Hi Bulb Buddies,

I’d like to share a few pictures with you. Remember, if you ask your teacher to send pictures of your plants to me I can share them with other schools involved in the project! I’m especially interested in pictures that show the change of seasons, like spring flowers submerged in winter snow!

A wintery spider web at the National Roman Legion Museum

Daffodils at St Fagans National Museum of History. Can you tell which plants have buds and which have flowers?

There has been some confusion over when to enter your flowering dates online. You can monitor how tall your plants are growing each week and let me know in the ‘comments’ section when you enter your weekly weather records. But the ‘flowering date’ and the height of your plant on the day it flowers are to be entered on the NMW website only once the flower has opened. 

Look at the picture above of Daffodils at St Fagans National History Museum. This picture was taken on a cold day, so the flowers haven’t fully opened. But, you can still tell which ones have flowered by looking closely at the picture. If you can clearly see all of the petals then your plant has flowered. Before flowering the petals are held tight in a protective casing and look like this: 

This is a flower bud.

This is a flower bud. Once the flower has matured inside the bud (and the weather is warm enough) the casing will begin to open. This can take a few hours or a few days! If you watch your plants carefully you might see this happening! Once you can see all of your petals and the casing isn’t restricting them at all you can measure the flowers height and enter your findings on the website. Once you have done this a flower will appear on the Map showing where your school is!

You can practice measuring the height of your plants to see how quickly they grow. If your plants are still small you can measure from the top of the soil. But, when you come to take the final reading to enter on the website we ask that you measure from the top rim of your plant pot to the highest point of your flower.

Have you compared the heights of the flowers in your class? Are there big differences in the size and maturity of the plants, or are they all very similar? What about the plants planted in the ground? Are these any bigger than the ones in your plant pots? Why do you think this is? You can let me know your thoughts in the ‘comments’ section when you enter your weekly weather records!

Once the bulbs start to grow send your stories and pictures to our bulb-blog and follow Professor Plant on Twitter! 

Keep up the good work Bulb Buddies!

Professor Plant

P.S. Don’t worry if your bulbs haven’t sprouted yet. It’s still early days and I’m sure it won’t be long! Mine haven't all shown above the soil yet...

My Daffodils and Crocus are growing too!!

Mae dros fis wedi mynd heibio ers i @DyddiadurKate bostio cofnod cyntaf dyddiadur Kate Rowlands. Mi fyddwch chi wedi dysgu rhagor amdani, erbyn hyn, trwy flogiau a chyfweliadau, a thrydar yn ôl ac ymlaen ar gyfrifon fel @StFagansTextile, @archifSFarchive, @RhB1Addysg ac @sf_ystafelloedd.

Rydym ni wedi cael gor-olwg frithliw a diddorol o bob math o agweddau o hanes cyfnod y dyddiadur, sef 1915. Mae cofnodion cryno y dyddiadur wedi bod yn symbyliad i staff i archwilio eu cyd-destun, a rhannu rhagor o gasgliadau a ffynonellau, o Amgueddfa Cymru a thu hwnt. Mae ein cronfa ddata Casgliadau'r Rhyfel Byd Cyntaf yn llawn pob math o wrthrychau sy'n rhoi cip ar stori fwy personol, sy'n mynd â ni i fyd y pethau bychain, fel y gall Dyddiadur Kate.

Un peth sydd wedi dod yn amlwg o gychwyn cynta'r prosiect yw pa mor werthfawr yw casgliad Papurau Newydd Cymru y Llyfrgell Genedlaethol wrth i ni geisio darganfod mwy am gofnodion cryno'r dyddiadur - yn enwedig wrth i Kate sôn am ddigwyddiadau cymdeithasol neu bynciau llosg y cyfnod, fel ei chofnod am yr 'influenza' dros y penwythnos:

Hysbyseb difyr o ran argaeledd orennau #RhB1 @DyddiadurKate Cambrian Daily Leader http://t.co/EQWagw0duL

— Mared Wyn McAleavey (@SF_Ystafelloedd) February 8, 2015

Mae cronfa'r papurau newydd yn eisampl wych o sut i gyflwyno dogfennau mawrion, manwl - mae'r chwiliad yn hawdd iawn i'w lywio, sy'n golygu ei bod hi'n hawdd iawn dod o hyd i erthygl benodol, neu i ddilyn dy drwyn gan ddarllen am dy hoff bynciau (fues i'n darllen lot am gystadleuthau gweu dros y penwythnos, mwy cyffrous yn amlwg na phencampwriaeth y chwe gwlad).

