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Urban and River Studies

Our A Level geography students put their theory work into practice earlier this month as they took part in urban and river studies in Kettering.

Our A Level geography students put their theory work into practice earlier this month as they took part in urban and river studies in Kettering.
The Year 12 students headed into Kettering Town Centre in the morning to study people’s shopping behaviour towards favouring independent or more commercial premises in the town.
Then in the afternoon the group went down to the River Ise to measure and record their findings of the depth and flow of the river in readiness for their geography examinations.
Geography Teacher at Kettering Science Academy, Mr Matthew Fowler said: “For many months the students have been learning about how rivers function and the changing nature of our urban areas. In the morning they investigated the structure of Kettering by walking various routes into the centre and conduct tests on people’s habits when it comes to shops.
“The next stage was to don wellies and anoraks with Miss Franklin and test the flow and nature of the River Ise. They measured the width and depth of the river in various places to ascertain how it changes downstream. All of this information and practice will be invaluable for their exams in May.”
 Year 12 Students, Daniel Warren and George Jackson, who took part in the geography trip agreed the day of practical geography had been worthwhile and gave them a better understanding of how to answer some of the more physical geography questions they might be faced with.
As part of their studies within Kettering town centre, students looked at the retail choices of shoppers and looked at whether there was more customers visiting the bigger brand/commercial stores orwhether they were choosing to support the smaller independent retailers.
In one of the studies one independent shop came out on top for more customers and both students agreed this surprised them.
Daniel Warren said: “We then had to look at why this might be the case; based on location, choice of goods on offer, and comparison also on price.”
George Jackson said: “It would be difficult for us to answer some of the questions about river findings based on the Bradshaw model and studies of changing nature of urban areas without experiencing the surveying and recording of measurements first hand. We now have a better understanding for these questions and the possible answers we can give.”