Download Water and Carbon Cycles 3 days

AS Level Geography
AQA
Water and Carbon Cycles
3 days
• Deliver two days of fieldwork within an inspiring physical environment.
• Prepare AS level students for Section B of Paper 2: Geography fieldwork investigation and
geographical skills, worth 12.5% of their total marks.
• Cover specification content for AS fieldwork in 3.1 Physical geography; 3.1.1 Water and
carbon cycles.
• For those going on to A level, this course will contribute
two of the four days of fieldwork requirements and
provide contextualised learning in inspiring real world
environments to develop their geographical understanding
for the A level examinations.
AS Level Geography: Water and Carbon Cycles 3 days
Example Course Timetable
DAY
1
MORNING
AFTERNOON
EVENING
Arrive Midday
Students will be greeted by FSC staff, with a
welcome talk followed by a brief tour of the
Centre and the local area.
Choose one from:
The Carbon Cycle as a Natural System
Getting outside into the local environment to
explore carbon through a systems approach;
providing a context for the fieldwork and the
learners place in the geography of carbon
through setting a geological timeframe of
carbon within the planetary system. Trialling
techniques used to investigate carbon flux and
storage.
Developing a Systems Approach to Water
A hands on outdoor exploration of the
importance of water to life on Earth, and
how it is cycled in the planetary system on
different spatial and temporal scales. This will
be given personal and local relevance through
investigating inputs, stores and transfers in our
own and the landscape system.
Choose one from:
Carbon Calculator Data Collection and
Collation
Developing understanding of our place within the
carbon cycle through investigating human activity,
our own, in transferring carbon from the land into
the atmosphere through our daily actions.
Data Analysis and Evaluation (1) - Water
Data collected from the afternoon’s fieldwork will
be collated, analysed and evaluated. The findings
will be set into the context of understanding ‘water
balance’ in a systems context, thus forming the
foundation of the second day.
Outline of the Course
Allocation of wellies/waterproofs.
Choose one part of the specification to focus
on from:.
3.1.1.2 The Water Cycle
3.1.1.3 The Carbon Cycle
2
Choose one from:
Change in the Carbon Cycle – Investigating Carbon in the Present Landscape
A full fieldwork day investigating carbon in some of the most inspiring landscapes of the UK.
Developing thinking around and experience of the carbon system through investigating transfers,
flows and storage of carbon at a plant and sere scale. Carrying out fieldwork to explore the role
of processes such as photosynthesis, respiration, decomposition, combustion and sequestration in
the carbon cycle.
Water and Catchment Equilibrium
A local river catchment will be investigated to explore the patterns of water movement within
the system, the catchment water balance or imbalance, and the resulting impacts of these on the
physical and social landscape. This will build on understanding developed from work on the first
afternoon, and will include opportunities to explore drought/water stress, sustainable water
supply or flooding.
3
Choose one from:
Carbon, Climate and the Future
The systems approach to investigating carbon
will be taken into a local settlement to
contextualise the role of human activity on
carbon and climate. Through employing a range
of fieldwork learners will set out a post carbon
vision for the settlement including suggestions
for climate change mitigation strategies.
Human Impacts and Mitigation - Water
A local case study of land use change, storm
event, seasonal change, farming practice or
water abstraction with relation to flooding or
water supply will be used to investigate the role
of human impacts in the water system. This
case study will link the previous fieldwork with
systems concepts of feedback and causality and
will develop thinking around climate change
impacts and mitigation.
Data Analysis and Evaluation (2) - Carbon or
Water
Using GIS and statistical tools to give meaning
to the fieldwork data on both a global, local and
personal scale. Contextualising the data into
the global picture of change, both natural and
anthropogenic. They will:
• Process and present their data, using
graphical and cartographical techniques
• Analyse data using statistical techniques
• Draw conclusions relating back to the original
aims and objectives of the investigation
• Review all the stages of the enquiry and how it
might be developed further
Depart at Midday
A final farewell from FSC staff as the students
depart at midday.
Please note: to ensure safe and quality learning
experiences for students, the timetable may alter
depending on weather conditions and local factors
at Centres.
’Carbon is the backbone of life on Earth. We are made of carbon, we eat carbon, and our civilizations—our economies, our homes, our means of
transport—are built on carbon. We need carbon, but that need is also entwined with one of the most serious problems facing us today: global climate
change.....’ NASA Earth Observatory
The current geographical study of carbon is fundamental to the age in which we live, and to future generations. Equipping learners with the
understanding of this fundamental system will play its part in allowing them to make informed decisions in a rapidly changing world. This highly
topical fieldwork will explore carbon in the planetary system, developing understanding of the system on a local scale that can be applied to
greater scales in both space and time.
