Biodiversity and Human Impact. A Field Exploration.
by Geography and ESS DP Students, Solene Delumeau and Clara Dubois -
Fieldwork in the IB Diploma
Students in IB DP Geography and Environmental Systems and Societies (ESS) must complete a Fieldwork study as part of their internal assessment. The purpose of the internally assessed Fieldwork is to expand, reinforce and extend geographic / ESS concepts and skills that are taught in class. Fieldwork enriches the study of particular themes within the course, and adds to students’ knowledge, understanding and awareness, helping to make learning incredibly engaging and relevant. Students learn through practical work and foster essential skills such as cooperation, organisation, investigation and presentation. They are also presented with a number of opportunities to exercise leadership.
Fieldwork involves the collection of primary data in the field and the subsequent treatment, display and analysis of this information using appropriate skills, with the material presented in a written report. The written report must be analytical and include a focus on the method(s) that were employed to collect information, and its treatment and analysis. A purely descriptive report and/or a long theoretical introduction should be avoided.
Putting Theory into Practice - This Year’s Trip to Tioman
Grade 12 Geography and Environmental Systems and Societies (ESS) students conducted their Fieldwork on 28 September - 2 October on Tioman Island in Malaysia, applying the theories learnt in the classroom, as they put them into practice. Throughout this year’s trip, we students had opportunities to gain valuable hands-on investigative experience in a rich biodiverse environment as we collected data for our Internal Assessments.
From colourful corals to sky high canopies, we discovered an untouched environment, very much the opposite of busy Singapore. Staying at the eco-friendly Melina Beach Resort, we were on a private beach, secluded from the rest of the island.
The week’s itinerary was divided into two parts. The first part consisted of intensive data collection by the Geography class, focusing on the consequences of human impacts on coral reef ecosystems. We snorkelled on the west coast of Tioman to record the health of corals and count different species of marine life. Between snorkelling sessions we had a nice tea break on our speedboat to replenish our energy.
The focus of the second part of the trip was human impact on rainforests. ESS students were in charge of this task; however, it was a real team effort as Geography students helped their friends form quadrates and measure all the different indicators.
During our jungle treks and snorkelling adventures, we ran into baby sharks, water monitors, mud hoppers, fiddler crabs, macaques, snakes, stingrays, bats, hermit crabs, scorpions and more. The last full day in Tioman featured rainforest trekking, exploring mangroves, slipping on rocks and tripping over lianas. All in good fun, of course.
Overall, this trip was both a really exciting, fun and effective extension of classroom learning and, without wifi or mobile phones, was an amazing opportunity for us to get to know each other better. We shared data and academic discussions, as well as social experiences like roasting marshmallows on the beach.
Teacher’s Notes
by Peirs Tainsh, Subject Lead, Individuals and Societies -
When students go on to university next year, and discuss with their new friends where they went and what they did on their high school field trips, there may be a certain amount of envy. “Oh well we went snorkelling to measure reef health, and measured indicator species of fish, then we went to a rainforest to look at the effect of human interference, oh and then we went to a mangrove etc.”.
But there is the much wider angle of social and personal growth associated with being in a group for a week, under fairly tiring circumstances. I know that I have a much greater knowledge of the students, which will only help in teaching them in the months to come.
Field trips always serve a number of important academic functions:
- They are an important way of visualising and understanding concepts that are covered in the classroom.
- In the Diploma Programme for ESS and Geography, they are very important for gathering data for internal assessments and are worth 20% of the final grade.
- Students get to experience things and develop skills that they may not get a chance to otherwise.
Organising and running a trip is always a challenging process. I would like to thank Miss Anita Boray who did most of the organisation, Miss Nur Karadayi who was on the trip with me and helped the ESS students in particular, and also the staff from Ecotours. They were very professional, and ran the trip like clockwork. You can always tell the success of a trip from how many people fell asleep on the bus ride back. There was a lot of snoring going on behind me!