Wednesday - Woodland Fun!

Wednesday Morning – by Dom

Today we awoke promptly at 7:30am as the sun gently illuminated our content faces, prying our eyes open with rays of Welsh cheer. After morning pleasantries, we descended the grand stairs for breakfast; a healthy yet hearty affair.
Our education began at 9 an consisted first of a woodland masterclass…you know, I now feel like I could live as a lumberjack…my confidence was increased by our guided tour of the woodland surroundings of Orielton.
After our stroll and an investigation into Ivy, we broke for lunch, sestet to reconvene at a later time.
Kathryn, Jordain and Katie will keep you all posted for the twists and turns of this afternoon…

Tuesday 3/11/09

Tuesday's Photos - A sunny (but very windy) sand dune succession study!

Tuesday – by (mainly) Jack and Kalyan (but not really by Kalyan) - Today was to be based primarily around succession. Having been assured by Tim that one of the most prominent examples of this was a sand dune, we set off for Freshwater West. We were greeted by seemingly gale-force winds, but fortunately also a fair bit of sun. Using a point quadrat, we accurately compared the vegetation of the embryo-, fore-, semi-fixed- and fixed dunes. AS the day went on, the weather stayed fair and spirits were high as we came to our final activity; measuring how the height of salad burnett (which smells of cucumber when you crush the leaves) differed on trampled (on the path) and untrampled ground. The mini-experiment was, we were told, something done by the National Trust to provide evidence against human trespassing on the dunes…we found it to be both interesting and enjoyable. When back at the manor (and rejuvenated by banana cake), we carried out a student t-test on our results (involving calculating the standard deviation of our results) to see if our results were statistically significant. Dinner was a mouth-watering sausage casserole with chips followed by strawberry cheesecake and we slept soundly after a day of fresh air and bracing sea-winds!

Sunday – by Mark, Lillie and Patrick

When we arrived at Orielton, we got a grand tour of the manor and its estate. Although the weather was not to be desired, the staff were welcoming and the food bountiful!
After a hearty meal, we were given an introduction to the events to come, which excited us all!
We all snuggled up to watch X-factor and with a mug of hot cocoa we settled down for the night in our dorms.


Monday – by Daniel

After an early start, we began the day with an introduction to the sort of biological terms we would be using; how to identify key organisms on the rock shore and sampling methods.
Once at Sawdern Point, we began to get to grips with the terrain and the slippery seaweed under foot, and quickly got to work identifying the organisms (both flora and fauna) at different point on the rocky shore.
Upon our return to the centre, and after well-deserved break (with carrot cake!), we took the results we’d gathered and turned them into graphs and tables (doing a Chi-squared statistical test to evaluate the zonations of Topshells on the rocky shore as well as Kite Histograms to graphically display the distribution and abundance of different species on the rocky shore.

Organisms sampled today:
Cnidaria - Anemones

Echinoderm - Starfish

Arthropods - Crabs
Algae - Seaweeds
A variety of molluscs including:
□ Limpets
□ Mussels
□ Periwinkles
□ Topshells
□ Whelks

Wet and Wild in Orielton!

A flooded corner of Wales has been invaded this week by 27 budding ecologists from Beaumont School.
The A Level and IB students, accompanied by Mr Lavin (Head of Key Stage 3 Science), Miss Millins (Lead Teacher in Science) and Miss Dolling (Chemistry Technician) are currently spending the week at the Orielton Field Studies Council Centre, studying different ecological techniques and completing the assessed aspects of both courses.
Each day, the students will report on their progress; the highs and the lows (and, of course, how cold and wet we're getting).
Watch this space...

Check out the Field Studies Centre we're staying in (they make the BEST cakes!)
http://www.field-studies-council.org/orielton/

Swine Flu Pandemic

An understanding of pandemics and how they are managed is part of the new AS syllabus. The Sky News website has lots of useful information about the current swine flu pandemic. Click here to go to the website. If you scroll down through the information you can find out more about the virus, how it is transmitted, the definition of a pandemic, advice on what to do if you suspect you may have Swine Flu. They are using antiviral drugs to treat this flu. Click here to find out how these are different to antibiotics.

Genetic engineering (Edexcel A2)

To be able to answer questions on genetic engineering really well you need to be clear about the steps in the process. This link will take you to a revision site which covers these really well. Click here to visit the site.

On the same site is some useful additional information on genetically engineered chymosin beyond that which we discussed in class. It includes a clear diagram showing how the chymosin that the cheese industry now uses was developed. Click here to go to the link.

Worlds First pregnant man?

Read this news story and understand the science behind this recently reported news story. click here