The water cycle is one of ‘Earth’s life support systems’, it is fundamental to all living systems and plays a key role in shaping the ever changing
landscapes in which we live. Understanding the interconnections, feedbacks and processes occurring on spatial scales from individual plants
to vast ecosystems and temporal scales of seconds to millions of years is the starting point for placing ourselves in this watery web of life on
Earth. This hands on field course based in some of the UK’s finest fluvial landscapes develops geographical skills and deeper thinking around
this keystone topic.
Please visit http://www.field-studies-council.org/outdoorclassroom/
For alternative courses
AS Level Geography: Water and Carbon Cycles 3 days
The Carbon Cycle as a Natural System
Learning Opportunities
“The cycle of carbon is the key to life on Earth’ –
This statement highlights the importance of understanding, valuing and living our lives with respect for this aspect of the planetary system.
Carbon in its many forms is found in different amounts in terrestrial, atmospheric and oceanic stores. The balance in flux between these stores
plays a key role in determining climatic changes over varying time periods – changes that affect all life on Earth.
Learners will start to explore carbon through the idea that we share this moment in time with both the past and the future. They will explore the
geological timeframe of carbon in the planetary system, what that system includes, and how they are a part of the system. They will develop their
thinking around carbon in terms of its temporal and spatial scales; using secondary data to understand the global scale, and collecting primary
data to examine small scale local aspects of the carbon cycle. Learners will also connect the bigger concepts of the carbon cycle with themselves
through considering carbon in their bodily system and through auditing their collective carbon footprint throughout the residential course.
Learners will be introduced to a number of experiments and fieldwork methods including:
• Soil coring and analysis (moisture and organic content)
• Measuring carbon in biomass (charcoal and furnace)
• Personal carbon and water fluxes
• Carbon footprinting
Specification Links
3.1 Physical geography
3.1.1 Water and carbon cycles
3.1.1.1 Water and carbon cycles as natural systems
Systems in physical geography: Systems concepts and their application to the water and carbon cycles - inputs, outputs, energy, stores/
components, flows/transfers, positive/negative feedback, dynamic equilibrium.
3.1.1.3 The carbon cycle
Global distribution, and size of major stores of carbon – lithosphere, hydrosphere, biosphere, atmosphere.
Factors driving change in the magnitude of these stores including flows and transfers at plant, sere and continental scales. Photosynthesis,
respiration, decomposition, combustion, burial, compaction, carbon sequestration, weathering.
Please visit http://www.field-studies-council.org/outdoorclassroom/
For alternative courses
AS Level Geography: Water and Carbon Cycles 3 days
Developing a Systems Approach to Water
Learning Opportunities
“We don’t always think very consciously about water, but it is part of our bodies, communities, daily lives and habits. It is also integral to our ecosystems,
economy, local landscapes and our experience of them.” – HydroCitizens Project
Water is cycled in both the natural and built environment, through and within our bodies and all living systems on Earth. Exploring this
fundamental life system in a geographical context connects us to the local and global importance of water, its careful management and the future
challenges we face.
Students will start to actively explore this thinking around the water cycle system at a personal and local scale using field data from their own
experiments and secondary long term data sets. They will collect and analyse data relating to the inputs, movements, storage and outputs of
water that relate to themselves and the local landscape. Combining this with data from secondary sources they will build up a picture of how
their own and catchment systems operate in relation to water. To help contextualise and transfer learning into subsequent fieldwork and other
areas of life this exploration of a river landscape as a complex system will be guided by the idea that ‘Water flows through all life, bringing change
and balance’.
Students will be introduced to a range of experiments, fieldwork methods and data analysis which may include:
• Studying inputs to the drainage basin through precipitation measurements using rain gauges and secondary data sets, and drawing Thiessen polygons to estimate an average figure for the area.
• Estimating the interception rate by comparison between areas of differing vegetation.
• Measuring and calculating water fluxes through breathing and perspiration.
• Calculating personal daily water usage.
• Measuring infiltration rates in different geology, soil types or areas of the drainage basin.
• Investigating storage and infiltration by measuring soil field capacity, moisture and texture.
• Observing vegetation to deduce soil moisture in the landscape.
• Using examples of evaporation pans and tree transpiration demonstrations to illustrate the system outputs.
