Pictures From the Iceland Trip

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Follow the Iceland Fieldtrip

You Can Follow the Iceland Fieldtrip at the link below:

http://www.bsgeogiceland2013.blogspot.co.uk/

They are having a great time, so keep an eye on it regularly.

How has recent weather affected our school?

Year 12 pupils had a lesson to collect and then contribute to a map of the effects of the recent bad weather on our school community.

The video below shows the storm patterns on the 24th and 25th which began to flood the river and saturate the soil. this was compounded by further rain on the 26th, 27th and 28th and then frost on the 30th and 1st of December.



The map below should interactively show the observations. Click on a placemark to see the observations and some images. There is more to come soon as well.
There is also one placemark 11km North West of the school in Harrold referring to the bridge being blocked. The rain clouds west of the school show weather data from the last two weeks.



View Larger Map

Morocco 2012 - Looking back by B.Nesseler

Located on the Northern African coastline, Morocco is one of the most well known Maghreb states offering breath-taking landscapes, a mixture of African and Arabic culture and a very exquisite cuisine. We mainly travelled to Morocco for the geographical aspect but were lucky enough to experience and take home a bit of everything. Arriving at the airport in Marrakech, I was expecting tropical weather conditions, however, it turned out that the shorts in my hand language were unnecessary ballast for that evening. The conditions were comfortably warm most of the time though, and coming from Great Britain, I guess most of us appreciated the sun when it was shining. Most people we met on our trip were very kind and warmly welcomed us, be it in the hotels or cafes. Eventually, we discovered this might have been associated on some occasions with the fact that we were easily discovered to be European tourists who may have some extra Dirhams left to spend on their superb souvenirs. Anyway, our guide and our bus drivers did a great job and safely led us from Marrakech down to Ouarzazate, then further into the desert and back again only showing us the best sides of Morocco, always being a helping hand. Geographically, the trip was useful for all students as all of us were able to engage with and look at aspects of the courses we study, followed by some evening Geography sessions. One of the highlights of the trip was surely the night out in the desert. It was an amazing experience to spend the night away from civilization in the Moroccan dunes next to camels. The market place in Marrakech is also a quite memorable image in our minds; unbelievably busy and exotic smells and shops around every corner. This was also a very good opportunity to go shopping and get some original Adidas sneakers for 5 pounds! Unfortunately, not everything went as well and fluidly as the waterfalls coming down the hills in the Atlas Mountains on our journey back from Ouarzazate to Marrakech after some rather excessive rainfalls during the day. There were some health issues from the first day on, even going on back home. These made some days of the trip for some people less comfortable but that may simply be considered to be part of the personal costs and risks you pay going to such a country. All in all, I would like to thank Mr Walker, Mr Strachan and Mr Gracie who organised and ran the Geography excursion and of course also everybody who joined us on the Moroccan adventure, looking back to a good time overseas with Bedford School.

Guerrilla Geography at School Site - results

As published last week, open day at the school inspired a study by year 12 students to see whether the perceived status or value of cars influenced their location. When collecting the data, it had appeared that smarter cars located closer to the most visible and walked past locations on the school site. The location of the cars was mapped out in the field then transferred to a map in the classroom. The map includes a key where the colour denotes the car type. Note that the tabular form of the key allows an easy analysis at first glance of car types and their proximity to what was deemed to be the highest exposure site: immediately next to the South porch, the main entrance for the day.

Click on the images below to see them clearly and on a larger scale.

Fig 1: Map showing the locations of car types and the prime location (marked by an X)

The students have also graphed the number of each car located within 50 metre intervals of the prime location:

Fig 2: Bar graph of 50m wide radii of location and brands within them

So... do the cars that are better locate closer to important locations, and do those that are worse hid further away?

From the map, the closest cars to the prime location are Vauxhall, Audi and Lexus. The degree to which this can support any theory depends on which model. Certainly those spotted on the day appeared smarter. Within 50m there are also pockets of BMWs and VWs. So, though there are smarter cars close to the most visible location, there is no dominance by any particular brand.

The key on the map gives some more revealing information however, when the proportion of each car in each circular band is given. Audi, BMW, Lexus, Vauxhall and Mercedis all show a tendency to locate closer to the most visible location, whilst Ford, VW and Range Rover are skewed the other way.

