: Learning

Happy New Year Bulb Buddies!  It’s February already which means spring will be here before we know it.  Some of you may have noticed shoots from your bulbs by now – if so then you’re well on your way to some beautiful blossoms.  Don’t worry if you can’t see any shoots yet, some bulbs take a little longer before they’re ready to sprout, especially if it’s cold outside.

We all know this spring will be little different from other years.  I’m sure many of you Bulb Buddies will be missing your classroom and playground if you’re learning at home.  Perhaps some of you are also thinking of your Baby Bulbs back in school without anybody to look after them – don’t worry, your bulbs will be safe and sound, especially if they’re outside. 

Even though we’re not all in school at the moment Professor Plant still needs your help to collect the weather data and my goodness what a lot of data there is to collect!  It’s very important that we keep a note of rainfall and temperature as our bulbs grow because this will help us to understand our results better in the spring.  I’ve thought of a few ways you might be able to keep your Baby Bulbs happy and help Professor Plant to carry on collecting weather and flower data.  I’d be over the moon if you could help by doing one of these things if you’re able to:

Professor Plant’s ideas for continuing to collect data at home:

• Could Bulb Buddies/parents safely collect their pots and take them home to monitor their growth?
• Could a Bulb Buddy who lives close to school safely collect the weather equipment and take weather records at home?
• Would a teacher still attending school be happy to collect weather and flower data with any Bulb Buddies still in attendance?  Data collected could be submitted to the website or collected for the original class to submit on their return to school.
• Is there someone with access to the school who might be willing to monitor the plants?

What else can Bulb Buddies do from home?

•  It’s very important to collect weather data for our bulbs –perhaps you could keep a weather diary for Professor Plant?
• The MET office Weather Observation Website will have temperature and rainfall data for your area, perhaps you could make a note of these every day?
• Bulb Buddies and parents learning at home should keep checking the Spring Bulbs website for learning resources and activities to try at home
• Why not share your hard work on Twitter?  My handle is @Professor_Plant

Thank you all so much for your help Bulb Buddies, you are all doing fantastic work with this investigation and I definitely couldn’t do this without you!  I’d also like to give a special thank you to the teachers and parents too – we’re so grateful for your help overcoming everything this term throws at us.

Happy gardening everyone!

Professor Plant.

Hi Bulb Buddies,

Thank you for all of your hard work collecting weather data over the last few weeks. The next week for weather records will be 4-8 January. When entering data to the website please enter 'no record' for the dates that you weren't in school to take readings.

There's no need to take your pots home with you over Christmas. So long as they are in a safe place in the school yard where they are unlikely to get blown over by the wind, they will be fine. The bulbs are insulated by the soil and can withstand the winter weather.

The weather has been mild in many places again this autumn/ winter, and it will be interesting to see how this effects our plants.

Have a lovely break Bulb Buddies.

Happy Christmas and a Merry New Year from

Professor Plant & Baby Bulb

Have you ever asked yourself the question “What’s behind the gallery doors of National Museum Cardiff”? Well, if you have then this blog might be for you. The specimens and objects you see in the galleries are just a fraction of those we have in the museum’s collections. So why do we have so many? Specimens in the galleries do suffer when exposed to light while on display, and occasionally from being touched by little sticky fingers! To help protect them, we regularly swap fragile objects on display with those in our stores. We also change objects round for the different exhibitions we produce. Objects behind the scenes are also used for a whole variety of different activities such as education and research. 

While we may not be able to put all of our specimens on display, we do like to share as many of them as we can via our social media channels. In the Natural Sciences Department, we do that via the @CardiffCurator Twitter account. Each week, we might share our worm highlights on #WormWednesday, some of our fantastic fossils on #FossilFriday and various other amazing specimens on other days of the week via various alliterations! 

Of course, the festive season is no different and each year we promote Christmassy objects via a #MuseumAdvent calendar. For 2020, our calendar has been inspired by the ‘Nature on your doorstep’ program which the museum has run throughout lockdown aimed at reconnecting people with nature. One of the main activities has been photo bingo, where we challenged people to find and photograph a number of objects. For winter bingo, we released a card at the end of November with 24 wintery things, such a robin, holly, frost and a sunset. Behind every door of our museum advent calendar, we included helpful tips and photographs from our collections, alongside live photos to help people find everything on the bingo sheet.

We are nearly half way through the calendar, but if you would like to join in why not follow the #MuseumAdvent hashtag over on @CardiffCurator and see if you can call “House” before the 24^th December.

Hi Bulb Buddies,

I've enjoyed reading your comments and seeing all the photos you've shared of planting day. I'm glad that you had so much fun planting your bulbs and that you are excited about taking weather records. My favourite comment this week came from Pearson Primary; they were happy that it had rained because it meant that they could take rainfall readings.

Here are some of the comments you've shared with your weather data so far:

Weather data

Pearson Primary School: Yay it finally rained a bit. Professor Plant: It makes me very happy to think that being able to take rain measurements means you are happy to see it rain. Keep up the good work Bulb Buddies.

Our Lady of Peace Primary School: Hi Professor Plant its K* and A*, we are having so much fun doing this job thank you again from K* and A*. Professor Plant: You are welcome Bulb Buddies, I’m glad you are enjoying the project!

