When it comes to learning about the physical environment, there's no substitute for mucking about by a river.
And pupils from North Bridge House School in Camden were not afraid to get their hands dirty during their field trip to Epping Forest Field Centre.
The young geographers were encouraged to dig their hands in the dirt and get downright muddy as they studied the source of Loughton Brook at the Essex centre.
"Pick up the soil, rub it between your fingers, squeeze it. See how much water comes out of it - and if you are brave enough - smell it," says tutor Hugh Wright.
It is this experience of what's known as the 'outdoor classroom' that makes field trips and other non class-based activities so worthwhile, says the Field Studies Council.
And 13-year-old geography student Piers tends to agree.
"It's nice to get out of the classroom. It sort of gives you a real taste of what rivers are about instead of learning about them off the white board."
His classmate Henry, 12, says: "We have learnt about the different types of soil; the texture, the moisture content, and being here you really understand the difference.
"Samples in the classroom simply wouldn't be so good."
Teacher Caroline Strachan says there is no question that it is easier to teach physical geography in the real world.
"Some of the children on the courses here have never even seen animals in fields before"
"Despite all the advances in computer simulations and so on - the real thing is still better."
Researcher at the Institute of Education Ruth Amos, who has been evaluating residential courses organised by the FSC for London schools, says there is a lot of evidence to show they boost academic achievement.
She said teachers at one school told her that all the GCSE geography students who had been on residential study courses had done better than those who had not.
But going on field trips and taking trips to the theatre is not just about getting good grades.
Barriers
The FSC's Cathy Preston explained: "Some of the children on the courses here have never been out of London. They've never even seen animals in fields before.
"I remember one teacher saying that during a night walk she took, one of the children looked up at the sky and saw all the stars.
"The child then asked whether it was real or whether it was a picture because she had never seen that many stars before because of all the light pollution in inner city London."
There is a sense that teachers have been taking fewer school trips in recent years, Mrs Preston said.
This is partly because field trips are no longer part of both geography and biology GCSE curriculum.
Assistant head of the Epping Forest Field Centre Helen Robertson says: "You could do an A-Level in biology, followed by a degree then get a job in an environmental centre never having been out in the field to do species identification, for example.
"There's a lot of theoretical learning of course but it's very different coming and doing it in a real life, hands-on situation."
Teachers say there are many barriers to holding school trips and visits.
Miss Robertson says these range from not having the time to organise them, meeting all the requirements of local authority health and safety assessments to not having teachers to back fill the holes in the teaching timetable that those taking the trips leave.
And then there is the funding issue.
Trips are often expensive and schools can be reluctant to ask parents, especially the less wealthy ones, to put their hands in their pockets to pay for them.
Theresa Corcoran, a teacher at Catford High School in south-east London, says: "I work at a school which is very supportive of teachers wanting to lead courses.
"But we work quite closely with other schools in the borough who never run trips."
She says the reason is partly financial and the pressure of time, but it is also the "fear factor".
Hazards
A small number of high profile cases have made some teachers nervous about taking on the additional responsibilities of leading a trip outside the classroom.
"The fear factor may be quite hyped up but it would certainly help is there was some training provided for staff running these trips."
This is where a little bit of help from the experts is invaluable.
The Epping Forest Field Centre's Miss Robertson explained: "A classroom can be full of hazards and teachers know how to deal with them.
"We do this all day every day so the hazards of the outdoors - we know they are there and we are trained to deal with them."
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