Learning
May 2012
Fascination of Plants Day
Pupils from Roath Park Primary and Pontyclun Primary had great fun exploring plants and plant science at the National Museum Cardiff to celebrate The Fascination of Plants day.
They had a go at dissecting a plant, explored plants under the microscope, and found out about the work of plant scientists at the National Museum Cardiff and Cardiff University. They also learned how to survey for plants in the local park.
Plus, Flathom Island education team joined us with some real live slow worms, and the Marine Conservation Society helped pupils explore issues affecting local wildlife.
This event for schools was run by education staff and plant scientists from Cardiff University, the National Museum Wales and Eco-explore, and was part of an international celebration of plants around the world. We hope to run a similar event next year, where more schools will be able to participate.
Thanks to all involved!
Spring Bulb for Schools: Results 2005-2012
The ‘Spring Bulbs for Schools’ project allows 1000s of schools scientists to work with Amgueddfa Cymru-National Museum Wales to investigate and understand climate change.
Since October 2005, school scientists have been keeping weather records and noting when their flowers open, as part of a long-term study looking at the effects of temperature on spring bulbs.
Certificates have now been sent out to all the 2,933 pupils that completed the project this year.
See Professor Plant's reports or download the spreadsheet to study the trends for yourself!
- Make graphs & frequency charts or calculate the mean.
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See if the flowers opened late in schools that recorded cold weather.
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See how temperature, sunshine and rainfall affect the average flowering dates.
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Look for trends between different locations.
1st: Sana Patel - Fulwood & Cadley Primary
2nd: Markus - Stanford Primary - Age 9
3rd: Emilia Porter - Fulwood & Cadley Primary
Runner's up:
- Marielle Matter - Westwood Primary - Age 9
- Emlyn Piette - Westwood Primary - Age 10
- Aleena Raza - Fulwood & Cadley Primary
- Lucy Turner - Fulwood & Cadley Primary
- Davina Vadhere - Fulwood & Cadley Primary
- Bradley Cox - Stanford in the Vale Primary - Age 9
- Abigail Boswell - Fulwood & Cadley Primary
- Hasan Patel - Fulwood & Cadley Primary
- Tom Betheridge - Fulwood & Cadley Primary
- Mairelle Mattar - Westwood Primary - Age 9
- Hasan Ali - Sherwood Primary
- Charlie Smith - Ysgol Nant Y coed - Oed 9
Many Thanks
Professor Plant
www.museumwales.ac.uk/scan/bulbs
Twitter http://twitter.com/Professor_Plant
Facebook Professor Plant
Cardiff Creative Writers
Objects are evidence of somewhere, something, or somebody and as such all have stories to tell.
Recently a class of adults studying creative writing at Carduff University attended a workshop here with me in the Clore Discovery Centre. They took on the role of a curator and wrote their own creative labels for some of their favourite objects in the gallery. Here are a few examples:
Iron-Nickel Meteorite (Approximately 4.5 billion years old)
I wandered lonely, in a cloud of fragments, beyond the Martian orbit, since the beginnings of the Solar System some four-and-a-half billions of years ago. A passing satellite, en-route from Earth to who knows where, disturbed my orbit, and I fell towards the distant sun. Later, I felt the pull of Earth, and spiralled down into its gravity well – faster and faster until in fiery glory I blazed across the sky, a meteorite. Though reduced in size, I fell to earth. A fragment of the ancient history of the Solar System – a messenger from outer space – here I lie in The National Museum Collection.
David Edwards
What is it? Popular wrong answers include a drinking vessel or a paperweight!!
It is an axe head. Bronze Age man hafted it to a wooden handle and used the D shaped loop on the side for strapping. Butchering, wood-cutting and self-defence are among possible uses for this versatile tool.
Mike Dolan
A snakestone fossil
thought to be magic,
I was a cephalopod
with head and foot fused.
In life I relied
on plain hydraulics
a siphuncle curled
like a twirling straw
adjusted the pressure
in my chambered coils,
let me rise and fall
as I dodged ichthyosaurs.
Anne Bryan
categories
Historic Photography Project (Esmee Ffairburn)
Learning
recent entries
Daffodil Drawing Competition 2013
Peregrines on the Clock Tower 2013
Natural science collections in Welsh museums – a Distributed National Collection
Professor Plant’s Promise: Late flowers won’t get left behind