The graph, displays some interesting trends too. The most notable bars are those for the Audis within 50m and the Fords between 150 and 200m. There are brands which  havn't located within the 150m-200m category at all: High range BMWs, Jaguar and Lexus, whilst some have not located within 50 metres: Honda and medium range BMWs.

Some data needs no analysis since it is likely that Jaguar and Porsche drivers will locate wherever they like!

Overall, the data probably supports the initial theory that drivers of nicer cars locate closer to the most visible locations, although it would appear that the visual study at first may have carried an emphasis on those cars which were more striking since the spread of cars is greater than was first anticipated. being able to investigate and quantify Geographical observations has been a very useful exercise, as has using different forms of presentation to highlight certain data more clearly. We are on the lookout for more small scale investigations around us...

A Level Fieldtrip

The first A level fieldtrip of this year happened today in Bedford. The aim is to compare Bedford to Bid Rent theory in preparation for the Investigations paper in January.

You can follow what happened on the boys' excellent blog by following the link at the top of this page.

There was also a competition for the best Geographical Twitter update and blog post.

J.Li wins the best blog post for rightly identifying the importance of physical geography case studies in close proximity to universities.

The best 3 tweets are shown below with J.Stroomer coming out as the winner in recognition of his all important live pedestrian count update. Outstanding Geography caught in the moment.

3rd Place - for sheer enthusiasm:

Identifying the route before #bsfieldtrip bring on Bid-rent!http://pic.twitter.com/XeoXMyiF

2nd Place - for always thinking about the exam requirements:

#bsfieldtrip obstruction? Marks? Yes pleasehttp://pic.twitter.com/5uQRdipH

1st Place:

The ped count was perilously close to 100 (99 in fact) after passing the faces, we have now dropped dramatically, a measly 24#BSFieldTrip

ArcGIS - Latest Practise

Mr Rees has been experimenting with making ArcGIS online a useful tool for presentation of fieldwork and data. Have a go with the interactive map below and consider how you could use it for your project:

Morocco Fieldtrip

The Morocco trip in October this year is finalised and the places are pretty much all filled (might not be too late though, so get your forms in ASAP). For those of you looking forward to it already, the link below shows the blogs from the previous trip in 2010. Hope it whets your appetite.

http://upperblog.bedfordschool.org.uk/tags/Morocco.asp

Iceland Fieldtrip albums

We have removed the slideshows from the page to make opening on phones etc easier. You can still see them below:

Online Picasa Albums from the Iceland Fieldtrip:

Day 1

Day 2a, Day 2b, Day 2c, Day 2d

Day 3

Day 4

Day 4's blog entry

Our 4^th day began with a fresh and early start with a wake up of 6:30 and breakfast at 7:30. The cabin hotel provided an open buffet style breakfast serving cereals and fresh fruit. To much dismay we shared the breakfast hall with the Bedford Modern school.

After breakfast we immediately set off to the Reykjavik harbour as we had booked a boat to take us whale watching. It took 15 minutes to reach the point in Faxafloi bay where marine animal activity was high. On the way the view was utterly breath taking as the snow covered mountains were complimented by the  sparkling sea. The sea was mildly choppy on the way out of the harbour to the point in the bay. This caused a few members of the group to feel rather ill, while others stood at the bow and enjoyed the experience and incredible views.

Once out at the point in Faxafloi bay it was barely half an hour before we saw a pod of dolphins including a mother and her calves diving in an and out of the water. At first they were cautious of the boat and were sure to keep their distance. However, within 40 minutes they grew more comfortable and began swimming incredibly close to the boat often disappearing and reappearing behind us, forcing us to turn around as if they were playing a game. We followed this pod of dolphins for some time until they became less interested in us and disappeared and we were left searching for more activity. We eventually spotted a single Minke whale which was approximately 5m in length. Soon we lost sight of this whale and the bay grew still and empty. Luckily it was just in time to head back so we turned around and headed back to the harbour, many of us headed down to the bar to enjoy a hot drink after having spent a good 3 hours in the cold spray of the sea.

