Reflections by Jingwen, Shahana, Maria, Zhuoen & Margie (Coastal Study)

We started off the day in the classroom with a lesson on the basics of Coasts before heading off to a beach in Walton by The Naze.

We went to two sections - an unmanaged section & a managed section. We were tasked to measure the height of the beach as well as the percolation rates (how fast water takes to dissolve in 1 minute in sand) and sediment mass.

Firstly, we measured the height of the beach using a tape measure, theodelite (camera/binoculars device) and a ranging pole. We set up the theodelite on a tripod stand before using the tape measure to measure 15m on the beach. Following that, we placed the ranging pole onto the end of the tape measure and used the theodelite to measure the height and repeated this process for every metre.

After that, we weighed the mass of sediment in 1 litre of sand by digging up sand and placing it into a tub before transferring it into a large seive. We then seived the mixture by washing it in the sea then removed London Clay (it's really called London Clay, fancy eh?) and then brought it to a weighing machine and recorded the weight of the sediment down on a recording sheet.

Lastly, we used a plastic tube and water to measure percolation rates. Firstly, we took the tube and placed it into the sand and secured the sides by using a trowel to place more sand around it. Following that, we took a bucket of water and poured the contents in it into the tube until the tube is full. We then timed 60 seconds on a stopwatch and measured the level of water that managed to dissolve into the sand in that amount of time. The less the amount of water left in the tube, the faster the percolation rate.

We ended off the day by heading off to the town of Walton and shopped around for souvenirs and sweets (heh heh heh). Some of us also tried out the fish and chips (they eat them with vinegar there, weird right?). Back at Flatford Mill, we checked out Valley Farm (a house that was built in 1359) and the Stevenson's Screen and other devices that are used to record daily temperatures and precipitation.

In the end, as we had some free time left before Tea (also known as dinner), we felt a little childish so all of us decided to play a game of Ice and Water, as well as Eagle Catch Chicken (direct translation from the Chinese term, Lao Ying Zhua Xiao Ji, put the han yu ping ying there on your own) where Ms Lin volunteered to be the mother hen! (*Laughs hysterically*) We also did the Billy Banja (it kinda turned out messy) and "forced" the teachers to stand in the middle of the circle.

Today is our last night at Flatford Mill and will be heading towards central London tomorrow! SEE YAH!

THE END!