner of the busy station tucked away between the Boots drug store and WH Smith, 20 excitable girls eager and enthusiastic for the Biology-filled adventure ahead.

9:11 am – after one last head count, we boarded the train to Llandudno Jcn, a station in Wales. The train was nice and spacious and left promptly at the train platform. From Llandudno Jcn, we took another train to Betwys y Coed. From the Betwys y Coed station, we roamed the town for a little while, observing Wales’s picturesque forests and land marks and licking ice cream.

Friday Afternoon

Once we had settled into our rooms and been treated to some cookies, we went to the class room for our first lesson. Pete took us through methods used to measure population size, the first method we learnt was called the ‘mark release and recapture ‘method, through the calculation of the Lincoln Index (3.4.1). After a brief introduction, we went outside and put what we

Walking to The Draper’s Field Centre

After this roam through our little part of Wales, it was about a 15 minute walk to the Draper’s field centre, where we were going to start learning the ecology section of the A2 syllabus. The aim of this trip was to see the process of Succession (the change in either species or vegetation through time) in real life. This added another dimension to our learning as it deepened our understanding of succession, as it became more real than the writings in the text book.

After enduring the 15 minute walk with Mr Downes chanting ‘Captain, Captain’, we arrived at our destination. A welcoming, student-friendly building, where we were greeted by the course director Pete Kay.

Downsey captivated by the vole

learnt into practice. We used Longworth traps to trap small mammals, e.g. voles and mice (don’t worry the trap we used did not kill the animals, and we left fruit and nuts for the mammals to snack on, and they were released the next morning).

Saturday Morning

We went down to breakfast where we were really spoilt for choice. A breakfast comprised of bacon, eggs, hash browns, sausages, grilled tomatoes, bread and mushrooms, a feast for our eyes. Many of us going up again for seconds or even thirds!

Saturday Afternoon

This is where the real fun began!! We took a coach to Moorfa Harlech National Nature Reserve. Were we investigated the primary succession of plant communities. We collected biotic data along a belt transect, along the point quadrat to assess the distribution of plant communities in relation to soil and other environmental data. We used specialised scientific equipment, it was really enjoyable and we felt like proper ecologists. Though we only walked 500 metres, it was as if we walked 500 years back into time. It was great.

We split into groups and each group, used specialised scientific equipment, for example quadrants.

On Sunday we investigated the effect of water speed on the diversity of organisms living in a river. It was brilliant to carry out this practical ourselves, even though we did get a little wet. We were all utterly amazed at the diversity of life we found in this tiny segment of the river and were able to admire all the different types of organisms under a light microscope in the lab.

Monday morning

After the wild night at the campfire, it was really difficult to get up the next morning. But the wafting smells of the hash browns and sausages drifted into our nostrils ad prompted us to get up. All were really sad to leave, with loads of new knowledge in our heads and a new appreciation of nature; we came into the centre as 20 school girls and left as competent biologists. After breakfast we brought our suitcases down to the mini bus and said our goodbyes to the beautiful town of Rhyd-y-creua.

A view from the train home

We would like to end this entry by thanking the staff for taking us on this trip, and especially Mr Downes for arranging it. A special mention goes to Dr Paul, who knew as much (if not more) than our guide, and provided us with insight into the ecological world.

A view from the train home