Y tu cefn i'r hanes cymdeithasol a'r trafod a'r rhannu, erbyn hyn, 'mae'r dechnoleg sy'n ei gyflwyno. O safbwynt digidol, mae DyddiadurKate wedi bod yn ffordd wych imi weithio gyda thîm i roi tro ar dargedu cynnwys uniaith-gymraeg ar gyfryngau cymdeithasol. Mae hefyd wedi rhoi cyfle imi arbrofi a gwerthuso rhag-bostio (yn defnyddio tweetdeck), a phlatfform analytics mewnol twitter. Dwi'n gobeithio y bydd y teclynnau hyn yn dod yn ran o waith mwy o'n trydarwyr, fesul tipyn - ac felly o ran 'pethau bychain' fy mywyd bob dydd innau, gan mlynedd yn ddiweddarach, cofnodi data fydda i, tra'n gwylio dyddiau Kate yn pasio heibio.

Fel dilynwyr @DyddiadurKate, fe wyddoch nad oes rhyw lawer o drafod y rhyfel wedi bod yn y dyddiadur hyd yn hyn. Os gofiwch chi nôl i ganol Ionawr, fe gawsom gipolwg ar y broses recriwtio pan soniodd Kate am filwyr yn gorymdeithio drwy Sir Feirionnydd:

19 Ionawr 1915 – Ymddaith y milwyr trwy Station. Eu noson yn y Bala. Ymunodd 25 yng Nghorwen a 5 ym Mhenllyn.

Ers i fy nghydweithiwr, Joe Lewis, ysgrifennu blog am y cofnod uchod, mae erthygl bapur newydd arall wedi dod i’r fei sy’n taflu goleuni ar agwedd swyddogion rhai o gapeli’r ardal at amcanion yr orymdaith hon. Mewn rhifyn o Baner ac Amserau Cymru a gyhoeddwyd ar 30 Ionawr 1915, cawn adroddiad cynhwysfawr am drafodaethau Cyfarfod Misol Methodistiaid Dwyrain Meirionnydd. Cynhaliwyd y cyfarfod hwn yn y Bala dros gyfnod o 3 diwrnod, rhwng 12 – 14 Ionawr 1915. Ar y diwrnod olaf, roedd rhieni Kate yn bresennol:

14 Ionawr 1915 – Ellis a mam yn y Bala trwy’r dydd. Cyfarfod misol.

Roedd gorymdaith y milwyr yn un o bwyntiau trafod y cyfarfod. Er nad yw’r erthygl yn manylu ar y drafodaeth, mae’n nodi’r canlynol:

Pasiwyd y penderfyniad a ganlyn o berthynas i daith y milwyr trwy Feirion: (1) Yr ydym fel cyfarfod misol yn annog ein haelodau i dderbyn milwyr sydd i ymweld â rhai o’n trefi yr wythnos nesaf yn groesawus; ac i wneyd pobpeth yn eu gallu i hyrwyddo amcan eu hymdaith. (2) Yn mhellach, dymunwn adgoffa pawb o ddatganiad Arglwydd Kitchener, a’r diweddar Arglwydd Roberts, yn erbyn temptio y milwyr i yfed diodydd meddwol. (3) Credwn mai buddiol, er hyrwyddo amcan ymdaith y milwyr drwy y sir, fyddai cau y tafarndai yn gynnarach.

Tan yn gymharol ddiweddar, hawdd fyddai dehongli’r dyfyniad uchod fel prawf o gefnogaeth brwdfrydig y genedl at yr ymgyrch ryfel. Mae sawl un ohonom wedi ein trwytho yng ngwaith K. O. Morgan a ddywedodd yn ei gyfrol ddylanwadol Rebirth of a Nation: Wales 1880 – 1980 fod 'jingo fever' ar led yng Nghymru yn ystod y rhyfel, 'heights of hysteria rarely matched in other parts of the United Kingdom'.

Yn y blynyddoedd diwethaf, mae sawl hanesydd wedi herio’r farn hon, yn eu plith Robin Barlow. Mae ganddo erthygl ddiddorol yn y gyfrol A New History of Wales: Myths and Realities in Welsh History sy’n dadlau yn erbyn gor-gyffredinoli’r ymateb yma yng Nghymru – 'support was localised', meddai, 'not universal'. Gallwch ddarllen grynhoad o’r erthygl fan hyn.  

Wrth drafod y sefyllfa yng ngogledd Cymru, mae Barlow yn awgrymu nad oedd y ffigyrau recriwtio gystal yng nghadarnleoedd y Gymraeg – er enghraifft, ym Môn ac Arfon. Ond beth am y sefyllfa ym Meirionnydd?

