Year 12 Geography Trip
On the first day of term 2 the Year 12 Geography class travelled to Aoraki/Mt Cook for part of their research internal assessment and as the case study for their external assessment. After a couple of stops, one at Fairlie for a pie and the other at Tekapo for fuel, the group arrived at Aoraki/Mt Cook around midday.
Monday afternoon involved a meeting and talk with the DOC education officer who did an introduction to the park and how it was formed before a quick trip to Mueller lookout on the Hooker Valley track. Tuesday morning saw overcast and misty conditions as we made our way to Governors bush car park. From here the students made their way up part of the Red Tarns track where they stopped at five locations along the way to collect data for their research assessment on how altitude affects and creates spatial variations in different vegetation types on the mountain.
Once the data was collected it was back to Unwin Lodge for lunch before we headed back to the DOC information centre for talks on how humans have impacted the area and what types of landforms are in the park and how the climate affects the area. Wednesday the group woke to wet conditions and a message to say that the Glacial Explorer trip to Tasman glacier had been cancelled.
A quick clean of the lodge and then the group headed back to the information centre for the last DOC talk on glaciation. With the GE trip cancelled the group headed home early, with a couple of stops along the way lead.
The class would like to thank Maddy Brown for accompanying them and providing additional adult support.
