AQA Geography Physical fieldwork

What is the physical fieldwork enquiry question?

How and why does the River Tillingbourn change along its course and whether key changes along the course of the River Tillingbourne align with the Bradshaw model?

What are the two aims of the physical fieldwork

- To collect primary data to answer my enquiry and test my 3 hypothesises
- To apply my fieldwork investigation skills in a real life setting

What are my 3 physical fieldwork hypothesises?

- The channel of the River Tillingbourne becomes wider and deeper as it flows downstream
- Sediment in the River Tillingbourne becomes smaller and more rounded with increasing distance downstream
- Velocity in the River Tillingbourne increases downstream

What is the geographical model the physical fieldwork is based on?

Bradshaw model (descripes how river characteristics varies threw the courses)

What is the location of the physical fieldwork?

Guildford, Surrey, Southern England
SU9949

What are 3 risk of physical fieldwork and their mitigation?

- Adverse weather: sunscreen and sun hat, stay out of exposed areas, water
- Travelling between sights- not crossing road, following teachers
- Becoming lost - travelling in groups, school emergency phone number

What kind of sampling was used in the physical fieldwork and why?

Systematic point sampling
- Creates a sample that encompasses a wide majority of the study area

What are the downsides of the sampling method used in the physical fieldwork?

Systematic point sampling
- Biased as not all data collection points have an equal chance of being chosen

Describe how you collected the width of the River Tillinbourne and why you did it this way?

-We had two people hold a tape measure either side of the width of the river whilst a third person records the reading
- Measuring tape is readily available and easy to read

Describe how you collected the depth of the River Tillingbourne and why you did it this way?

- Placing a meter stick on flat ground of the river and recording the height
- Meter sticks are readily available and easy to read

Describe how you collected the velocity of the River Tillingbourne and why you did it this way?

- Placed a current meter in an unobstructed area of the River for 1 minute
- Completely automatic and produces reliable results

Describe how you collected the roundness of the sediment in the River Tillingbourne and why you did it this way?

- Selecting sediment in intervals of the width/10 of the river and comparing them to Power's scale of roundness

Describe how you collected the length of sediment in the River Tillingbourne and why you did it this way?

- Using 30cm ruler on the longest axis of the rock
- Most of the sediment was small so 30cm ruler was appropriate to use

Describe how you collected the photographs of the River Tillingbourne and why you did it this way?

- Using our mobile devices
- Easily accessible

Describe how you collected the field sketches of the River Tillingbourne and why you did it this way?

- Sketching what we saw in front of us and adding appropriate annotations
- Detailed approach to absorbing the environment

What was the width of channel at Site 1?

150cm

What was the width of channel at Site 2?

340cm

What was the width of channel at Site 3?

740cm

What was the average depth of channel at Site 1?

6.5cm

What was the average depth of channel at Site 2?

6.5cm

What was the average depth of channel at Site 3?

5.9cm

What was the average sediment size at Site 1?

12.8cm

What was the average sediment size at Site 2?

6.0cm

What was the average sediment size at Site 3?

4.2cm

What was the average sediment shape at Site 1?

Sub-angular

What was the average sediment shape at Site 2?

Sub-rounded

What was the average sediment shape at Site 3?

Angular

What was the average river velocity at Site 1?

268 cubic metres per second

What was the average river velocity at Site 2?

172 cubic metres per second

What was the average river velocity at Site 3?

113 cubic metres per second

What are some advantages of presenting data in a table?

- Can quickly see results and compare relationships
- Easy to take averages from

What are some disadvantages of presenting data in a table?

- Not useful for large amounts of data
- Lack of description

What data did i allegedly present in a table and why?

Width data
- All values were low and below 20, easy to write
Shape of sediment
- Values range from 1-5so easy to construct and compare

What are some advantages of presenting data in a bar chart?

- Clear visual range of readings, easy to spot anomalies

What are some disadvantages of presenting data in a bar chart?

- Misleading if axis are manipulated incorrectly
- Can't put many values on bar chart

What data did i allegedly present in a bar chart and why?

Velocity of the River Tillingbourne
- Only had 5 values to input for each site
- Shows clear range of recorded values

What are some advantages of a line graph?

- Can observe changes in trend in recorded data clearly
-Can be used to compare multiple sets of data

What are some disadvantages of a line graph?

- They can become cluttered and hard to read if multiple data values used
- Only work witch continuous data
- Hard to read in general

What data did i allegedly present in a line graph and why?

Size of river sediment
- Continuous data
- Observe clearly how the sediment shape changes depending on its place in the width of the channel

Explain the results of Site 1 (Upper course)

- The channel has a small width and shallow depth
- The sediment was large and sub-angular(only lateral erosion)
- Velocity was fast (could be due to heavy precipitation causing an increase in discharge and velocity

Explain the results of Site 2 (Middle course)

- The channel width has increased
-The channel depth has increased
(Tributaries join the river at this course)
- Velocity decreased
- Sediment size smaller and more rounded (increase in lateral erosion)

Explain the results of Site 3 (Lower course)

- The channel width is much wider
- The channel depth has decreased
- Size of sediment decreased
- Sediment was more angular

Did the results align with hypothesis 1.

Hypothesis 1: the River Tillingbourne became wider and deeper as it flows down stream
- The width data agreed with this
- The depth data was the opposite so disagreed with this

Did the results align with hypothesis 2.

Hypothesis 2: the sediment in the River Tillingbourne becomes smaller and more rounded down stream
- Sediment size agreed with data
- Sediment smoothness disagreed with data