On Monday, the 23rd June, the AS Biology classes set out to Dale Fort in Pembrokeshire for the biology field trip. The aim was to complete three required practicals for the course using the rocky shore as a base.

They had lunch on Dale beach before a short walk up to Dale Fort, ready to get straight to work. With goggles and gloves on, they applied a chromatography technique to separate the pigments from different species of seaweed and explain how this related to where each species was found in the sea.

After a quick dinner, they were back on in the field comparing different sampling techniques. 

Day 2 - pupils spent the day working on their identification skills and applying sampling methods to the rocky shoreline. They became experts in identifying snails. Just ask will tell you the difference between your periwinkles, common top shells and purple top shells.
After a busy day looking at the distribution of snails, barnacles, seaweed and much more along the rocky shore, it was time to go back to the classroom to analyse the data and calculate some statistics.

The Final day - The day started with crabbing to estimate the population of Crabs living under the pontoon in Dale village. Finally, it was time for ice cream on the beach and the drive back to school.