Stage 5 Coastal Environmental Change & Management Field Trip
Starting at either Collaroy or Narrabeen, students will learn to:
- GE5-2 Explain the processes that form and transform coastal environments.
- GE5-3 Analyses the effect of interactions and connections between people, places and environments.
- GE5-5 Assess management strategies of coastal environments for their sustainability.
- GE5-7 Acquire and process geographical information by selecting and using appropriate and relevant geographical tools for inquiry.
Related Life Skills outcomes: GELS-2, GELS-3, GELS-4, GELS-5, GELS-7
What to expect on the day:-
Students investigate the biophysical processes that have formed the Narrabeen and Collaroy Beach environment. Students investigate the causes and extent of development at Collaroy Beach which has the most development at risk in NSW and was extensively eroded in June 2016. They will identify the biophysical and atmospheric conditions that combined to erode the beach in 2016 and other East Coast Lows.
Students select and use appropriate geographic tools to measure and record current atmospheric and beach conditions. They observe and record current hydrographic conditions and then explain how these influences are transforming the beach in front of them.
If time permits, students will complete a field sketch from Collaroy Headland.
As they walk north, students investigate the sea walls and other management strategies between Collaroy and South Narrabeen and discuss advantages and disadvantages of each.
Students continue walking north, observing changes in coastal planning and development and beach condition.
At Ocean Street Narrabeen, students investigate the coastal dune systems and discuss how dunes provide habitat in addition to acting as a barrier and nourishing the beach during and after East Coast Lows. Students collect sediment samples and record changes in vegetation type and height through the dune, then use their primary data to explain how the biophysical processes have formed this coastal dune.
At Narrabeen SLSC, students work in small groups, summarising and consolidating their understanding. Each group considers the sustainability of past management strategies, focusing on one area of the beach. Students identify the main issues, what changes, if anything, should be made in the future and the impact of these proposals on key stakeholder groups.
NB: This is an outline of activities for students who start at Collaroy. For those students who start at Narrabeen, the activities are the same but the order is different. If students are not available for the full 4.5 hour program, other modifications can be made.