During the summer term Year 12 biologists went on a much-anticipated trip to Dorking with the aim of cultivating their skills in fieldwork and ecology. Grace in Year 12 writes about the experience.
Whilst initially convinced that we wouldn’t enjoy having to spend three whole days rifling through mud in search of snails and other slimy creatures, we were quickly proven wrong. On the first day, we were split into two large groups and went for a walk around the beautiful grounds of Juniper Hall towards the woodland area to carry out our first investigation to measure and compare various abiotic factors such as light intensity and soil depth in two different types of woodland. The weather was idyllic, we were excited for our much awaited “cake break” and the overall mood was optimistic that this was going to be a great trip.
The first thing we did the following day was check our mammal traps that we had carefully set up the night before. There was a lot of shrieking as two small mice and an adorable shrew the length of a finger were found inside. We then took the coach to the River Tillingbourne to carry out another investigation that involved us slipping on our wellies and wading through the water for most of the day. Unfortunately, it then proceeded to rain for the last hour. Although we were soaked through and most of our results were destroyed by the rain, we were all laughing so much that it ended up being one of the highlights of the trip.
On the last day we made our way to Box Hill to carry out our final activity. The view was stunning and the sun was now shining brightly enough for some great photos.
I know that we all have fond memories of the trip, from watching Love Island in the evenings to frantically checking ourselves each night for ticks! Thanks to our amazing teachers and the staff at Juniper Hall, we developed a lot of skills essential for biology and it ended up being a really fun and worthwhile trip.
