FIELD DAY OUT WITH GRADE 11 STUDENTS FROM TRIO WORLD SCHOOL BANGALORE
A day trip was organised at Hessarghatta Lake for students from grade 11 from Trio world school, Sahkarnagar, Bangalore along with their senior ESS facilitator Ms. Poonam Singh and Education consultant Mr. Bud Chapman on 22nd Feb 2023.
The objective of the field trip was to make the students learn about lake ecosystems and their roles. Learn about their characteristics and functions. The other main topic covered was sampling survey techniques-line transacts or Quadrangle surveys.
Due to excessive rains over last year the lake got fully filled up for the first time in over 27 years. The surprising element was birds were missing. We made them understand the need of different habitat and niches for foraging by birds like waders need shallow waters & shores, ducks and cormorants need deep waters etc. They also witnessed the weathering of shore bank by water and understood the silting process.
We took a exciting trail in the scrub forest around the lake observing birds, insects and life under leaf litter. The fascinating Ant/Termite hills gave an insight into the secret world of these tiny soil engineers and decomposers on how wonderfully they participate in nutrition, and water circulation, enriching the soil.
Students learnt about various sampling techniques and we practiced one of them called line transact and quadrangle survey. We selected an area, the things we need to sample, in this case it was vegetation on the soil.
Students participated with great enthusiasm and marked the measurements and started observing and documenting the samples of grass, weeds, leaf litter and small insect biodiversity in the quadrants. The mulch formed by dead and decaying leaves are of tremendous importance as it adds nutrition to the top soil. The litter is also habitat for tiny insects- crickets, grasshoppers, mantis and lizards thus supporting a food chain.
We could watch and observe few good water and lake birds around the lake like Egrets, Lapwings, Sandpiper, Bee eaters, Brahminy and black Kites, Herons, Larks, Shrikes & cormorants.
