Geographers Brave the Elements
A group of Year 9 geography students took part in a field study recently, in conjunction with Brighton University.
The geographers were split into two groups: the first to look at the micro climate in the area of the Amex Stadium and the second group to decide whether they thought that the Stadium had been built in the right place.
Charlie was part of the first group. He explained, “We looked at several sites within the local area, including woodland near the car park and the nearby train station. We used lots of geographical instruments to measure the height of the surrounding hills, another for measuring wind speed, one for air temperature and another for recording our data.”
“Then we looked at the man-made aspects of the area, such as rubbish, pollution, buildings and their state of repair. We took all the elements that make up the area, including what we could see, hear and smell and made a comprehensive study of the area’s micro climate.”
We asked if Charlie enjoys geography, “Yes I do and I’m particularly interested in the weather, so I found it an interesting trip.”
Josh’s group had to consider the positioning of the Amex stadium and took various factors into account, including transport links, parking facilities, the station, local traffic and travel for away teams.
“There were lots of things to consider.” explained Josh. “When we looked at parking, we found that the actual car park is not very big (350 spaces), but there is additional parking nearby at the station, the University, Stanmer Park and at the sports centre. We thought that road links were good, with the main A27 close by, but that the station was too small and did not have enough ticket machines.”
“Although there were some disadvantages to the site, we felt overall that the stadium is in the right place and is good for the area. Local people can walk to it, thanks to a concrete path being built and the stadium is about much more than just football. It can be hired out and is used extensively for educational and charity events and it brings more visitors to the City.”
Thanks to Brighton University for sponsoring the trip and providing lunch for the students.
