Exploring Rivers and the Water Cycle

PLEASE NOTE: This programme is based at Norsey Wood

PLEASE NOTE: this programme requires the booking of the coach all day to transport the class to and from the River Wick site.

The River Crouch at Wickford is an ideal river to illustrate a range of aspects of river study.  It is small and safe and yet shows excellent examples of flood management.  Children are challenged to consider ways in which river and man interact and how to devise ways of scientifically measuring a river. 

The day runs as follows:

The coach arrives at the Norsey Wood site, where the class doing river study would need to disembark to visit the toilet prior to being taken down to the river at Wickford in the coach. The other group would disembark and be based at Norsey for the morning. The coach will need to be booked for the whole day.

The morning river group study different aspects of the River Crouch (which is only a couple of metres wide and less than a metre deep) including designing an experiment to measure river flow speed, measurement of the river dimensions, examination of where the river has been put into a concrete flood control channel, considering river load, river valley cross section, impacts of flooding etc. They return to Norsey about 12pm for their packed lunch and swap with the other group.

The Norsey based group consider the basin water cycle and how water moves from rainfall to channel. An experiment is carried out to determine which tree species are likely to be the best at resisting flooding. They also carry out a labelling exercise at the headwaters of the River Crouch to include terminology/features such as meander, waterfall, erosion, tributary, confluence etc.

The two groups are reunited between 2pm and 2.30pm before returning to school.

Duration: Full day.

Age range:  Year 5 and Year 6.

Curriculum area: Science, Geography, Citizenship.

Availability: Autumn and Spring terms (not normally available in Summer).