Yn Ionawr 1915, bu dadlau yn y Cambrian News and Merionethshire Standard ynglyn â ffigyrau recriwtio’r sir. Mewn llythyr a gyhoeddwyd yn y papur ar 22 Ionawr 1915, awgrymodd R. J. Lloyd Price fod Meirionnydd ar ei hôl hi o gymharu â Sir Drefaldwyn – 356 troedfilwr yn fyr o’i nod o 932. Mae’r llythyr yn cynddeiriogi un darllenydd sy’n ymateb i’r honiadau gan ddefnyddio’r ffugenw ‘Meirionwr’. Gallwch ddarllen ei lythyr fan hyn. 'It seems to me', meddai Lloyd Price mewn llythyr arall, 'that the fact of its being found necessary to send a recruiting party through Merionethshire and Carnarvonshire in search of recruits… is the obvious answer to the assertions of Meirionwr.'

Beth bynnag fo’r union ffigyrau, roedd recriwtio yn amlwg yn bwnc llosg ym Meirionnydd yn ystod wythnosau cyntaf 1915. Tybed beth oedd barn Kate a'i theulu?

Hello Bulb Buddies,

I would like to share a humorous rhyme from R at Thorn Primary School: "If I was a dog and you were a flower I’d lift my leg and give you a shower!"

Thorn Primary School: What happens to the plants after they have flowered? Do they die? Prof P: Hi Thorn Primary School. This is a very important question. Your bulbs won’t die after they have flowered! The leaves of your plant make food and the roots absorb water. When your flower dies the bulb stores all remaining food and water inside itself ready for next Autumn. Your teacher has information on how to care for your bulbs after your flowers die, and I will blog about it closer to the time. But this won’t happen until the end of Spring – so enjoy your flowers while they are here!

Skelmorlie Primary School: This week we have had a lot of snow and sleet in our weather. It has been really cold so we have had to look out for ice when we are playing too. In our water gauge this week, there was around 13 mm of water and 37 mm of ice/snow. Prof P: Hi Skelmorlie Primary School. I’m glad to hear you are being careful when you are outside, the weather can cause dangerous conditions! I’m assuming you melted the 37mm of snow to 13mm of water. Was there less water than you thought there would be? This is because water expands when it freezes and evaporates when it heats! I’d like to thank you for all the weekly comments you have sent me – you are definitely Super Scientists!

St. Ignatius Primary School: Professor Plant we missed some recordings this week due to the bad weather here. Our teacher decided it was not safe enough for us to go out and collect the recordings. Today we had a big piece of ice in our rainfall gauge so if that melted our rainfall would be more. The raifall gauge was also this full as it includes the 3 days we didn't take recordings. St. Ignatius Primary 4. Prof P: Hello St Ignatius Primary 4. Not to worry about missing some recordings due to bad weather – if it’s icy it’s better to stay warm and safe! As for the block of ice, you are not the only school to have had this problem. If this happens again please take your rain gauge inside and wait for the ice to melt. Then record the water level as rain fall on your weather chart!

Morningside Primary School: We brought our rain gauge in on Monday as it was full of snow and let it melt before we took the measurement. Prof P: Well done Morningside Primary School, you really are Super Scientists! I hope you enjoyed the experiment. I always try to guess how much water there will be when the ice melts!  Other schools have had the chance to do this experiment too, including Corshill Primary School.

Chryston Primary School: We are terribly sorry that we could not finish our records last week. We have been very busy with our Scottish afternoon and the weather here has been horrible. Hopefully we will finish our records next week. Prof P: Not to worry Chryston Primary School. Scottish afternoon sounds exciting! I hope you had a good week!

Thorn Primary School: We had lots of snow this week as well as lots of ice! We have no recording for Thursday as our school was closed due to the ice making it unsafe for staff and children to arrive. Prof P: Not to worry Thorn Primary School, other schools were unable to complete their records due to bad weather too! And lots of schools have reported snow, including: Woodlands Primary School, St. Brigid's School, Ysgol Hiraddug, Abbey Primary School, Manor Road Primary School, Rivington Foundation Primary School, Bickerstaffe CE Primary School and Balshaw Lane Community Primary School.

Our Lady of Peace Primary School: It has been very windy,snowy and icy. Two girls fell today at playtime and lunchtime on the ice and hurt themselves. It snowed last Tuesday and Wednesday. The two girl that fell are the girls that wrote this. Prof P: Hello, I’m sorry to hear you fell on the ice! I hope you weren’t badly hurt! I hope children at other schools take note and that everyone is extra careful when outdoors in this weather!

Ysgol Y Plas: Dear professor plant I thought you would like to know that nineteen bulbs in the flower bed have been growing and sixteen in the pots have started as well. From C. Prof P: Hi C, that’s great news! Other schools have reported new shoots too, including Skelmorlie Primary School!

Tongwynlais Primary School: We have no rain records for monday and tuesday as a few of our fellow pupils have been playing with our rain gage. We hope we can collect more accurate measurements next week. Prof P: Thank you for letting me know TongwynlaisPrimary School. Other schools have been having problems with their rain gauges too. Including Euxton Church of England Primary School whose rain gauge has been repeatedly knocked over by football players! They have found a new location for their rain gauge now.

