Le Nid - Spring Newsletter 1998
GCSE CROSS-CURRICULAR FIELD TRIP - GEOGRAPHY, BIOLOGY AND FRENCH
Our first visit ...... what a wonderful time ...... see you next year 80 girls, the whole of Year 9 from Benenden School in Kent, arrived at the Eagle's Nest in May last year for a cross-curricular experiment not previously attempted either by the school or Discover. We're pleased to say it was enormously successful and that Benenden, armed with experience and new ideas, are returning to the centre this year. The girls tackled Geography, Biology and French GCSE-level work units in an intense and stimulating week for all concerned, which nevertheless permitted a necessary element of relaxation - ŕ la Eagle’s Nest. Such concentration on only three subjects is not normally experienced until A-Level but the practical application of theories previously encountered in a classroom in England in such an exciting environment brought the work alive. While the girls were splashing about in the river by the centre, examining the life forms of the local peat bog or practising their French in interviews with local farmers, they were packing weeks' worth of study into a few days. The girls worked from Discover's standard Geography units and with new Biology units designed by Benenden trip leader, Jane Hall, and by the FSC's Adrian Bailey, who came out with the party. The Biology units have now been refined and added to The Eagle’s Nest collection, available to all clients. The language was practised by conducting a Geography survey in French, in interviews with local people, by keeping diaries in French and simply by osmosis with exposure to local culture. The good contacts made by Benenden with the local school, College Henri Rouvičre, were greatly appreciated by the college. They are looking forward to renewing their acquaintance with Benenden this spring. For Discover the experiment was a great success and one which we will encourage other schools to consider. With only one organisation in the building, despite the large numbers, procedures were simplified. Our attention was entirely focused on the needs of one group of teachers and their students. We look forward with pleasure to Benendens return and are sure the approach they have pioneered will prove extremely valuable to other schools.
MDs Comment - New Options WINTER FIELDWORK Have the "MODULES " wrecked your traditional field work patterns? Are you finding it harder and harder to fit fieldwork into a packed Summer schedule? Ever thought about using the Winter season? Discover, as always, pushing back the frontiers and seeking new ways to help make your fieldwork less of a burden and more exciting is extending its field work season in the Cevennes. This has been made possible by a new association with Le Refuge at the Mont Lozere Ski Resort to offer winter accommodation for "out-of-season" fieldwork. Whilst not actually staying at The Eagle’s Nest you will have access to all of our units and academic support staff and materials that has been a key element in the success of the service that we provide for our customers. We will be offering this option to groups of 30 paying passengers or more during the months of November to March.ALPINE PASTURES NEW To give you greater variety we are expanding our normal field work to incorporate an Alpine Option. Obviously this provides a superb location for glacial studies, but it also presents a range of other study options working from a small private British owned and operated hotel in the small resort of Le Bettex near St. Gervais, which gives access to the Mont Blanc Massif with its excellent urban and rural settlements, agriculture, tourism and land use conflicts. It also, of course, adds another dimension to microclimate and biogeographical studies, extending the concepts already developed in the Mont Lozere Region with respect to ideas of conservation, preservation and sustainable development. This option will be available during May and early June and mid September through October.SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT.......................THE OMAN Mike Davis a director of Discover Ltd. and former Head of Geography at Bicester College has been working in the Oman for the last 6 years, he has after much research been able to build up the necessary local contacts essential to successful trips. I recently visited the country and it really does have some interesting possibilities with its mountains, desert and coastline and superb wild life. Trips will be arranged on an individual basis according to the individual group’s requirements.NOT FORGETTING..... Our two Centres, The Eagle’s Nest in southern France and The Kasbah du Toubkal in southern Morocco continue to develop as our permanent study centres. Inside this issue you will read about an interesting and highly successful cross-curricular trip that we organised for Benenden School and about the new units that have been developed. The Kasbah du Toubkal continues to increase in popularity and this May half term will see a visit by Ashley Kent and 20 of his PGCE students from the Institute of Education. They will be developing new study units and refining those that already exist.BOOKINGS FOR AUTUMN 1998 AND 1999 Bookings for France and Morocco for 1999 are already well advanced. I hope you will take advantage of the enclosed “Advance Booking 1999” to reserve the dates of your choice. There are still a few vacancies left in 1998. I thank everyone who has travelled with us in the past and look forward to seeing old and new faces out at the Nest in 1998. As some of you already know Dominique now has a little sister Danielle!MIKE MCHUGO
NEW DATA AVAILABLE: Since 01 December 1997 a daily measurement of the River Souteyran has been made (in addition to the continuing collection of daily weather information). For those of you who know the Eagle’s Nest, the collection point is just upstream of the first site of the River’s Day. The data collected has been put onto our website and will be updated monthly as a new data set becomes available. The aim of the website will be to enable students to access information about the weather and how it influences the hydrograph of the River Souteyran. This information can be used in conjunction with the new supplementary unit to the current River Unit and will be invaluable to those students who wish to make a broader study of hydrology in the valley. Another use will be to enable you to see what the weather has been like in the months prior to your visit! The website address is: www.discover.ltd.uk/net/
FIELDTRIP PREPARATIONS: As I am sure you are aware, there seem to be a million and one things to consider before a fieldtrip. One consideration is what clothes to bring - this being especially important due to the very nature of fieldtrips. Another issue here is the cost of some outdoor clothing. To assist you with this, Discover Ltd. has arranged with Field and Trek (outdoor adventure equipment suppliers) the option of open evenings either at the local store or at your school/college (by special arrangement). These open evenings will offer a discount in the form of “Bulk Buy Prices” on any goods sold. There are 7 stores and arrangements can be made with the manager of your local store.