Upon arrival back at the harbour we were given a couple of minutes for a few to regain their land legs, then we got back onto our bus who had conveniently parked right outside the boat and set off for our next destination. 

This was Thingvellir; a massive rift where the two plates (American plate and Eurasian plate) meet and pull apart leaving a massive rift valley which contains one of the world’s clearest and purest lakes which is renowned for being a fantastic place for divers. We observed several fascinating geological features such as dikes, a table mountain, fissures, shield volcano (with a name that sounded like skull breath)  and finally rotated blocks. This was truly exciting for all of us intellectually absorbent geographers.

Next we were off to Gulfoss, a truly magnificent waterfall by far the most beautiful so far. The spray from the water rushing down into the gorge caused a coating of ice over its surroundings, leaving an effect like icing on a cake. The walls of the gorge were covered in sparkling ice which glimmered so fantastically it was as if the walls were made of crystal. The sheer force of this waterfall was shown through the path it had cut. The walls of the gorge were cut straight and covered in spectacular icicles that were anywhere between 5-9ft long. The walk up the path back to the bus proved tricky as the path was frozen in parts and took an age to manoeuvre around.

(you may have to rotate your head 90 degrees anti clockwise for this one)

We left Gulfoss in anticipation for the geysers we were about to visit, we knew this was a part of the trip where we could get up-close to a fantastic geological event. We crowded around Skellgafoss, a geyser that regularly erupts, and awaited results. We all stood there cameras ready, filming each tantalising minute afraid of missing the shot, after a 10 minute or so video of a bubbling pool Skellgafoss finally erupted with fantastic results as a column of steam and water shot 20 metres into the air. What we did not expect was for it to happen another two times in instant succession of each other.

On the way back to Reykjavik and one more night of hot pools and a burger for dinner, our guide Soffia pulled us over at an extinct volcanic crater. It was filled with water and not only broke up our journey, but provided a wonderful end to a terrific day.

Day 5 quick update

Well the trip is nearly over. Unfortunately the pics since day 2 and yesterday's blog (a cracker by the way) have been missed due to slow/non existent wifi. Keep your eyes peeled for them arriving soon though.

We have spent this morning seeing sights in Reykjavik a seemingly spacious and quiet setting (during the day at least) with a stunning setting.




(house where Reagan and Gorbachov met in 1986 to begin discussions)




(city cathedral)



(view over the city from the Pearl building)

We are now on our way to the blue lagoon, a geothermal spa to relax before heading back on the plane. Don't worry the boys have deserved it!!

MRG


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Day 3 blog

Day 3…

This morning we had half an hour lie in, meaning the 7.30 wake up left us more energised for the evnts we had to come. Breakfast consisted was waffles and eggs. Portions were not restricted which was welcomed with open arms.

We left the hotel at 9am for our first destination which was a dormant volcano named Storidimon. The keenest of geographers decided to race to the top which was een as an easy task. Not even half way up, the eagerness faded as the combination of the cold air and steep slope induced jelly legs. However, in first place came Peter Chennels followed by Louis Conningsby. Mr Gracie says we have to mention that he still managed to finish in the top 3.

The view was well worth the agonising walk as from the top we were able to soak in the fantastic braided streams across the outwash plane. After taking in the views we returned to the coach to make our way to the Hekla museum which was a welcome help in understanding the volcano’s geology, source and legend. After we absorbed all the information we could from the museum we returned to our amazing off road bus to head to the Helfinfoss waterfall.

On the way we stopped to get a close view of Hekla and its very evident lava flows as well as to collect some pumice to pass to our mums to keep their feet soft. We also passed by an HEP plant which was interesting to see but gave us mixed emotions as we had seen evidence of its negative impacts on the channel further downstream.

Helfinfoss was a stunning location as the channel split into two and was surrounded by breathtaking basalt columns. The weather also meant that ice was breaking off at the edges of the plunge pool and floating like mini titanic sinkers downstream.

This was the last sight of the day as we were back on the bus for an hour and a half trip back to Reykjavik.

We dined on local cuisine at the difficult to pronounce bar Tabasco! This was followed by a viewing at a family ciname of a film they had made dramatically charting the Eyjajaffjallojokull eruption and Iceland’s history. Of course this was preceded by the obligatory hot pool session.

