: Learning

I hope you enjoy your Christmas break and are looking forward to the New Year and seeing your bulbs grow! You will start taking records again from the 4th January.

Some of you have already reported that shoots have appeared in your pots! Usually we say to look out for shoots in January and February, so these are very early this year! We think the shoots are appearing early because the weather has been so warm this winter. It will be interesting to see if our Daffodil and Crocus plants flower earlier than normal. The earliest average flowering dates recorded for Wales by this project were 2007 and 2008. The average flowering date for the Crocus was the 16^th of February for both these years. The average flowering date for the Daffodils was the 14^th of February in 2007 and 6^th March in 2008.

What do you think Bulb Buddies? Why not look at the report 2005-2016 on the Spring Bulbs Project website and see how your data compares so far to that of previous years!

Llanharan Primary have been in touch to share pictures of their first shoots! Have a close look at the pictures so you know what to look out for!

There have been lots of spring flowers appearing early this year. I have included pictures of some that have been flowering in the Cardiff area. If you see any early flowers please tell me about them in the comments section when you enter your data after the holidays. Or better yet, maybe you could take photos and ask your teacher to share them with me on Twitter or by email!

Happy Christmas and a Merry New Year,

From Professor Plant & Baby Bulb

Your Comments My Answers:

Ysgol Deganwy: Do we round up or down with rainfall totals greater than 20?

Professor Plant: That’s a great question Ysgol Deganwy. You round the rainfall reading up or down depending on which reading it is closest to. If the reading is less than halfway between two marks (say 2mm and 3mm) then you round down, if the readings are halfway or higher (so in this example 1.5mm or over) you round up! Here’s a fun clip on BBC Bitesize to help illustrate estimating and rounding numbers: http://www.bbc.co.uk/education/clips/zgnyr82 Keep up the good work Bulb Buddies!

Dasfen Primary School: Where doesn't seem to be an option to input 0.1mm etc, please advise as to how I am supposed to input this data. Thank you.

Professor Plant: Hi Dasfen Primary, in this instance you would round down to 0mm. Ysgol Deganwy asked a similar question above!

Law Primary School: It snowed a little today at lunchtime.

Professor Plant: Fantastic Law Primary School. I hope you enjoyed the snow. Elsewhere the weather has been warmer than usual and spring flowers have started growing!

Ysgol Rhys Prichard: It was very windy over the weekend and on Thursday night. Some of the plant labels blew off so we had to staple them on to the pots.

Professor Plant: Good thinking Ysgol Rhys Pritchard, stapling your labels to your pots is a great idea. I hope the weather has calmed down for you now!

Abbey Primary School: Friday 13th November is a local holiday. I have used figure from BBC weather website as I couldn't send no record.

Professor Plant: Great work Abbey Primary School. Apologies that the ‘no record’ button wasn’t working, it should be working again now.

Carnbroe Primary School: Look at how much rain we had on Thursday evening. We had our parents evening on Thursday night and had climb a fence as part of the main entrance was flooded!

Professor Plant: Wow Carnbroe Primary, there must have been a lot of rain! Castlepark Primary also commented that they were surprised by how much rain they had.

Saint Anthony's Primary School: M and me found it interesting seeing how the rain gauge after storm Abigail.

Professor Plant: Hi Saint Anthony’s, I was interested to see your rain readings after the storm. Other schools reported heavy rain fall for this week, including Silverdale St. John's CE School: ‘Another wet week - we certainly don't need to water our bulbs!’ and Drumpark Primary ASN School: ‘We had lots of rain and wind at the end of the week from Storm Abigail.’ And Shakespeare Primary School: ‘Dear Professor Plant, We got absolutely soaked on Friday. It rained nonstop! We are loving the project though.’

Bent Primary School: Sorry we were at a residential trip for 3 days and although we asked the weather to be recorded , we do not think their results are accurate enough to add to the data.

Professor Plant: Not to worry Bent Primary School, thank you for trying to arrange for the data to be collected but you did the right thing by entering ‘no record’ if the readings weren’t accurate. Keep up the good work!

Teacher: On Thursday we needed to keep our plants in because of the strong winds and rain also because the storm [Abigail] was going to blow them away or make them fall over.

Professor Plant: Hi there, well done for looking out for your bulbs. We do ask that the pots are kept outside to ensure a fair experiment, but you did the right thing by taking them inside until the storm passed. It’s always best to keep them in a cool area as a warm room could affect the results. Keep up the good work Bulb Buddies.

Calderwood Primary School: We have had such stormy weather this week with really high winds. It is also to be very cold over the weekend. We hope that our bulbs outside will be ok. We have been taking good care of our bulbs in the class.

