Geography Fieldwork
Why did we choose the River Tillingbourne
Safety
Ease of Access
Reliability
Close to the school
Various sites with nearby parking
Low discharge and velocity
Mainly surrounded by dirt or mud instead of rocks
Primarily open fields
Low chance of getting lost
Reduces the chance of general injury occurring
Prevents drowning or being pushed over by the river
Had various features typical of smaller rivers such as increasing depth and velocity
Had some anomalous features such as artificial channel straightening that had to be considered
Data collection
Qualitative
Quantitative
Statistical values which can be assigned a unit of measurement and are usually continuous
Non statistical data which usually cannot be measured with a set piece of apparatus and can be subject to bias
Velocity
Width
Depth
Field Sketch
Metre stick
Tape measure
Hydroprop flow-metre
Placing one end of the metre stick on the river bed and measuring the distance between the bank and the surface
Measuring the distance from one bank to another at water level
Timing a small impeller moving from end of a screw to the other, dividing 3.2805 by this value, and adding 0.0277
Observing the river and sketching various notable features
Data presentation
Scatter graphs
Tables
These are better suited for comparing data, as they clearly show how quantitative data increases or decreases downstream along the river
These can be used to quickly see and understand specific values, if you want to see depth, width or velocity at a specific point on the river
Reliability
Our results weren’t very reliable, as our data collection methods were susceptible to human error, and our equipment was reasonably simple
Accuracy
click to edit
We only collected data on a single day, so our results did not factor in the effects of seasonal weather or characteristics changing over time
Field Sketches
Best used for presenting qualitative data