Specification Links
3.1 Physical geography
3.1.1 Water and carbon cycles
3.1.1.1 Water and carbon cycles as natural systems
Systems in physical geography: Systems concepts and their application to the water and carbon cycles - inputs, outputs, energy, stores/
components, flows/transfers, positive/negative feedback, dynamic equilibrium.
3.1.1.6 Case studies
Case study of a river catchment(s) at a local scale to illustrate and analyse key themes set out above, engage with field data and consider the
impact of precipitation upon drainage basin stores and transfers and implications for sustainable water supply and/or flooding.
Please visit http://www.field-studies-council.org/outdoorclassroom/
For alternative courses
AS Level Geography: Water and Carbon Cycles 3 days
Carbon Calculator Data Collection and Collation
Learning Opportunities
During this session students will process their data within a background context of the changes in the carbon cycle over time. They will consider
the natural variation as well as the human impacts on the carbon budget. They will start to develop their qualitative and quantitative data skills
and begin to understand how the geographical enquiry process fits together in as a coherent structure.
Students may:
• Use geo-spatial technologies such as GIS to analyse and present data.
• Begin to use descriptive statistics and measures of difference.
• Use electronic databases.
• Develop their geographical literacy core skills.
Please visit http://www.field-studies-council.org/outdoorclassroom/
For alternative courses
AS Level Geography: Water and Carbon Cycles 3 days
Data Analysis and Evaluation (1) - Water
Learning Opportunities
Data collected from the afternoon’s fieldwork will be collated, analysed and evaluated. The findings will be set into the context of understanding
‘water balance’ in a systems context, thus forming the foundation of the second day.
Students may:
• Critique their observation skills to form targets ensuring progression.
• Use geospatial mapping skills and data manipulation to contextualise their results.
• Begin to use statistical skills on quantitative data.
• Start to build information in to a case study to illustrate the impact of precipitation upon the drainage basin.
• Consider the implications of the drainage basin management for a sustainable water supply.
Please visit http://www.field-studies-council.org/outdoorclassroom/
For alternative courses
AS Level Geography: Water and Carbon Cycles 3 days
Change in the Carbon Cycle - Investigating Carbon in the Present Landscape
Learning Opportunities
“Carbon is life and food, and moves from atmosphere to plants and soils and back in a grand cycle that is sometimes called the circle of life; a circle that
encompasses the living and the dead. Soil Carbon Coalition 2013
Since the Industrial Revolution human activity has been dramatically upsetting this balance through the release of terrestrial carbon into the
atmosphere, predominantly through the burning of fossil fuels, cement production, land use change and agriculture. These changes in the balance
of carbon storage between land, atmosphere and oceans is having and will continue to have major impacts in the form of climate change and its
many manifestations.
Learners will extend their thinking around sharing the present with the past and the future by exploring how maintaining balance requires
taking and giving back – a truism in all systems at every temporal and spatial scale. They will do this through engaging in landscape scale
carbon experiments that will explore the land-atmosphere fluxes and sequestration of carbon resulting from past and present land use change,
conservation land management and the part of biomass in the terrestrial/atmospheric aspects of the carbon cycle. This work will connect the
learners thinking with the roll of anthropogenic induced carbon imbalance as a key component of current and future climate change, and carbon
sequestration as a form of climate change mitigation.
Fieldwork, measurements, calculation and analysis may include:
• Soil moisture and carbon (organic matter) experiments on different land use areas.
• Tree biomass measurements and calculations of sequestered carbon.
• Site visit to farm/peatland/forestry including interview/discussion with land manager.
• Carrying out practical land management for carbon sequestration (for example soil carbon, biomass, peat re-wetting).
• Use of GIS to map land use and carbon flux/sequestration and positive carbon futures.
Specification Links
3.1 Physical geography
3.1.1 Water and carbon cycles
3.1.1.3 The carbon cycle
Factors driving change in the magnitude of these stores including flows and transfers at plant, sere and continental scales. Photosynthesis,
respiration, decomposition, combustion, burial, compaction, carbon sequestration, weathering.
Changes in the carbon cycle over time to include natural variation (including wild fires, volcanic activity) and human impact (including
hydrocarbon fuel extraction and burning, farming practices, deforestation, land use changes).
The carbon budget and the impact of the carbon cycle upon land, ocean and atmosphere including global climate.