Professor Plant: Thank you for taking such good care of your bulbs Calderwood Primary. Remember that all your bulbs in pots should be kept outside in a sheltered area. If some are inside and some are outside you can compare the flowering dates to see if those inside or outside flower first. If this is the case then please only enter flowering dates to the Museum website for the plants being kept outside. Keep up the good work bulb buddies!

Betws Primary School: A stormy week, we are hoping our plants are not too soggy! St. Paul's Primary School: Another very wet start to the week! We wonder if the extra rain will affect how the bulbs grow later! Are they drowning?

Professor Plant: Not to worry Betws and St Paul’s Primary, the bulbs like the rain and will be fine. The holes at the bottom of the pot allow excess water to drain away. If it is raining a lot and the soil is moist then there is no need to water the plants. The amount of rain does affect the development of the plants, they develop later in years with less rain and less sunlight hours. Why not have a look at the report 2005-2015 on the Spring Bulbs website and compare your readings so far this year to the average readings for last year? Do you think your flowers will appear earlier or later this year?
 

East Fulton Primary School: Thank you for the super seeds and certificate - it is now up on our Science wall!

Professor Plant: Hi East Fulton Primary. The seeds and certificate were provided by the Edina Trust – I’m glad you liked them! I’m sure the Edina Trust would love a photo of your science wall! Keep up the good work Bulb Buddies!

Ladywell Primary School: We have still yet to experience the flowering of our plants and hope we get to see them soon.

Professor Plant: Hi Ladywell Primary you have a little while to wait yet! Your plants should flower between February and March. Well done for looking after them so well. Keep up the good work!

Mae’r flwyddyn yn dod i ben a dw i’n adlewyrchu ar ddwy ran o fy ngwaith sy’n gorffen fuan. Mae @DyddiadurKate (1915) yn gorffen yn mis yma, a fy ngwaith ar Chynllun Addysg Y Rhyfel Byd yn Cyntaf dod i ben yn Mawrth 2016.

Mae Cynllun Addysg y Rhyfel Byd yn brosiect rhwng Amgueddfa Cymru a’r Llyfrgell Genedlaethol, sy’n cynhyrchu adnoddau ar gyfer ysgolion. Ni'n defnyddio deunyddiau o gasgliadau’r ddau sefydliad i greu adnoddau dysgu digidol am Gymru yn ystod y Rhyfel. Trwy’r flwyddyn, gweithiais gyda chydweithwyr o’r curaduron i’r archif i ddewis y deunyddiau gorau i fynd gyda phob thema yn y cynllun. Y themâu y gweithiais arnynt yw ‘Bywyd ar Ffrynt y Gorllewin’, ‘Meddygaeth’, ‘Cymru ar draws y Byd’ a ‘Straeon Personol’.

Ar y prosiect @DyddiadurKate, dwi’n casglu'r ystadegau o Twitter a ‘di creu dau flog, un ar recriwtio yn y Rhyfel Byd Cyntaf ac un ar alcohol a dirwest. Trwy’r flwyddyn mwynheais y gweithgareddau dyddiol ar y blogiau gahanol gan y curaduron a’r archif, oedd yn rhoi mwy o wybodaeth am y prosiect.

Yn Hydref ces y cyfle i ddod â’r ddau brosiect at ei gilydd, yn yr adnodd ‘Straeon Personol’. Mae’r adnodd yn edrych ar bobl dros Gymru yn y Rhyfel Byd Cyntaf ac effaith y rhyfel arnyn nhw. Roedd stori Kate Ellis yn rhoi cyferbyniad i straeon milwyr a nyrsus, i ddangos bywyd sifiliad. Un peth sy’n ddiddorol imi yw fod pobl yn ymladd yn y rhyfel, ac ar yr un pryd, roedd llawer o’r gweithgareddau dyddiol Kate yn cario ‘mlaen heb lawer yn newid.

Dyw’r adnoddau ‘Straeon Personal’ a 'Cymru ar Draws y Byd' ddim ar yr HWB eto, ond mae llawer o’r adnoddau arall lan nawr. Dilynwch y linc i HWB i ddefnyddio’r adnoddau am ddim.

Hello Bulb Buddies,

We are off to a fantastic start this year. With 177 schools and 6,339 pupils taking part in the Spring Bulbs for Schools investigation 2015-16.

Each pupil taking part has planted their Daffodil and Crocus bulb and labelled their pot. Schools have been using the thermometer and rain gauge provided by the project to take weather readings on days they are in school, and have been uploading their findings to the National Museum Wales website.