Love from the bloggers xxx

Day 2's proper blog finally!!!

Our second day started with an enthusiastic 7:00am wake up, with everyone raring to go. Each geographer now refreshed from a warm sulphuric smelling shower. Breakfast lasted around half an hour as most of us did more talking than eating, immediately after breakfast we went to our rooms to clear up after ourselves and pack for the journey ahead. We left the Reykjavik City Hostel as soon as we were registered and our bus driver had arrived. The bus was an absolute monster, it was clearly built for off-roading and tough terrain; we were hugely impressed.

We set off with our new bus, bus driver and tour guide, we were well on our way to our first destination; the hot springs in the village of Hveragerol which was built around the springs. We were greeted warmly by the owner of the business and were shown around each individual spring; we were told temperatures of the springs were around 99 degrees Celsius that day.

Our guide took two nets of eggs with her and placed them in the main spring slowly cooking them for us to eat in a few minutes, she then took us through the history of each spring telling us how many had grown dormant through earthquake activity which was sad to hear. She showed us a point in the hot spring where the women of the village used to do their laundry at which point Mr Walker made the witty joke “Ah this must be the Hot Point” which went down very well with those who understood it.

We then proceeded indoors to eat our eggs, while some of us observed the geothermal powered greenhouse which grew Bananas, tomatoes, strawberries which was fascinating to see in such a cold climate. With our departure we thanked them with sincerity as we all found the geographical knowledge greatly enjoyable.

We boarded the bus to travel to the other side of the village to an earthquake simulation room. All participated with mixed reactions to the experience, some handled it better than others. The simulator showed us what it was like to be in an earthquake reading 6.6 on the Richter scale. This did not take long as we were soon back onto the bus to head to the Seljandsfoss waterfall which took around fifteen minutes to reach. Upon arrival we were warned that it was inevitable that we would get a “little wet” this was greatly understated as we all walked around the pool and were thoroughly drenched as the temperamental wind forced a stream of water onto us.

Thankfully the photographs were well worth getting incredibly wet. Immediately after this amazing experience we were moved onto yet another waterfall, Skogafos, a bigger and more spectacular one at that. Here we were able to walk to the top of the cliff within 383 steps from the very bottom, once we were up at the top, looking down on this beautiful water fall, it became apparent why wind erosion in the area was such a huge factor in the shaping of the landscape. The wind, being so bitterly cold, persuaded us to cut the time we spent on the top short, slowly progressing down the 383 steps again.

Once down we spent some time taking in the sight and scale of the surroundings, noting significant geographical features.

We departed from the area and headed toward the 4^th largest glacier in Iceland, passing eyjallafiertlajokull on the way. This again provided some spectacular photographs, but we were still unable to capture the sheer beauty and magnificence which will remain with us for many years to come. It is something too difficult to describe in words so the best way of understanding the view is to look at the photographs.

We then moved onto the Basalt columns which was a short journey from where we were already situated, allowing us to use the last few moments of light to our advantage, resulting In some more spectacular photographs. Such as the sparkling fresh sea lapping at the smooth pebble beach enriched in a glow of the last hour of the sun, making our last sight of the second day all the more beautiful.

Lots of love from your friendly blogging team. Xxx

Day 2 roundup

We have had a cracking day but wifi in the sticks is proving a little slow! Please enjoy WW-G's writeup below. Some stunning piccies to support will be on as soon as we get some Internet speed.

