IGCSE Geography Fieldwork

Dear IGCSE Geographers and Parents / Guardians,

As you may know, the IGCSE Geography syllabus includes fieldwork opportunities and the skills and techniques used will be tested in the final exam. Therefore all of the Year 10 Geography students will be out of school on Friday 22^nd January for the whole day carrying out fieldwork. This will involve them collecting data in order to test various hypotheses that they will have devised beforehand. They will be covering two main themes; the changes to a river and its valley as it travels downstream, and the study of land use patterns and quality of environments in an urban area.

The students will be in groups, located in the Sha Tin area for the duration of the day. As the groups may be collecting data in different locations they may not be individually supervised at all times, although teachers will be in the vicinity.  Details for the day that students may need to be aware of are:

• They should wear clothes suitable for fieldwork in urban and rural areas. Smart casual clothes with training shoes or hiking shoes are ideal. For working in the river you may want to bring extra footwear for use in the water and a towel.
• Please look at the weather forecast for the day. Hopefully they will need sun-cream and a hat. An umbrella or waterproof jacket may, however, be needed. Some students may wish to bring insect repellent with them.
• They should have a clipboard or appropriate notebook, together with their data recording sheets and any necessary equipment for collecting or recording the data. At least one camera in a group is essential.
• Whilst working on the urban hypotheses they will have the opportunity to purchase drinks and lunch in the town. The river work will be in areas away from shops and they will need to bring snacks and drinks with them if required. Please ensure that they have enough to drink (water is best!).
• Students should arrive at school in the morning in the usual way. We will work until sufficient data has been collected, hopefully finishing by 3.20pm. After being dismissed by their teacher, students will make their own way home from the final working location, which will be in the Sha Tin urban area.

Please complete the reply slip below and return it to your child’s Geography teacher. Feel free to contact any of us in the department if you have any queries concerning the coursework in general or the arrangements for this day in particular.

Yours sincerely,

Jen Lederer, Karen Griffiths, Richard Overens

 ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Student Name:    ………………………………………………………………………         Teaching Group: …………………

Signed by:      ……………….……………………………… (Parent / guardian)       Date……………….