From 24th to 26th November, we took a three day trip to Kithugala, where we carried out the mixed journey of DP Orientation and IB science trip. After breaking through the lockdowns and quarantines, this thrilling experience was valuable to us in all aspects, because we get to enjoy the nature and the outside world.

1st Day Lunch Time Group Photo (by the author)

Though unable to participate in most of the activities during Day 1, I have gained a lot during the early group activities and by spectating my peers. The biggest insight would be to understand my limits, and to try my best in the limited opportunities I had. I’ve shared the same thrills as my peers during later interviews with them, and the excitement of being on the trip outweighed everything else. In addition, Wade’s speech about the dam and the river caused me to rethink about the relationship between the nature and a developing society. Different, even conflicting perspectives of each group (eg. Owners of the safari business, local villagers, safari tourists, authorities, benefiters from the dam, etc.) in Sri Lankan society regarding the dam require public attention and a resolution that can satisfy all. The locals should also be fully aware of the potential threats/benefits on the water environment posed by the dam. I want to further extend this topic into our current Geography unit, which is about resource consumption and security. This is an on-going debate regarding human, energy and nature, and one potential global issue could be energy source benefiting the majority of the society can be at the cost of nature and interest of minorities. 

Landscape photo of the river which we crossed in groups by a boat (Photo by the author)

We then conducted scientific activities on Day 2 and Day 3 in separate science groups. The experiments we’ve run were rubber plantation transect quadrats, pitfall traps, lichen observations, river invertebrates, and water quality tests. We preplanned variables and researched about the biodiversity in the area. Me and my partner, Hyunjin, were observing the types of plants at the middle elevation of the rubber plantation in pouring rain, where we discovered a small Cercis Genus tree with heart shaped leaves. Though our pitfall traps got nothing but a few ants and snails, we were able to get a sense of what we could have gotten if we had better placement of the trap, and how we could have improved the placement by seeing other’s gains. During the river invertebrate experiment, though both of us were physically unable to go into the water as planned, we did have many unexpected captures, such as snails and water bugs. I decided to use the result from the lichen test to conduct a scientific lab report. During the process of collecting data, I followed the methods carefully and pre researched about the habitats of lichen. Not only did I collect data for my hypothesis, but I was also able to look at different types of lichens at different heights on the tree. With the large data sample collected, I was able to conclude a trend for my hypothesis (To what extent is the correlation between the position/height on trees and percent of coverage by lichen), and analyze the variability using T-Test result, significant difference, standard deviation and error bars.

Overall, I’ve gained a lot from this memorable trip. It was great fun connecting with my classmates and helping each other during activities. I’ve been longing for this kind of outdoor activities for a long time, and I’m truly happy about the both the bonds and learning outcome I obtained from the trip.

River on our way to the forest on Day 2 (Photo by the author)

(Landscape photo by me)

Learning Outcomes:

• LO1: Identify your own strengths and develop areas for personal growth
• LO2: Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills in the process
• LO5: Demonstrate the skills and recognize the benefits of working collaboratively
• LO6: Demonstrate engagement with issues of global significance