Skegness Field Visit – the Beach
(Guidance notes to help BG students with the field visit to Skegness beach)
The purpose of our field trip is to recognise human and natural processes and understand how they
can change the character of a coastline. The pupils will also be learning how people and nature can
improve or damage the coastline’s environment.
Activities:
1. Coastal Defences - Identifying
2. Sea Defences - Building
3. Tide Spotting – Map work
4. Longshore Drift – Experiment
5. Wave Counting
6. Beach Art – Antony Gormley, Andy Goldsworthy
1. Coastal Defences
Pupils are to walk along the beach and identify different types of sea defences. They are to think why
there are different types and why they have been used and placed where they have. Pupils to draw a
label the sea defences that they see.
Equipment:
Clip boards, pencils, paper
They will see:
Sea Wall
Groynes
Downloaded from www.geography.org.uk/makinggeographyhappen
Boulders
Sand Dunes (Maram grass)
Key Questions




What do the sea defences do? Stop erosion of the coast line
What are sea walls made of and why are there holes in it? Concrete, to stop the force of the sea
as it comes crashing in.
What are the advantages and disadvantages of each type of sea defence? Cost, durability, in
keeping with the surroundings, erode and need to be replaced, concrete and boulders used
when something needs to be protected.
Why is the sand on one side of the groyne higher than the other? The groyne stops longshore
drift (movement of sand)
2. Sea Defences
This activity shows them how forceful the sea is and that in order to stop the beach eroding away
defences must be used. Pupils are to make large sand castles to defend their lollypop sticks from the
sea. They can make them as large or as small as they want. Please encourage the pupils to make a
sketch map of their defence and annotate it. Pupils to watch what happens to their defences as sea
comes in and annotate their maps with how their defences fair.
Equipment:
Pupils and their hands! Lollypop sticks, plastic gloves, paper and pencils to make sketch maps.
Key Questions
 Why are you building it like that?
 How do you intend to defend your lollypop stick?
 What do you think will happen as the sea comes in?
 Where would be a better place to defend your lollypop stick? Further up the beach away from
the tide
Downloaded from www.geography.org.uk/makinggeographyhappen
3. Tide Spotting
Pupils are to identify where the high and low tides are (strand lines). They are to make careful
observations as to the make up of each line. Pupils should see the bigger debris is furthest away from
the shore line and as they move closer to the sea the debris (stones, pebbles etc) become smaller.
Pupils to mark a line from the sea to the back of the beach. They walk along the line and make
observations. Pupils to draw observational maps on paper.
Seaweed
Large pebbles
Small pebbles
Sea
Equipment
Clip boards, pencils, trundle wheel, 2 cones
Key Questions
 How have these strand lines been formed? Sea – Tides
 What do you notice about the size of the debris that has been left in each line? It is bigger the
furthest away from the sea and smaller towards the sea. The rougher the sea the more debris
will be brought in – this happens at high tide.
 What different types of debris have you observed? Sea weed, large pebbles, stones, small
pebbles
 Which lines represents high tide / low tide? High furthest up the beach = high tide, the strand
line nearest the sea = low tide.
4. Longshore drift
Longshore drift is how beaches are made and also how they can also be eroded away. Gentle seas
transport sand and pebbles onto the beach this is called a swash. The water then deposits these and
moves back this is called the backwash. The sea moves at an angle and not back and forth hence the
movement of sand.
Downloaded from www.geography.org.uk/makinggeographyhappen
Pupils are to identify which way the longshore drift is moving. Pupils to mark out a 10m strip along the
sea shore. One child to throw orange into the sea. Pupils to observe and draw sketch of what they see.
N.B. Make sure that the orange is thrown in on the right hand side (as you look out to sea) of the
marked area as the sea moves from right to left!
Equipment
Clip boards, pencils, trundle wheel, 2 cones, 1 orange
Key Questions:
 What do you predict will happen to the orange?
 What is happening to the orange? It is moving along the beach
 In which direction is it moving? From right to left in a zig zag pattern
 What does this tell us about the direction of the longshore drift? The beach is moving from right
to left.
 Where else on the beach can we see evidence of longshore drift? Groynes
 What can we conclude will happen to the beach if longshore drift is allowed to happen? The
beach will erode away
5. Wave Counting
This activity stems from a comment made by Peter Magwick in a Geography lesson. He wondered how
many times waves come in over a year.
Equipment
Stop watch, pencil, paper, clip board
Pupils to stand at the edge of the sea. Pupils to count how many waves come in over in a 1 minute
period. Pupils to record this number. Calculating how many waves break at Skegness in a year will be
done back at school during a ‘follow up’ lesson. You might want to see how many waves break in 10
seconds then estimate how many would break in a minute. Check your estimation against the actual
number you count.
Key Questions
 If we know how many waves break in 1 minute how could we find out how many break in 1
hour, in 1 day, in 1 week, in 1 year? Multiply the number of waves by 60, then 24, then 7, then
52.
Downloaded from www.geography.org.uk/makinggeographyhappen
6. Beach Art
The pupils have been told about Antony Gormley’s art (Angel of the North & Crosby Beach in
Liverpool). They know that his work is focused on using the human image in sculpture. They know
that he uses his own body as subject, tool and material. They have also researched Andy Goldsworthy
for homework and know that he uses natural materials to make his sculptures.
Equipment
Debris that they can find on the beach, camera to photograph the art, plastic gloves.
In their group the pupils are to use the debris to design and make an image of a person on the sand.
The sculptures are to be photographed.
Key Questions
 Why have you chosen that material (debris)?
 What affect does the seaweed, pebbles, rope etc. have?
 How have you created the feeling of texture?
 Why have you arranged the colours and the shapes as you have?
Downloaded from www.geography.org.uk/makinggeographyhappen
Glossary
Backwash – The flow of surf back down a beach.
Beach – A thin sheet of sand or pebbles that lies between the high and low tide parts of a coast.
Breaker – A wave that reaches the coast and then rises steeply, so that the leading edge develops
foam.
Coast – Where the land meets the sea.
Deposit – The settling out of material, such as sand, carried by waves.
Erosion – The wearing away and removal of land.
Groyne – A fence built out onto a beach to stop the natural drift of sand along a beach.
Longshore Drift – The natural saw-tooth movement of sand along a beach. It is caused by the different
directions in which the swash and backwash move.
Sand Dune – Mounds of sand that build up at the back of some wide beaches as a result of sand being
blown inland off the beach at low tide.
Sea Defence – Any construction that people have built to try to slow down the natural erosion of the
coast.
Sea Wall – A vertical wall usually of concrete or stone that is built at the back of a each to prevent
storm waves from eroding the coast.
Swash – The landward movement of surf in a breaker.
Tide – The change in the level of the sea during the day.
Transport – The movement of materials along a beach.
Wave – The part of the sea that is caught by the wind and driven inshore.
Downloaded from www.geography.org.uk/makinggeographyhappen