Epping Forest Field Trip

On 4th October, all the girls in Year 8 went on a field trip to Epping Forest. The aim was to find out more about the invertebrates that live in a pond by studying them in their natural habitat.

After practicing our net technique, each class travelled to a different pond in three areas; open water (the main section of the pond), detritus (the mud at the bottom) and vegetation (where the plants were). There we used the techniques that we had practiced earlier, moving our nets in a figure-of-eight four times, to catch the invertebrates, and then placing the contents, together with water from the pond, in a tray. We then located some invertebrates and, using the identification key, tried to discover the species.

For me, one of the highlights was when most of my class nearly fell in the lake! I had a lot of fun in Epping Forest and I will always remember invertebrates because of this trip.

Katie, Year 8

On the way to Epping Forest, many, including myself, could feel the excitement rising. All of us were wondering, ‘What would it be like?’, ‘What bugs would we catch?’ and most importantly, ‘Would we ruin our clothes?!’

We started with classes, getting to know our instructor, and learning some of the history of Epping Forest. I had never known much about the area, but there are over 100 ponds, some of them made by bombs! We went to a small pond to practice technique, and after successfully catching some bugs, we went inside to study them. Then we trekked outside, ready to get muddy…

With slight trepidation, we went to our areas and began. We all had lots of fun getting stuck in the mud, trying to do our ‘figure of eight’ net technique. We all found many things including snails, larvae, lesser water-boatman and… lots of mud!

With a collective sigh, we left feeling exhausted and carrying copious amounts of mud with us (one girl had to be pulled out of her wellies!). On the way home, as we were all recuperating from our very exciting day, my friend said, “It was more than just swishing a net about!” I think that many of us were surprised at how much we learned.

Natasha, Year 8