It was the 9th of January 2019 and the second day back at school after Winter break. It was a new year and a new semester and everyone was excited. The DP1 students were the most excited, everyone would agree. All of the students from DP1 were headed to the highlands for their science field trips. Kithulgala for Biology, Nortonbridge for Physics and the Adam’s Peak area for ESS students. Everyone was at the school by 6.30 upon prior notice. The weather was a bit chilling as we loaded our bags along with ourselves into the relevant busses. I got into the bus that carried the other Biology students and off we went; our next stop Kithulgala.

All the three groups were planned to have breakfast at Borderlands Kithulgala together and then split up. So after breakfast and seeing the physics and ESS students off, we spent some time relaxing and then we worked on setting our pitfall traps. We had to set up two each and maintain a record of its progress. Later we worked on getting ready for the quadrats, which was our main focus of the trip. Then we had an early lunch. After a 40 minute hike, we reached a primary forest where our first quadrat was going to be.

The Biology group was a relatively smaller group with only 14 people and 2 teachers. We were divided into four groups; my group consisting of me, Alex, Jack and Matthew. We marked our coordinates, got the soil samples, did the tests and mapping. It was quite an interesting task and it would have been more fun if it wasn’t for the leeches that were constantly trying to climb up my leg. Then we did a river study where we measured the depth of the river and also a kick study to check for the bio-diversity. Later we hiked back further to our second quadrat of the day. Unfortunately, though we got caught up in the rain and when we reached the ferry to cross the river I was soaking wet. But bad things do lead up to good things cause the ferry ride was the best. Only 6 people could be taken on the ferry at once and I was among that first group. So we waited at the bank for the others. Then we went to where our busses had come to pick up as it was getting late.

The next day, we hiked for about another 40 minutes and this time we reached a secondary forest. Once again we got into our groups marked our coordinates on the first quadrat, got the soil samples and mapped everything. Everyone in the group was very supportive that we were able to complete it within a short time. Then we moved onto our second quadrat. We were mapping the different species when suddenly Matthew shouts, “Jack, there’s a snake!!” and right there just next to Jack’s leg was a small python (we later got to know it was a python). All four of us along with Talia’s group who were working close to us climbed down the hill at a snap speed. However later, the life guards from Borderlands caught it in a bottle and took it away. We didn’t complete the quadrat because know was willing to go up there again. I say it was a bit scary at the time but as I look back I think it was a thrilling experience. 

Then we had lunch by the river and went for a swim at the river pool. After, we carried a lichen study where we had to examine and sketch the lichen grown on the east and west sides of a tree. We also went to the hydropower station at Kithulgala and back to Borderlands.

That was all the tasks assigned for the day so we had some free time and then worked in our groups writing the research questions, hypothesis’ and methods. Then we played a couple of card games until it was time to go for bed. The next day was started with meditating. That was our last day, and we were supposed to leave after lunch. We hiked to a rubber plantation for our quadrats. Later we had lunch at Borderlands with the physics students and left for Colombo. It was a tiring trip but it was also fun and interesting.

Learning outcomes;

Demonstrate the skills and recognize the benefits of working collaboratively.

• Throughout the science field trips, we worked in groups which made it easier to do the work more efficiently and I also got to know their ideas. When working in a group you must always listen to other’s opinions and respect them. You must also be able to share your ideas among the group. These were some of the facts that I learnt during this trip.

Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills in the process.

• During the field trip, we had to be risk-takers all the way. We had to hike through forests, deal with leeches, work in a rubber plantation, walk through rain etc. I was able to overcome the challenges with adopting the necessary skills and it helped me throughout the trip.