Llanbedr Church in Wales Primary: We may need to look at the location of our rain catcher. Professor Plant: If you have noticed that the rain catcher is being blocked in some way then it would be good to find a new location. Well done for observing this Bulb Buddies.

St Joseph's Primary (North Road): We've really enjoyed planting our bulbs and have set up our rain gauge. We're really looking forward to collecting our data! Professor Plant: Fantastic work, I’m happy that you are enjoying the project.

Ochiltree Primary School: So fun and I enjoyed checking the measurements so much. Professor Plant: Fantastic, keep up the good work!

Stanford in the Vale Primary School: A mild week with sunshine outbreaks - cannot believe we are in our 3rd week of observations! Professor Plant: Time flies when you are having fun, keep up the great work Bulb Buddies.

St Peter Primary School (Plumbridge): We enjoyed our first week recording. It was very fun recording the temperature and rainfall. Professor Plant: I’m glad you are enjoying the project, you really are super scientists!

Your plants

St Patrick Primary School (Drumgreenagh): We enjoyed taking the temperature and the rainfall this week. We can`t wait until they bloom. We look at how they are doing every now and again. We hope we done a good job at looking after them. Professor Plant: It sounds like you are doing a fantastic job Bulb Buddies.

Coastlands School: It has been very wet this week here in Coastlands! We are wondering if this will affect the growth of our plants. We know our plants need water, but surely not this much! Professor Plant: Hi Bulb Buddies, thank you for your weather data and for the concern you’ve shown for your bulbs. It is possible for plants to receive too much water and this can cause damage and stunt growth. The plant pots you use have holes in them to help drain excess water. I would only worry if you notice that the soil becomes saturated and that puddles form on the surface for long periods of time. I would also like to check that you are entering your rainfall in mm and not cm measurements, as your rainfall does not seem to be overly high.

Llanedeyrn Primary School: On Monday we noticed a tip appearing from one of the pots - a daffodil bulb. Through the week 6 more tips of the daffodil bulbs are appearing. Professor Plant: Fantastic work Bulb Buddies. Maybe you could take photos before you finish for the holidays and compare them when you are back in school!

Arkholme Primary School: A lot of leaves fell on the bulbs this week which gives them a nice blanket. It's been very wet this week but four bulbs have sprouted. Professor Plant: Well done for watching your bulbs closely and spotting the first signs of growth.

St Mary Primary School (Co Down): Hello Professor Plant. We have planted our bulbs and we are waiting and watching for them to grow. We can't wait to see the flowers bloom. Professor Plant: I’m glad to hear you are keeping a close eye on your plants Bulb Buddies, keep up the good work.

Carnbroe Primary School: No shoots have come out the plants yet. Professor Plant: Well done for keeping watch of your plants Bulb Buddies.

Ochiltree Primary School: I really enjoyed planting the bulbs it was really fun and exciting. Professor Plant: I’m glad you are enjoying the project Bulb Buddies.

Weather observations

Proffessor Plant: Thank you for your detailed weather observations Bulb Buddies. It’s fascinating to get a weekly overview from across the UK!

YGG Tonyrefail: Wel am wythnos wlyb!! Gobeithio cawn wythnos brafiach yr wythnos nesaf. 

Darran Park Primary: We have had a mixture of sunshine, clouds, fog and rain showers this week.

Livingston Village Primary School: It was really foggy on Monday and Tuesday. 

Ysgol Bro Pedr: It's been a mixed week - lots of rain and some sunshine - no need to water the bulbs. 

Moffat Academy: H*, A*, R* and F*. November 9^th: mild and cloudy with a warm sun. November 10^th: dark sky with lots of clouds. November 11^th: warm but very cloudy. November 12^th: sunny with a very cold wind. November 13^th: heavy rain but sunny periods. Professor Plant: Thank you for the daily overview Bulb Buddies, keep up the good work.

Pil Primary School: There was more rainfall this week. The temperature went from 16 at the beginning of the week to 13 at the end of the week. We liked putting the information in. Professor Plant: I’m glad to hear that you are enjoying taking weather records Bulb Buddies.

Sheuchan Primary School: Today was a bright sunny day but it has the lowest temperature. 

Newbuildings Primary School: Lots of rain in Northern Ireland as well as some lovely sunshine! 

Stanford in the Vale Primary School: It's been a mild week with outbreaks of sunshine! 

Holy Cross Girls Primary School: Wednesday was a very wet day, so we didn't get to check our plants until Thursday. It was a cold week, Tuesday was the hottest temperature. 

Litchard Primary School: It’s been a mild week this week. It’s been wet with some lovely sunshine during the day.

Newbuildings Primary School: Newbuildings has had a lot of rain this week. The heaviest rainfall was on Thursday and Tuesday was the warmest day. No sign of any shoots on our bulbs yet! 

Stanford in the Vale Primary School: We observed our first frosts this week - it’s been a cold week! 

Holy Cross Girls Primary School: Wednesday was a very wet day, so we didn't get to check our plants until Thursday. It was a cold week, Tuesday was the hottest temperature.