River Tillingbourne

Question 1

Physical fieldwork title

Answer 1

Physical fieldwork title

• ‘To investigate downstream change on the River Tillingbourne’

Question 2

Hypotheses

Answer 2

1. Width will increase with distance downstream
2. Depth will increase..
3. Discharge will increase..
4. Bedload decreases (sediment)

Question 3

Location + why suitable

Answer 3

Location + why suitable

• runs along South side of North Downs and joins River Wey at Guildford
• source is mile S of Tilling Springs, travels West to its mouth where joins River Wey

Why suitable

• small drainage basin (59km^2) and only 19km long, possible to study in one day + safe to walk on
• very close to A25, accessible

Question 4

Risk assessment

Answer 4

• mud can cause slips
• water can cause disease (e.g. Weil’s)
• horses can kick

Question 5

Evaluating data collection techniques

Answer 5

Photo
Positives:

Shows physical aspects

Accurate record at time

Negatives:

Representative of small part of the river

Improvements:

Take several photos from different parts

Make multiple from different angles

Fieldsketch s2
Positives:

Useful qualitative data as helps remember key features

Insignificant aspects can be ignored in drawing

Negatives:

Drawn by humans, so errors possible (e.g. scale may not be representative)

Improvements:
Measuring width
Positives:

Systematic sampling to reduce bias

Data from groups combined to get avg

Negatives:

Can be inconsistent as tape measure must be right on river banks

Improvements:

Use ranging poles

Measuring depth
Positives:

5 equally spaced measurements along river cross-section to make more representative

Negatives:

Ruler could have not been placed vertically

Improvements:

Could have used ranging pole and stuck it into ground, then place ruler alongside it

‘Cork’ method
Positives:

Repeated 3 times to get mean

Dropped cork at centre

Negatives:

Surface of river is not same velocity as deeper parts of the river

Improvements:

Use flow meter

Question 6

Sampling strategies

Answer 6

Systematic
Definition: Equal intervals between points
Advantages: Shows change/time well
Disadvantages: Bias can give unsafe locations

Random
Definition: Random
Advantages: Unbiased
Disadvantages: Clustering of results so not representative

Stratified
Definition: Random within divided area
Advantages: Accessible locations
Disadvantages: Bias

Question 7

Evaluating data presentation techniques

Answer 7

• annotated photo: easily interpreted but only represents small part of river
• fieldsketch: highlights key details but only represents small part of river
• bar chart: easily interpreted but does not demonstrate the physical aspects of the river
• cross-section line graph: easily interpreted but does not demonstrate visual aspects of the river

Question 8

Structure

Answer 8

Effectiveness of data collection methods [6]

P1/2: width/depth/discharge, effective bc, not effective bc, overall

P3: summative sentence linking to fieldwork title

Effectiveness of presentation techniques [6]

P1/2/3: photo/fieldsketch/chart/graph, effective bc, not effective bc, overall

P4: summative sentence linking to fieldwork title

Useful in satisfying original aim of enquiry [6]

P1: aim of enquiry, 2 types of data + why useful

P2: 2 types of data + why not useful

P3: summative sentence linking to fieldwork title