Year 12 Biology Students Explore Biodiversity

On 12 September, as part of our Biology A Level course, we travelled to Epping Forest Field Centre to learn and practise key skills for gaining and evaluating data for our biodiversity topic.

First, we practised pond dipping—taking a small volume of water from a pond and identifying the species present. As a group, we identified 17 newts!

Our trip also placed emphasis on the ‘leave no trace’ principle, an ethical step biologists must take, meaning they cannot leave rubbish, trample plants, or take anything from the site being observed. It must be as though they were never there.

In the afternoon, we learned different methods of abundance using quadrats—extending our GCSE knowledge. We wrote up methods about using quadrats but had not used them in reality before. It was a fun activity, and we evaluated the success of various methods—another key A Level skill is identifying limitations within a method.

Finally, we experimented with random sampling, where we used random number generation to choose areas to quadrat. We identified common species in the area, such as bracken, rush, and brambles. This was an amusing activity as we had to climb through some very overgrown ferns to reach our areas to analyse.

As a whole, our trip to Epping Forest was very fun and interesting, helping us to understand the techniques we write about in practice. We gained skills in method writing, evaluation, and practical application, leaving the field as better biologists than when we entered.

— Saskia, Year 12