Having spent a lot of my Sunday’s a child out exploring rock pools at Scurdie Ness Lighthouse, or trying to find Geo-Cache’s with my family, I’ve always enjoyed being outside. I don’t recall doing any Geography whatsoever when I was at primary school, apart from the water cycle maybe. We did topics on countries like Brazil and Canada, but I honestly don’t remember a single thing that we did so it can’t of been that prevalent. So when naive little me headed to secondary school and saw ‘Geography’ on my timetable, I just assumed I’d be learning about countries and that was it. Honestly. And what a shock I got.
One thing that has stuck with me for 6 years is when we studied Volcanoes. My teacher was great and tried to find fun and engaging ways to meet our learning. She showed us this song and the whole class erupted in laugher – pardon the pun – and I still find myself lying in bed at night with it stuck in my head. The geography department at my school was probably one of the best in the school. They all worked so so hard and knew their stuff.
So, I took Standard Grade Geography, and had a great class with the same teacher. We studied river erosion, and so we visited Edzell and did various experiments and tasks whilst we were there. That trip was both hilarious and miserable – it was absolutely pouring rain and the majority of us fell into the river. Ah well, good memories!
My friends and I on the bus coming home after getting soaked in the river!
Fifth year came and with it came Higher Geography, and a new teacher. There is literally no time to waste with this course and my teacher liked to talk for Britain – she literally had that much knowledge and passion about her subject that she could talk and talk and talk. Thursday mornings became a time of dread because we would sit for a double period listening to her talk about ‘Marvellous’ Marram Grass or how the glacier eroded the land into a U-shaped valley. I knew it was important but sometimes it got a bit boring and I felt myself daydreaming and losing concentration. But March came, and with it came a trip. But not just a day trip, it was a trip that we were away for three nights!
Our first stop was to the Lake District. We visited Ambleside and Grasmere, completing surveys on tourism in the town. The next day, we got up early and had a big walk through the countryside to visit a corrie, which was absolutely fantastic. I had learnt about this since 3rd year, so to finally see it for real was facinating! To say the views were breathtaking really is the truth.
My friends and I standing in front of a waterfall
A corrie with a lochan
Whilst all of this learning was going on, so did some socialising. The year below us also came on the trip and we made a lot of new friends and instead of just sitting in our rooms on our phones, we sat up playing old fashioned cards and twister and just had the best fun! The next day it was time to move on and travel further south to the Yorkshire Dales. I was SO excited for this because Malham Cove, a hotspot for tourism, is featured in one of the Harry Potter films and I’m a big fan.
Sunday began with a visit to Ingleborough Cave. It was amazing to see all of the stalactites and stalagmites. I didn’t appreciate how delicate they really were. The caves were so low though, and a lot of us kept bashing our heads against the roof – luckily we wore helmets!
Ingleborough Cave
Here comes the point of the trip where I thought I was going to collapse. We climbed Ingleborough Hill, and en route saw many geographical features. It really was the longest walk of my life and seemed to never end. Our teachers said ‘It’s just over that hill’….6 hours later we made it. I was proud of myself though, the views really were incredible and I felt like I was on top of the world.
On the final day, we visited Malham Cove on a glorious day. It made the trip and I remember feeling really sad as I got on the bus home. I honestly had the time of my life, and it was so good to actually see the features up close and in real life. I fully appreciated the amazing formations and sights I was learning about and it benefitted me so much when sitting in the exam and being able to picture standing on Malham Cove instead of just another picture in an old book.
Malham Cove
This reflection has made me realise just how important it is to get the children outside and actually see things in real life form. Until then, you do not appreciate the importance and value of it. It has to be interactive, engaging and capture them.