You can see the findings so far on the Spring Bulbs project webpage

The results for each participating school are illustrated by graphs. The website has been edited this year to include results from previous years. This means that returning schools can easily see how their data compares to previous years!  

Schools in Wales took part in the Edina Trust’s ‘Planting Day Photo Competition’ for the first time this year. We had some lovely photos sent in by participating schools and it was very difficult to choose just five winners. You can see all of the photos on the Spring Bulb project Twitter page: @Professor_Plant

There have been many interesting questions and comments sent in with the weekly data. Please see below for these and my responses.

Keep up the good work Bulb Buddies,

Profesor Plant

Your questions, my answers:

Stonehouse Primary School: Tuesday was a strange day for weather. It was frosty in the morning but in the afternoon all the children had their coats off because it was so hot. Ysgol Pentrefoelas: Mae hi wedi bod yn gynnes wythnos yma a nin chwarae allan heb ddim cot. Professor Plant: Hello Ysgol Pentrefoelas and Stonehouse Primary. You both noted in the first week of weather records that it had been warm enough to play outside without coats. Aren’t you lucky! Other schools reported lots of rain and frost! It’s interesting that you are both so far apart and that one of you is on the coast (Conwy) and the other is in-land (South Lanarkshire). What strange weather for November! Have you seen that the warm November weather has caused Daffodils to flower in Cornwall! Daffodils flower slightly earlier in Cornwall because it is slightly warmer there, but this variety of Daffodil would usually flower in December and they were a month early! I wonder if our plants will be earlier than usual this year!

School: Hi, I'm unsure as we are recording the amount of rain- do we need to water the plants ourselves? Professor Plant: Hello, thank you for your question. Yes, please do water your plants twice a week if they look like they need it. You won’t need to water them on days where it has rained enough that the soil is moist.

St David's RC Primary School: It was sunny at the start of the week and then the rain came and got heavier and heavier through the week and it was terrible weather for us. We had to stay inside through the rest of the week it was awful weather we had on Wednesday Thursday and Friday. We did not like the weather, did you have good weather where you are or bad weather because we didn't have very good weather it was horrible it was very, very, very boring for us because we had to stay in side for 2 weeks isn't that boring Mr Plant what would you do if you stayed inside for 2 weeks. Professor Plant: Dear St David’s RC Primary, I’m sorry to hear you had such awful weather during the first week of the project. I hope it has improved! I will look at your weather reading now to see! Inside for two weeks! I would probably read lots of books if I had stay indoors that long. There are some things you can read on the Spring Bulbs website. When you are next stuck indoors why not have a look for the ‘Life of a Plant – make your own Origami booklet’ resource on my website!

Severn Primary: We had an INSET day on Monday November 2nd, so we didn't take any readings. It wasn't really 0degrees. Ysgol Mair: On Monday 2nd November we were not in school so have no data but we were not able to record 'no record'. Professor Plant: Dear Severn Primary & Ysgol Mair, I’m sorry you weren’t able to record your inset day. We had a slight blip with the website where the ‘no record’ button wasn’t working. In future please record all days where there are no readings as ‘no record’. Thank you for spotting that readings of 0degrees can affect the results and for letting me know Bulb Buddies!

Betws Primary School: We collected the data for our class. It was warm and sunny at the start of the week. We had a lot of rain on Thursday and Friday. Our bulbs should be happy! Professor Plant: Well done Betws Primary. Keep up the good work.

Castlepark Primary School: P6 were very enthusiastic about keeping track of the temperature and rainfall this week. They felt like real scientists and are ready to show another class how to record the details next week. Professor Plant: Fantastic Castlepark Primary. I’m glad you are learning new skills through the project and that you are having so much fun doing so. You really are Super Scientists!

St. Oswalds V A School: We are worried about having a true reading on a Monday if it has rained over the weekend. Shall we empty the rain gauge Monday morning and take the rainfall measurement as normal? Professor Plant: Hi St Oswalds. That’s a good question, well done for thinking about the effect this has on Monday’s results. The reading on Monday afternoon will include any residual (left over) rain fall from the weekend. Please don’t empty the rain gauge before taking Monday’s reading, as we want the reading to reflect the weather over at least the last 24 hours. Keep up the good work bulb buddies.

Our Lady of Peace Primary School: Hello we had fun planting the bulbs. It wasn't the first time we have planted something. We have planted spider plants in primary 1. Hopefully our plants come up healthy. Good bye. Professor Plant: Hello Our Lady of Peace Primary, I’m glad to hear you enjoyed planting! You sound like experienced gardeners now! Keep up the good work!

Drumpark Primary ASN School: We have had fun taking data. Professor Plant: I’m glad to hear it Drumpark Primary. Keep up the good work!