Darran Park Primary: I have got a new friend doing this job now - he enjoys doing it !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Prof P: Haha, well I’m guessing that not everyone at Darran Park Primary is enjoying this project! I hope your new friend can show you how much fun science can be and that you come to enjoy the project as much as he does!

The Blessed Sacrament Catholic Primary School: It has been really icy in the mornings but the daffodil shoots are getting taller. F. Prof P: Good to know F. You must be looking after them very well!

Bancyfelin: 1 mm of snow fell on Thursday 29th of January. This means that 4mm of rain + 1mm of snow fell on this day. Prof P: Well done Bancyfelin. I assume you measured the snow using snow sticks? I see you recorded 4mm of rain, so I assume the snow melted in your rain gauge!

Baird Memorial Primary School: We are surprised by the changes that occurred within the temperature side of things. The changes were dramatic. Prof P: Hi Baird Memorial Primary School. You are right, there is quite a jump in your temperature readings from -1°c on Thursday to 11°c on Friday! This shows how temperamental the weather can be. Drops in temperature are often caused by cold winds, clouds and precipitation (rain and snow).

Ysgol Nant Y Coed: We enjoyed doing we like doing it very much its so FUN!!!! This is are last time doing it :(wahhhhhhhh we wish we could do it again-S and A. Prof P: Hi S & A! I’m glad you are enjoying the project and I hope you have learnt a lot! There are other scientific experiments you can take part in. I’m guessing its someone else’s turn to take the temperature and rain fall readings for this project now. But you could easily do a similar experiment at home! The MET Office have a Weather Observation Website (WOW) where they ask people to document temperature reading from their area. This information then helps Meteorologists to build a clearer picture of weather patterns across the UK. You can take part here: http://wow.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/manual .

Ysgol Clocaenog: Heddiw, rydym wedi gweld bod ein cennin pedr yn dechrau tyfu. Mae cennin pedr K wedi tyfu 1.5cm. Mae rhai ohonynt dal heb ddechrau eto. Athro'r Ardd: Wel, rwy'n falch o glywed bod eich Cennin Pedr wedi cychwyn tyfu. Mae'n swnio fel bod bwlb K yn tyfu yn gyflym iawn! Daliwch ati gyda'r gwaith da Ysgol Clocaenog!

Keep up the good work Bulb Buddies!!

Professor Plant

30.01.15 Additional story

Unfortunately, due to the vagaries of Falkland Islands weather, we are currently stuck in Stanley for an extra day after our flight was postponed last night for 24 hours. Apparently, gale force gusting crosswinds are not suitable for airplane takeoffs!

Still, it meant I had time to visit the new Falkland Islands Museum which I had not had time to get to during the last two weeks. I visited this museum two years ago before it was moved to its new location. Back then, it was in a small building at the top end of Stanley, every conceivable piece of space crammed with stories and displays each vying for attention but difficult to concentrate on due to the overcrowding. Now, it has a shiny new, custom-built, two-storey building on the central waterfront, the displays have more space to view and it is easier to see and follow the stories of the different aspects of Falklands culture.

This is a ‘local’ museum in the sense that it tells the story of the Falkland Islands from discovery and colonisation through to the present day, through social, natural, maritime and military histories. Not surprisingly, the social history aspects get the most detail and time and, slightly disappointingly, at least from my point of view, the natural history section is both small and fairly superficial. The most significant birds and mammals get a quick mention, invertebrates not at all, with no mention of the rich marine life found here. Geology fares even worse. There is however, a nice section on the commercial fisheries, their importance as well as the work done to monitor them, control them and help reduce bird mortalities associated with them. There is also a section on the current oil exploration. The Islands have long had associations with Antarctic exploration with many expeditions passing through the islands, Shackleton particularly spending time here. The ‘Reclus Hut’, for many years a research hut at Portal Point in the Antarctic, was shipped back here along with all of its contents before it was lost, after it had been closed and abandoned for many years. In the old museum, this was outside and was still faring badly in the weather. Now, it has a place inside along with the expeditionary stories related to its history and should last for many more years to come, reminding people just how tough Antarctic exploration was back then.

Outside, with more space and new coats of paint are the larger displays of maritime and military objects including a harpoon gun, now looking clean and shiny as opposed to the rusting relic it was before (see before and after photos). Unfortunately, the labels for these seem to have disappeared for now, with only my old photos to tell me what they are. Hopefully, these labels will be replaced soon as visitors will always want to know what it is they are looking at.

I’m glad the museum has been given more space and funds to properly showcase the Islands history and culture, the stories do deserve it. Perhaps in the future, they may be persuaded to expand the natural history sections in keeping with the variety and diversity of life they have here, also a story well-deserving of being told.