99 students in Year 10 study GCSE Geography at Northgate. On 18th and 20th June they headed to Cambridge on a fieldtrip. The aim of the trip was to support their work on paper 3 where they need to go out and do an urban enquiry. The geographers were aiming to see if Cambridge meets the needs of its users as it is a city that attracts tourists and students as well as commuters.
The students completed environmental surveys, questionnaires, field sketches and land use surveys at three different locations around Cambridge including the market area, outside a college (different groups looked at different colleges) and Christ’s Piece.
Josh went on the fieldtrip and tells us about the experience. ‘As part of the human section of our GCSE Geography course, we visited Cambridge to conduct surveys to assess how the city meets the needs of its different users. The surveys we conducted included: questionnaires, land surveys and pedestrian counts which tested our social, map and observation skills. Overall the surveys were successful despite the limited people who were willing to take part in our questionnaire. Personally I found asking the public somewhat challenging but ultimately it was quite interesting to find out what people were doing in Cambridge and how they rated transport and the city itself. Luckily the weather was great in Cambridge on the day as was the architecture which all made for an interesting and informative day out.’Â
Alex also takes Geography and said of the trip, ‘I found talking to people and conducting the questionnaire the easiest part of the day and the most enjoyable.
We also looked at Trinity College and Kings College, completing a sketch of Kings College, looking at the architecture in particular. The fieldtrip will help with questions in our GCSE exam which will relate to urban enquiries. Overall I feel the fieldtrip will be really beneficial to my Geography work.’
