Learning

On saturday, the Craftivists (well, the wonderful Sarah Corbett) came to Oriel 1 to help us make mini protest banners dealing with asylum seekers and refugees.

In the gallery at the moment we have an exhibition called Refugee House which is a recreation of a typical refugee or asylum seeker dwelling in Cardiff.

One of the intentions of the exhibtion is to raise awareness about the lives of refugees and asylum seekers in Wales and the rest of the UK.

We thought making banners with other Crafitivists would raise even more awareness about the issues - while stitching slogans and quotes on our mini banners we could really think about the words and discuss their meaning, and when we hung the banners up afterwards other people could read the quotes and perhaps want to investigate more.

It was a really interesting day and I met lots of lovely new crafters, we've hung up most of the banners, but there will be more to come - let me know if you see any!

oh and do go and see what other things the Craftivists do and see how you can get involved.

Thanks to Reynette from Oasis who gave us a bit more of an insight into the lives of refugees and asylum seekers in Wales by telling us about her work and experiences at Oasis Cardiff.

I met a lovely group this morning from 'families learning together' who took part in one of my looking at buildings sessions.

I sent them out to do some sketches and they came back with these beauties! We then turned the sketches in to 3d models and they were really wonderful!

Three thousand pupils from thirty eight schools across the UK received Super Scientist Certificates on behalf of Amgueddfa Cymru - National Museum Wales in recognition of their contribution to the Spring Bulbs - Climate Change Investigation.

An outstanding school from each country was selected and treated to a fun packed day out jointly funded by Amgueddfa Cymru and the Edina Trust.

Westwood CP School in Wales visited National Slate Museum in Llanberis. Earlston Primary School in Scotland visited the Royal Botanic Gardens in Edinburgh and Fulwood and Cadley School in England enjoyed a visit to the Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester.

Here are some pictures from Westwood's trip on a very sunny day in Llanberis!

If you are anything like me, you will have been glued to the BBC’s fantastic Springwatch programmes over the last few days. Spring is a brilliant time of year with so much going on all around us, and St Fagans Museum is a fantastic place to get up close and personal with a wide range of wildlife! 

This half term, why not come and visit us and pick up one of our family nature trails, which you can find at the main reception and in Oriel 1. The trail will take you to the best places in the museum to spot our fantastic wildlife. You can watch birds feeding from the comfort of our bird hide, visit the Tannery where you can watch our roost of Lesser Horseshoe bats on our live infra-red camera and even peer into the water pits to see newts and other creatures that have made it their home. 

Throughout the museum there are birds nesting, whether in some of the old buildings, in trees or in some of the nest boxes that we have put up. Look at the Greater Spotted woodpecker (pictured) nesting in a tree. You can even watch a family of blue tits nesting in one of our nest boxes live on our website.

Watch our family of Blue Tits on our live webcam

Hopefully the beautiful weather we’ve had recently will return as I will be spending time next week showing off some of our wildlife highlights. From Wednesday to Friday next week (June 6-8) I will in the bird hide from 11-1 with binoculars and I.D sheets and then at the Tannery from 2-4 showing off our colony of bats with the bat cam. If you get the chance, pick up a trail and come and say hi!

Video Clip, taken 30/05/2012

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!