Please visit http://www.field-studies-council.org/outdoorclassroom/
For alternative courses
AS Level Geography: Water and Carbon Cycles 3 days
Water and Catchment Equilibrium
Learning Opportunities
“We forget that the water cycle and the life cycle are one.” Jacques Cousteau
River landscapes are an inspiring manifestation of the complex interactions of water, geology and life on vast scales in space and time. Water
moves through and is stored in these landscapes, developing complex channel patterns mirrored on different scales within the planetary system.
Understanding these landscapes and our part in them with respect to this interconnectivity between the atmosphere, hydrosphere, lithosphere
and biosphere is key to a future of sustainable water usage.
Building on the previous day’s fieldwork learners will explore the concept of water balance at the scale of a local river catchment using a range
of fieldwork techniques, leading to consideration of its usefulness in managing drought, water supply and flooding. A series of storm simulation
experiments will be used to investigate the storm hydrograph and consider how this relates to the river regime graphs, flood recurrence intervals
and the drainage morphology such as drainage density, stream ordering and drainage basin size and shape. Learners will also collect field data to
calculate the discharge of the river and start to relate this to the precipitation-discharge relationship using secondary rainfall data.
Measurements, calculations and analysis might include:
• Field data collection to calculate river discharge and peak flow using Manning’s n.
• Size and shape of drainage basin – using circularity and elongation ratios.
• Drainage density (km of channel per km2).
• Flood recurrence intervals.
• Storm simulation experiments.
• Drawing storm hydrographs using Excel.
• Spatial analysis using GIS of flood risk.
Specification Links
3.1 Physical geography
3.1.1 Water and carbon cycles
3.1.1.2 The water cycle
Drainage basins as open systems – inputs, outputs to include precipitation, evapo-transpiration and run off; stores and flows to include:
interception, surface, soil water, groundwater and channel storage; stemflow, infiltration overland flow, and channel flow. Concept of water
balance.
Runoff variation and the flood hydrograph.
Changes in the water cycle over time to include natural variation (for example storm events, seasonal changes) and human impact (for example
farming practices, land use change and water abstraction).
3.1.1.6 Case studies
Case study of a river catchment(s) at a local scale to illustrate and analyse key themes set out above, engage with field data and consider the
impact of precipitation upon drainage basin stores and transfers and implications for sustainable water supply and/or flooding.
Please visit http://www.field-studies-council.org/outdoorclassroom/
For alternative courses
AS Level Geography: Water and Carbon Cycles 3 days
Data Analysis and Evaluation (2) - Carbon
Learning Opportunities
In this session students will focus on developing their geographical fieldwork investigative skills using the days fieldwork as a context. They will
start to draw conclusions relating back to the original aims of the day and link these conclusions to the place that they have studied, as well as
the ideas surrounding changes within the carbon cycle.
Students may:
• Use measures of central tendency and dispersion.
• Use inferential and relational statistics.
• Produce graphs using ICT.
• Use a range of secondary illustrative and visual material to contextual their conclusions.
Please visit http://www.field-studies-council.org/outdoorclassroom/
For alternative courses
AS Level Geography: Water and Carbon Cycles 3 days
Data Analysis and Evaluation (2) - Water
Learning Opportunities
Students will use GIS and statistical tools to give meaning to the fieldwork data on both a global, local and personal scale. They will contextualise
the data into the global picture of change, both natural and anthropogenic, in the water cycle. Students will also consider how far they are
progressing to understand fieldwork as a tool to understand and generate new knowledge about the real work and their developing skills at
planning, undertaking and evaluating fieldwork in a range of new situations. Students will review the enquiry process and reflect on any gaps
remaining in their knowledge and understanding.
Students will consider these areas of the enquiry process:
• Preparation for fieldwork, including background reading, drawing up aims and objectives for the enquiry, planning research in the field and from
secondary sources, using data sampling techniques and carrying out health and safety procedures.
• Collection of primary data in the field and using secondary data sources.
• Processing and presenting data using relevant graphical and cartographical techniques.
• Analysing data, including using statistical techniques where relevant.
• Drawing conclusions related back to the original aims and objectives and linking these conclusions to both the place studied and the general ideas forming the basis of the enquiry.
• Reviewing the success, or otherwise, of all stages of the enquiry.
• Considering how the enquiry could be further developed.
Please visit http://www.field-studies-council.org/outdoorclassroom/
For alternative courses
AS Level Geography: Water and Carbon Cycles 3 days
Carbon, Climate and the Future
Learning Opportunities
“We already have the technology to power the UK with 100% renewable energy, to feed ourselves sustainably and to leave a safe and habitable climate for
our children and future generations.” Zero Carbon Britain Report
Understanding and acting on carbon and climate change are as much social issues, involving beliefs and attitudes, as they are technical or scientific.