Our second day started with an enthusiastic 7:00am wake up, with everyone raring to go. Each geographer now refreshed from a warm sulphuric smelling shower. Breakfast lasted around half an hour as most of us did more talking than eating, immediately after breakfast we went to our rooms to clear up after ourselves and pack for the journey ahead. We left the Reykjavik City Hostel as soon as we were registered and our bus driver had arrived. The bus was an absolute monster, it was clearly built for off-roading and tough terrain; we were hugely impressed.
We set off with our new bus, bus driver and tour guide, we were well on our way to our first destination; the hot springs in the village of Hveragerol which was built around the springs. We were greeted warmly by the owner of the business and were shown around each individual spring; we were told temperatures of the springs were around 99 degrees Celsius that day.
Our guide took two nets of eggs with her and placed them in the main spring slowly cooking them for us to eat in a few minutes, she then took us through the history of each spring telling us how many had grown dormant through earthquake activity which was sad to hear. She showed us a point in the hot spring where the women of the village used to do their laundry at which point Mr Walker made the witty joke “Ah this must be the Hot Point” which went down very well with those who understood it.
We then proceeded indoors to eat our eggs, while some of us observed the geothermal powered greenhouse which grew Bananas, tomatoes, strawberries which was fascinating to see in such a cold climate. With our departure we thanked them with sincerity as we all found the geographical knowledge greatly enjoyable.
We boarded the bus to travel to the other side of the village to an earthquake simulation room. All participated with mixed reactions to the experience, some handled it better than others. The simulator showed us what it was like to be in an earthquake reading 6.6 on the Richter scale. This did not take long as we were soon back onto the bus to head to the Seljandsfoss waterfall which took around fifteen minutes to reach. Upon arrival we were warned that it was inevitable that we would get a “little wet” this was greatly understated as we all walked around the pool and were thoroughly drenched as the temperamental wind forced a stream of water onto us.
Thankfully the photographs were well worth getting incredibly wet. Immediately after this amazing experience we were moved onto yet another waterfall, Skogafos, a bigger and more spectacular one at that.
Here we were able to walk to the top of the cliff within 383 steps from the very bottom, once we were up at the top, looking down on this beautiful water fall, it became apparent why wind erosion in the area was such a huge factor in the shaping of the landscape. The wind, being so bitterly cold, persuaded us to cut the time we spent on the top short, slowly progressing down the 383 steps again.
Once down we spent some time taking in the sight and scale of the surroundings, noting significant geographical features.
We departed from the area and headed toward the 4th largest glacier in Iceland, passing eyjallafiertlajokull on the way. This again provided some spectacular photographs, but we were still unable to capture the sheer beauty and magnificence which will remain with us for many years to come. It is something too difficult to describe in words so the best way of understanding the view is to look at the photographs.
We then moved onto the Basalt columns which was a short journey from where we were already situated, allowing us to use the last few moments of light to our advantage, resulting In some more spectacular photographs. Such as the sparkling fresh sea lapping at the smooth pebble beach enriched in a glow of the last hour of the sun, making our last sight of the second day all the more beautiful.

Lots of love from your friendly blogging team. Xxx

Location:Þjóðvegur,,Iceland

Day 2 photo tantalisers

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Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:Kerlingardalsvegur,,Iceland

Iceland day 1

Our Iceland trip kicked off at Bedford school as each keen geographer arrived at Burnaby road within reasonable times of each other, with only one student letting the side down having forgotten a sleeping bag. Luckily Mr.Walker had a spare as he was prepared as always. We arrived at Heathrow airport at 9:30am with check-in going suprisingly well with no delay which put us in a comfortable position of having plenty of spare time in the departure lounge.




This however, was extended by two and a half hours delay which led to a group of students meeting Jedward which some appreciated more than others. We boarded the plane at around 2:30pm. The journey took two hours and fourty minutes and the time flew by as the in-flight films occupied our attentions and the late evening sun created mesmerising views.
















(views from the plane)

We arrived in Keflevik airport at 5:00pm Icelandic time and met our kowlegable bus driver Thor. From the airport we immediately set off to Hofnir which is "The Bridge Between Two Continents" we observed the rift left by the spreading of the American and the European plates, the plates move around 2cm a year.



(view down the rift between the north American and Eurasian plates)

Light was fading rapidly so we quickly moved onto Gunnr which was the hot mud spring located ten minutes away. Upon arrival we walked into the awfull smelling steam reaking of sulphur which soaked all who walked in.




(photo of the viewing bridge shrouded in mist from the late evening geysers)

We were only too happy to leave the suffocating steam to board the coach for Reykjavik City Hostel. The journey took half an hour we arrived at the hostel and checked in, to then move onto the public outdoor pool where we enjoyed a game of pool rugby, Mr.Gracies side won.

Posted by Will W-G and Harry Sturley

Location:Engjavegur,Reykjavik,Iceland