My first field trip at university at 27th September 2021

First Day of Environmental science 27th September 2021

I was one of six students that arrived somewhat earlier than I expected. Just as well, I got the chance to pay for parking, plus having forgotten my mask, I bought another one at the Greenwich canteen. My university says it's essential to wear them, whatever the situation requires.

Our teacher gave us each a compass and a GPS tracker, commenting that the students usually don't return them, so I made a mental note to return them. We were given a sheet of paper that detailed 21 waypoints and tasks that we needed to complete, which we walked for around three hours, during which we looked at various historical sights that were used during both World War 1 and 2, as well as other conflicts. Before Greenwich university was founded, the buildings initially housed naval officers for World Wars I and II. The historical sites we visited included platforms used as either Anti-air turrets or warning lights, one of which was retrofitted to have a map in its place, to three monuments that honoured those who died in the wars. We also passed through a former underground shelter that's now being used as a bat sanctuary. Among the things we walked and observed were flat fields that now are used as football fields and dog walkers, and we were asked why the areas were flat? The answer was that these were kill zones against enemy aggressors. Despite this, England was never invaded by the Germans. Still, better to have ground defences in the case of an invasion.

I found myself triggered by several circumstances to talk about distracting topics, such as "Yellow Submarine", due to a submarine in the far distance. Because I felt like it was a history lesson rather than an Environmental Science one, I talked to my teacher about Paul-Von Lettow Vorbeck, who forgot the name at the time, was a famous German general nicknamed the Lion of Africa. Still, I used the GPS to direct myself to where to go, though I still wanted my teacher to lead the way through. We also took the compasses and put them to use to record bearings. It will be a while before these can be fully understood, as it was my first time using them, and it showed. The compasses weren't very easy to record, and it didn't help that it was pretty windy.

Afterwards, we originally wanted to look for the name of the earliest casualty on a monument. Still, the gate was shut, assumed locked until I opened it accidentally by leaning on it. We didn't pursue the question that much even then.

Finally, we arrived at a pier where a giant square filled with water was there, and the question was why. I can't remember the answer exactly, but it had something to do with masts? 

Despite the three hours, we couldn't cover all the questions as some things just took longer than expected, sort of ironic as I wanted to chivvy along and not dilly dally. After we arrived back on campus, I made sure I returned the borrowed compass and GPS tracker when we finished.


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