To recognise and act on this societally is the challenge faced by current and future generations around the planet we share. As geographers this
crosses all aspects of our discipline and calls for interdisciplinary collaboration. At a local scale this means to explore the role of communities
and individuals, as well as organisations and policy makers in this move toward a post-carbon future.
Focusing on an urban setting learners will investigate societal carbon and its implications for climate change, visioning a sustainable post-carbon
future. Learners will carry out fieldwork in a local settlement, mapping carbon in the form of transport, energy and consumption and exploring
opportunities for climate change mitigation in urban settings. Learners will set out a vision for a positive post carbon future for the settlement –
outlining necessary mitigation and adaptation through exploring the players, pathways, values and their own involvement in this process.
Fieldwork may involve:
• Carbon mapping.
• Futures fieldsketching.
• Interviews/questionnaires/perception analysis.
• Site visit to innovative low carbon/zero-carbon/carbon-negative initiatives.
Specification Links
3.1 Physical geography
3.1.1 Water and carbon cycles
3.1.1.4 Water, carbon, climate and life on Earth
The relationship between the water cycle and carbon cycle in the atmosphere. The role of feedbacks within and between cycles and their link
to climate change.
Human interventions in the carbon cycle designed to influence carbon transfers and mitigate the impacts of climate change.
Please visit http://www.field-studies-council.org/outdoorclassroom/
For alternative courses
AS Level Geography: Water and Carbon Cycles 3 days
Human Impacts and Mitigation - Water
Learning Opportunities
“In an age when man has forgotten his origins and is blind even to his most essential needs for survival, water along with other resources has become the
victim of his indifference.” Rachel Carson
Agriculture, production of energy, industrial uses and human consumption are some of the main pressures on global freshwater resources.
These, coupled with the uncertainty of the impacts of climate change on future water security, are key issues for all life on Earth. It is therefore
fundamental that responsible and sustainable water resource management and mitigation of water shortage/excesses and climate change are
considered in the geographical context of the water cycle.
To start to explore these interconnected landscape and climate change issues of water supply or flooding in real world settings, learners will
focus on a local case study to investigate the part of one of the following elements within the context of a local drainage basin:
• A storm event
• Seasonal change
• Farming practices
• Land use change
• Water abstraction
Learners will use the River Basin Management Plan and have the opportunity to conduct secondary research, visit relevant field sites and analyse
data to build a picture of how the water cycle changes over time, through natural or human intervention. They will consider any significant
environmental, social, economic and political impacts this might have, and mitigation measures that are being or could be taken in relation to
water security and climate change at a personal, catchment and global scale.
Specification Links
3.1 Physical geography
3.1.1 Water and carbon cycles
3.1.1.2 The water cycle
Changes in the water cycle over time to include natural variation (for example storm events, seasonal changes) and human impact (for example
farming practices, land use change and water abstraction).
3.1.1.4 Water, carbon, climate and life on Earth
The relationship between the water cycle and carbon cycle in the atmosphere. The role of feedbacks within and between cycles and their link
to climate change.
Human interventions in the carbon cycle designed to influence carbon transfers and mitigate the impacts of climate change.
3.1.1.6 Case studies
Case study of a river catchment(s) at a local scale to illustrate and analyse key themes set out above, engage with field data and consider the
impact of precipitation upon drainage basin stores and transfers and implications for sustainable water supply and/or flooding.
Please visit http://www.field-studies-council.org/outdoorclassroom/
For alternative courses
AS Level Geography: Water and Carbon Cycles 3 days
FSC Centres
Centres that offer this course
BL
Blencathra
CH
Castle Head
DF
Dale Fort
FM
Flatford Mill
JH
Juniper Hall
MA
Margam
MT
Malham Tarn
NC
Nettlecombe
OR
Orielton
PM
Preston Montford
RC
Rhyd-y-creuau
SL
Slapton
To book this course, simply:
Choose the time of the year you would like to attend
1.Pick the Centre(s) of interest
2.Check availability online, contact head office to check availability across multiple Centres or contact the
Centre(s) of your choice directly
To book this course the minimum size of your group must be 12 students and one member of staff.
Head Office contact details:
Tel: 01743 852100 Email: [email protected]
Please visit http://www.field-studies-council.org/outdoorclassroom/
For alternative courses