Biologists Conquer Camber

What an enjoyable day the A-level biologists had on their trip to the famous Camber Sands on Wednesday. During the morning, the pupils climbed through the dunes to the sea buckthorn, learning about the stages of succession from marram grass right the way through to oak woodland. The enthusiastic biology teachers provided pupils with an interactive learning experience by suggesting they lie on the sand to feel the marram grass (where primary succession was occurring) and then walking through to where secondary succession was occuring. The students saw biology in action first-hand – especially when a handful of pupils were crawling through sea buckthorn!  

During the afternoon, the pupils used sampling techniques to observe the change in percentage cover of different species from the start of the dunes moving inland. To finish the day everyone enjoyed some refreshing ice-cream on the beach!

Overall, the day brought not only learning about succession, but also a chance to observe the changes brought about by abiotic and biotic factors. On top of the learning, there was laughter when mischievous seagulls stole bags of crisps and even had the audacity to lunge for Mr Quinton’s sandwich! 

Holly Cook