Biggar Primary School: We are enjoying the experiments. Professor Plant: I’m glad to hear you are enjoying the project Biggar Primary. For more experiment ideas look for ‘Professor Plant’s investigation Ideas’ on the Spring Bulbs website: https://www.museumwales.ac.uk/spring-bulbs/

Maesycoed Primary: A very mild start to the season. Our year group is split into two classes with a different facing outdoor area. We are monitoring the effects the other class experience against our own as we have more sunlight then they do but they are more sheltered. We will let you know if their flowers appear first. Professor Plant: Fantastic experiment Maesycoed Primary! Please do let me know what your findings are and what you learn from them! This also gives you an opportunity to practice averages. As only one reading a day is needed on the Museum website, you could look at the readings taken by each class and work out the average to enter to the website! Keep up the good work Bulb Buddies.

Brisbane Primary School: Our Monday reading is collated over the weekend. We are taking our readings at 2.30pm Mon - Frid. Thank you Professor Plant. Professor Plant: Hello Brisbane Primary, thank you for your up-date. It’s great that you are managing to take your readings at the same time each day, as this helps to ensure a fair experiment. Keep up the good work Bulb Buddies.

This October Amgueddfa Cymru had the wonderful opportunity to be a part of the Made in Roath community arts festival. Now in its 7^th year, the festival celebrates creative talent by taking art out of the gallery and into the wider community, with an emphasis on social engagement and inclusivity.

During the weekend of 17^th and 18^th October, the Natural Science conservators and curators along with some amazing Made in Roath volunteers, contributed to the festival’s creative extravaganza by installing a pop-up museum in a residential house. The unique setting allowed us to display many of our scientific specimens in a completely different way and also to make great use of our outreach collections.

Our aim was to simply have fun with the specimens, to inspire curiosity and delight for our visitors, and reinforce the idea that museums can be a friendly, relaxed spaces. So that’s just what we did…. by placing a sheep in the kitchen, a giant ancient millipede on the worktop, a crocodile under the stairs and an ostrich skeleton in the bay window. We filled a snooker table full of insects, made blinds from pressed plants and replaced the cups and saucers in the welsh dresser with fossils and minerals. Our curators enjoyed weaving their humour into the displays in subtle ways too. Visitors may have noticed a fox and otter playing a family game together and spelling their names, the spider’s web in the garden with its own paper label and even the specially created 2015.032 accession number with reference to the year of the festival and the door number of the house! 

Thanks to everyone’s hard work, the exhibition was a huge success and was amazingly well received by the local community. We have a visitor book full of lovely comments to prove it!

We’d like to say special thanks to the local Roath celebrity, Boyd Clack, who cut the red ribbon and opened the museum for us; the property owners who let us take over their home; and our volunteers who warmly welcomed visitors over the weekend, helping us to bring the museum to life.

We hope that our collaborative work with Made in Roath will grow in the future, so we can find even more creative ways to engage the community with our science collections. Watch this space!

https://storify.com/CardiffCurator/museuminahouse-madeinroath2015

On Saturday 10^th October, scientists from the Museum’s Natural Sciences Department and Cardiff University came together to mark both National Biology Week and Earth Science Week, and to prove that biology (and geology) does indeed rock!  Engaging displays and fun activities filled the Main Hall and were also scattered through the lower natural history galleries and Clore Learning Space.  Visitors collected a stamping sheet at the door and could claim a stamp for every activity they completed.  Everyone who collected ten stamps had the chance to colour in and make their own natural history badge to take home.  Museum scientists wowed visitors with specimens from our collections behind the scenes, including the largest seeds in the world, glow-in-the-dark minerals and huge scarab beetles.  Visitors could also explore sea creatures and seaweeds in a rock pool, and have a go at matching fossils to their correct place on a timeline of the Earth’s history.  Fans of the game ‘Operation’ had the opportunity to try their hand with an actual size, adult dummy version, courtesy of biologists from Cardiff University, who also presented a range of other fascinating topics, including what we can learn from road kill, how healthy babies are made, how toadstools get their white spots and how to extract DNA from strawberries.  Appropriately enough, the University’s team of geologists set up shop at the entrance to the Evolution of Wales gallery, and invited visitors to experiment with what makes an explosive volcano, try to bend rocks and have a go at stepping in the footsteps of dinosaurs.  The day also featured several family-friendly events linked to the ‘Reading the Rocks: the remarkable maps of William Smith’ exhibition.  Theatr na nÓg gave three performances of a one-man play exploring Smith’s work from the point of view of his young Welsh apprentice, and scientific historian Dr Leucha Veneer gave a family talk looking at early ideas about rocks and fossils.