Eighty five schools across the UK will be awarded Super Scientist Certificates from Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum Wales this year, in recognition of their contribution to the Spring Bulbs – Climate Change Investigation!

Huge Congratulations to all these schools! They are listed below, is your school listed?

Over twice as many schools took part in the Investigation as last year, which is fantastic news! It’s wonderful to have so many of you helping with this really important study.

Thank you to every one of the 4116 pupils who helped this year! Thank you for working so hard planting, observing, measuring and recording - you really are Super Scientists! Each one of you will receive a certificate and Super Scientist pencil, these will be sent to your school around the middle of May.

Many thanks to the Edina Trust for funding this project and helping to make this all happen.

Super Scientist Winners 2013

Well done to our three winners for sending in the most weather data! Each will receive a class trip of fun-packed nature activities.

• SS Philip and James Primary School in England
• Williamstown Primary School in Wales
• Wormit Primary School in Scotland

Runners Up

Each school will receive a gift voucher to purchase lovely things for your gardening projects.

• Balcurvie Primary School in Scotland
• Sofrydd Primary School in Wales
• Stanford in the Vale Primary School in England

Highly commended

Each school will receive certificates, pencils, flower seeds and herb seeds.

• Balmerino Primary School
• Blaenycwm Primary School
• Britannia Community Primary School
• Coed-y-Lan Primary School
• Coppull Parish Primary School
• Dunbog Primary School
• Freuchie Primary School
• Glyncollen Primary School
• Henllys CIW Primary School
• Oakfield Primary School
• St Athan Primary School
• St Joseph's RC Primary School (Penarth)
• St Roberts Roman Cathlic Primary School
• Torbain Primary School
• Tynewater Primary School
• Westwood CP School
• Ysgol Gynradd Talybont
• Ysgol Nant y Coed
• Ysgol y Ffridd

Schools with special recognition

Each school will receive, certificates, pencils and flower seeds.

• Brynhyfryd Junior School
• Bwlchgwyn CP School
• Darran Park Primary
• Gladestry CIW School
• Greyfriars RC Primary School
• Hawthornden Primary School
• Kilmaron Special School
• Lakeside Primary School
• Llangan Primary School
• Magor Church in Wales Primary School
• Milford Haven Junior School
• Newburgh Primary School
• Newport Primary School
• Rhydypenau Primary School
• Rogiet Primary School
• St Mary's Catholic Primary School (Wales)
• St Mary's RC Primary School (England)
• Stepping Stones Short Stay School
• Thorneyholme RC Primary School
• Ysgol Bodafon
• Ysgol Bryn Garth
• Ysgol Clocaenog
• Ysgol Deganwy
• Ysgol Hiraddug
• Ysgol Porth y Felin

Schools to be awarded certificates

Each school will receive Super Scientist Certificates and pencils.

• Archbishop Hutton's Primary School
• Auchtertool Primary School
• Cadoxton Primary School
• Christchurch CP School
• Duloch Primary School
• Eyton Church in Wales Primary School
• Freckleton CE Primary School
• Fulwood and Cadley Primary School
• Harwell Primary School
• Holy Family RC Primary School
• Hywel Da Primary School
• Ladybank Primary School
• Ladygrove Park Primary School
• LasswadePrimary School
• Lever House Primary School
• Manor Primary School
• Medlar with Wesham CE Primary School
• Nether Kellet Primary School
• Northbourne CE Primary School
• Park Primary School
• RAF Benson Primary School
• Rishton Methodist Primary School
• Sherwood Primary School
• St John's Catholic Primary School
• St Nicholas Primary School
• Stepaside CP School
• Tor View Community Special School
• Weeton Primary School
• Windale Primary School
• Ysgol Capelulo
• Ysgol Gymunedol Dolwyddelan
• Ysgol Iau Hen Golwyn
• Ysgol Morfa Rhianedd
• Ysgol Pencae

Well done, you have all done an AMAZING job.

Daffodil Drawing Competition 2013

Congratulations to the following pupils who produced some excellent botanical drawings! 1st, 2nd and 3rd prize winners will receive a bird watching kit with mini binoculars.

• 1st: Oliver – Stanford in the Vale Primary School
• 2nd: Sam – St Joseph's RC Primary School (Penarth)
• 3rd: Daniel (age 6) – Stanford in the Vale Primary School

Runners Up

All will receive flower seeds for your garden.

• Etward? (age 6) – Stanford in the Vale Primary School
• Finlay (age 7) – Stanford in the Vale Primary School
• Jemima – St Joseph's RC Primary School (Penarth)
• Joe – St Joseph's RC Primary School (Penarth)
• Joshua – St Joseph's RC Primary School (Penarth)
• Joshua (age 7) – Stanford in the Vale Primary School
• Larson (age 11) – Stanford in the Vale Primary School
• Leo – Stanford in the Vale Primary School
• Nathan – St Joseph's RC Primary School (Penarth)
• William  (age 5) – Stanford in the Vale Primary School

Many Thanks

Professor Plant

The extended deadline for flower records is Friday 19 April – that is this Friday bulb buddies! Please remember to send me your records on the website.

Remember to check the bulb-blog next week as I will be announcing the Competition winners!! Winners for the Flower Drawing Competition and the Win a Nature-Activity Trip will be announced on Monday 22 April.

