Nine Year 13 Biologists travelled to the Medina Valley Centre on the Isle of Wight to investigate a number of topics relating to their A Level course specification. This included conducting survey work at a number of sites of special scientific interest (SSIs).
Accompanied by Dr Snellgrove and Mr Lawson, the group of seven male and two female students travelled south on Friday and took the short ferry crossing to Newport. SSIs are some of the country’s best wildlife or geological sites. These include some of the most spectacular and beautiful habitats. Before conducting research at SSIs, special permission must be obtained from land owners.
The students spent the first few days analysing woodland management techniques and salt-marsh succession. This included measuring water quality in freshwater streams and surveying benthic invertebrates in the Medina estuary.
A particular perk of being on the Isle of Wight is that you are never far from the coast. Later in the weekend the group made the short journey down to the beach and studied factors affecting limpet morphology on rocky shores. The units are all related to compulsory fieldwork which contributes towards the overall A Level grade.
Fortunately, the September weather was very kind, creating ideal conditions to collect excellent data. All written work was completed on the trip, with the conscientious Sixth Formers working well into most evenings. We hope this hard graft pays off, when the coursework grades are revealed later in the year. 