NEW UNITS AT THE EAGLES NEST: A-LEVEL GEOGRAPHY: 18. MICROCLIMATES AND LAND USE IN THE SOUTEYRAN VALLEY It is possible to carry out a number of interesting investigations into microclimates at the Centre and in the valley examining the influence of buildings, woodland, low vegetation cover and aspect. These can be done as a cross-valley transect and then compared to the weather station at the Centre. This effectively isolates any natural daily variations and allows the study to focus on changes due to site location. The study will enable an investigation to be carried out that examines the affect of climate on people and land use. Studying microclimates here will be different from the more standard urban area so it will be beneficial for examination purposes.19. AN INVESTIGATION INTO A SOIL CATENA ON MONT LOZČRE This unit has been designed to enable the studying of the soil catena on Mont Lozčre and relate the information gathered to present land use and land capability. There is also the potential to extend the study to include soil catenas from other area visited during the week, viz. limestone, schist, & coastal areas. The soils studied in this unit are found at semi-natural sites as these are the ones most often available for study. This unit will concentrate on the field identification of soils, but it should be stressed that it is more important, in an educational context, to understand the processes operating within a soil.GCSE-LEVEL BIOLOGY: 1. Trophic Levels, Life Cycles and Food Webs To find out about feeding inter-relationships between aquatic organisms in a stream ecosystem. Looking at biological food chains, food webs and trophic levels. Fieldwork techniques used include kick sampling, stratified sampling along a transect, plant and freshwater invertebrate identification, flow rate measurements. Analysis methods are suggested.2. A Comparison of Grassland and Woodland Ecosystems To compare and contrast grassland and woodland plant and animal communities using a range of abiotic and biotic factors. Fieldwork techniques used include stratified sampling along a belt transect, field sketch, invertebrate study, plant and invertebrate identification, and abiotic measurements including: pH, light intensity, soil and air temperatures, soil texture, infiltration rate. Analysis methods are suggested. 3. Impact of Skiing and Trampling on Plant Species Diversity To investigate the effects of skiing and trampling on vegetation cover on Mont Lozere and to investigate the adaptations of particular plant species to trampling. Fieldwork techniques used include systematic sampling using a belt transect, plant identification, measurement of gradient and infiltration. Analysis methods are suggested and include a role-play exercise. WINTER FIELD WORK Have the "MODULES " wrecked your traditional field work patterns? Are you finding it harder and harder to fit field work into a packed Summer schedule? Ever thought about using the Winter season? Discover, as always, pushing back the frontiers and seeking new ways to help make your field work less of a burden is extending its field work season in the Cevennes. Geography does not stop because the temperature falls or snow covers the ground; it simply adjusts to different parameters and opens up whole new areas of study. Much of what is available and possible at the Eagle's Nest in Summer is also available in Winter and can even add another dimension to your work. The weather can also be very pleasant out of season and the snow if it falls usually only remains on the Lozere massif itself leaving plenty of scope for successful fieldwork in the valleys. Why not explore the possibilities with an open mind? Discover is working closely with the Le Refuge at the Mont Lozere Ski Resort to offer superior winter accommodation for "out-of-season" field work. Groups will occupy a separate purpose built building . Whilst not actually staying at The Eagle’s Nest you will have access to all of our units and academic support staff and materials that has been a key element in the success of the service that we provide for our customers. We will be offering this option to groups of 30 paying passengers or more during the months of November to March.
ALPINE PASTURES NEW To give you greater variety we are expanding our normal field work to incorporate an Alpine Option. Obviously this provides a superb location for glacial studies, but it also presents a range of other study options working from a small private British owned and operated hotel in the small resort of Le Bettex near St. Gervais, which gives access to the Mont Blanc Massif with its excellent urban and rural settlements, agriculture, tourism and land use conflicts. It also, of course, adds another dimension to microclimate and biogeographical studies, extending the concepts already developed in the Mont Lozere Region with respect to ideas of conservation, preservation and sustainable development.
THE GA Jeremy Hackney looks forward to welcoming you at our Stand No 102 & 103 at The GA Conference in Leeds 15-17 April 1998.Please contact the office for information on Advanced Booking procedure to secure your dates for 1999.
Discover Ltd.
|