Whose flowers have opened this week?

Lakeside Primary, Ysgol Bryn Garth, Christchurch CP School and Rhydypenau Primary School in Wales, Manor Primary School and Coppull Parish Primary School in England and Wormit Primary School in Scotlandhave all sent in flower records. Well done and thank you to these schools!

There has been a lot in the news recently about the cold and snow, and how late flowering is this year. Did you know it was the coldest March in the UK in over 50 years? And guess what? March was colder than the winter months of December, January and February! No wonder some of our flowers are late to open this year.

See BBC News or Met Office News for more information on these cold weather stories.

In March The Guardian reported that plants are late to bud and flower this year, especially in Scotland, and that hibernating animals like bats, frogs and lizards woke up then went back into hibernation because it was too cold!

Unfortunately, cold weather can lead to an increase in local air pollution. This is because we generate more pollution by using more heating, but also because when the air is cold and still, pollution particles build up in the atmosphere rather than evaporating or being blown away.

Many thanks

Prof P

Another busy Easter fortnight has been and gone, one which saw over 4000 people visit the Tŷ Gwyrdd at St Fagans. Between the 25^th of March and the 4^th of April we ran a range of workshops from upcycling corkboards to planting tomoato seeds via an April Fools day quiz. 

One of our workshops, Grow Now, Eat Later, was designed as a way to encourage visitors to think about growing their own food. There was a chance for families to plant a few tomato seeds to take home with them. Hopefully, over the coming months, with the right kind of nurturing, these seeds will grow into healthy tomato plants and will eventually produce a crop of delicious tomatoes. I’ll let you know how my own attempts fare! 

For 2 days we were joined by Wood for the Trees Wales who held an Up-Cycling Workshop in the Tŷ Gwyrdd. This involved creating notice boards from old picture frames and cork tiles. This was an extremely popular activity with all who visited, in fact we used up every single picture frame and every scrap of cork tile! If you are interested in similar workshops, visit Wood for the Trees Wales’ Facebook page for more info! 

As Easter Monday fell on April the 1^st, we thought it was only right to hold an event for April Fools day. We created an quiz around the house so that visitors could test themselves to find out if they were Eco Cool or indeed an April Fool. Luckily it turned out most of our visitors were indeed Eco Cool… with only a few exceptions. After completing the quiz there was a chance to make badge to show off your eco credentials to friends and family. 

As part of the Making History Project, the use of the Tŷ Gwyrdd will be changing. As the main visitor entrance is being upgraded, the Tŷ Gwyrdd will form part of a temporary entrance to St Fagans. 

Over the years, we’ve had a fantastic time running numerous workshops in the Tŷ Gwyrdd and meeting literally thousands of wonderful poeple. Thanks to the many, many people who have helped us achieve this. Rest assured, lots of our workshops will continue, albeit in different locations throughout St Fagans Museum. Watch this space!

April 10th: There are eggs

The female started incubating on the 20th March so, all being well, we can expect the first chick to be hatching in the latter half of April. There was relatively little sign of the pair earlier in the year and the report of a dead Peregrine in Alexandra Gardens just before Christmas was a cause for concern!

With so little displaying and calling around the tower I was quite surprised to see the female begin brooding in late March, let's hope this pair is successful.

There more than 100 natural history collections across Wales, containing a fantastic record of Welsh (and international) fauna, flora and geology. Many of these collections go back to the early 19^th century. They are an irreplaceable resource for public exhibitions, teaching and scientific research. These collections include some real jewels, such as a King Penguin from the Shackleton expedition to Antarctica more than 100 years ago, an early Neolithic bone flute, and a 19^th century turnspit dog (stuffed).

One of the best ways scientists and researchers can gather information about the importance of our environment is through studying museum collections. For example, biological specimens are used to study changes in biodiversity over time, and geological specimens can help us understand climate change. Preserving these collections is an absolute necessity. If a 200-year-old collection can tell us something about how to save the environment tomorrow, it has to be worth preserving.

Unfortunately, many natural science collections across Wales are at real risk of deterioration. The only subject specialists in Wales work at Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum Wales. This means that many museums do not have the knowhow to interpret their collections to their full potential, some collections are neglected and museum visitors do not get to see everything they possibly could.

A new project is now trying to address this issue. The Linking Natural Science Collections project will review a large part of the Welsh natural history collections and combine them – at least in the virtual reality of the internet – by bringing together collections records in an online database. This means that all the individual collections across Wales can then be treated as pieces of one large natural science collection. These collections will therefore form part of a Distributed National Collection – a concept from the Welsh government’s Museum Strategy.

The project will conclude after three years with a touring exhibition of spectacular or significant natural science objects from across Wales. There will also be many other benefits, for example training for curators who will then be able to better understand and use their collections, and to share their knowledge with museum visitors and users.

If you have a natural sciences collection or are interested in knowing more about this project please get in touch with the project manager, who is based at Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum Wales (christian.baars@museumwales.ac.uk).

You can also follow the project on Facebook: facebook.com/LinkingCollectionsWales.

Find out more about the Museums Strategy for Wales 2010-1015.

Amgueddfa Cymru - National Museum Wales: www.museumwales.ac.uk.

© the National Museum of Wales