The Spring Bulbs for Schools Investigation has died down until September, when we will be welcoming our new schools and introducing them to the project.

But there’s lots of fun that can be had over the summer! Explore our website to find activity sheets and games that you can play at home. The origami booklet and Kahoot quizzes are my favourites!

There’s more to explore on the Amgueddfa Cymru Learn pages and the Edina Trust website. 

Why not have a go at some of our Kahoot quizzes now? Just click the links below to explore!

Quiz 1: When will our daffodils flower 2024? 

Compare weather data for 2023-24 from across the UK and against previous years to predict when daffodils will flower. What do plants need to grow? Which country was the warmest / coldest? Which country had the least rain? 

Quiz 2: Bulb Project Quiz 2023-24 Level 1 

Study bar graphs to deduce which were the wettest and warmest countries. Answer questions about plants. Discover which countries had the most and least rainfall. Discover which countries had the highest and lowest temperatures. 

Quiz 3: Bulb Project Quiz 2023-24 Level 2 

Study bar graphs to deduce national trends in temperature and rainfall. Study units carefully to calculate average monthly rainfall records for Wales, England, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Work out the monthly temperatures for Wales, England, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Answer general knowledge questions. 

Quiz 4: Compare weather records from different years 

Study line and bar chats to look for trends in the weather data. Order countries from warmest to coolest. See which years had the most and least rainfall. Deduce which years had the most hours of sunshine. 

Quiz 5: UK Flower Data 2024 

Study line and bar charts to look for trends in the flower data. Answer questions about average weather readings. Sort years from earliest to latest flowering dates. Study bar charts to see whether plants flowered earlier or later than expected. 

Quiz 6: Wales Weather Data 

Study line and bar charts to look for trends in the weather data. Study line graphs to pick out high and low monthly average temperatures. Study line graphs to answer true or false questions about monthly rainfall. Study Bar charts to order years from warmest to coolest.

Quiz 7: Wales Flower Data 

Study bar and line graphs to determine whether our data shows patterns for the flowering dates of spring bulbs. Use tables to deduce which years saw plants flower earliest. Study combination charts to deduce trends in the data. Compare findings from different charts to see if there are patterns that explain anomalies in the data. 

Have fun Bulb Buddies,

Professor Plant

Super Scientists: A Fantastic Visit from St Mary's Church in Wales Primary!

On 2 July, the National Museum Cardiff had the pleasure of hosting the amazing students from St Mary's Church in Wales Primary School in Brynmawr. Their visit was a well-deserved prize for their exceptional contribution to the Spring Bulbs for Schools Investigation 2023-2024.

Spring Bulbs for Schools Investigation

As part of this exciting project, the diligent students recorded daily weather data from 1 November to 31 March and consistently uploaded this information to our museum website. They also planted and nurtured bulbs, meticulously recording the heights and flowering dates of their plants. This valuable data is a crucial part of our long-term study into how climate change affects the flowering dates of spring bulbs.

Celebrating Super Scientists

The Learning team at National Museum Cardiff was thrilled to celebrate the hard work of these Super Scientists. To show our appreciation, we organized a series of engaging activities that we knew they would love. This included piloting our new Endangered Species workshop and exploring the diverse wildlife in our Urban Meadow.

Endangered Species Workshop

We were excited to introduce our new Endangered Species workshop, where we delved into the fascinating world of extinct animals, like the dodo, and the important lessons their stories teach us. We also explored the galleries in search of other species currently facing extinction, and discussed the various threats they encounter. Through mind mapping, we identified issues and brainstormed solutions, empowering the students with knowledge about individual actions they can take to help. One key takeaway? Sharing what they've learned with others!

Urban Meadow Workshop

Armed with sketchbooks and pencils, the students ventured outside to the Museum's Urban Meadow. They were delighted to observe a variety of fascinating creatures, including green woodpeckers, stripy bumblebees, hoverflies, bright red ladybirds, busy black ants, and fluorescent soldier bugs. The meadow was alive with daisies, clover, poppies, tall grasses, and a stunning array of colourful wildflowers. Back in the Clore Discovery Centre, the students enhanced their scientific sketches and botanical illustrations, taking a closer look at the collections and adding intricate details to their artwork.

A Day to Remember

What a lovely and productive day it was! We extend our heartfelt thanks to St Mary's Church in Wales Primary for their dedication and enthusiasm.

Keep exploring and discovering, Super Scientists!

Professor Plant

Hi Bulb Buddies,

I've attached the end of year report documents to the right of this post. 

Take a look at them to see how this year's results compared to those of previous years. The UK wide report goes back to 2012 and the Wales report goes back to 2005!

I've also uploaded a list of all of this years fun Kahoot quizzes. Why not have a go and see how good you are at interpreting the data shown. You can re-take the quizzes as many times as you like to see how much you've learnt. 

Here are some facts from the UK report, there are many more!

• Our findings show that plants flowered latest in Scotland.
• This is only the second year where crocus plants flowered earlier than daffodils.
• The average flowering date for the crocus and daffodils combined has only been earlier in 2019 and 2020.
• We had the warmest February of our investigation.
• The MET Office stated that February 2024 was the second warmest February on record for the UK in a series dating back to 1884. 
• 2024 saw the lowest hours of sunshine since our project began. 

Thank you to all the schools who contributed to the investigation by sharing their weather and flower data to the Amgueddfa Cymru website. 

Fantastic work!

Professor Plant

Hi Bulb Buddies,

I want to say a big thank you to all the schools who sent entries in for our new video competition. It was extremely hard to choose between them, but everyone involved with the project voted and the results were:

Winners:

Clare Primary School

Runner up:

St Mary’s Church in Wales Primary (@StMarysCIWBJ)

Special Recognition:

Kirkmichael Primary

Our Lady’s RC Primary

Fantastic work Bulb Cast Buddies!

Professor Plant

Hi Bulb Buddies,

I want to say a big thank you to all the schools who took part in this year's Spring Bulbs for Schools Investigation. 

Participating schools planted bulbs in October and then monitored and cared for these until they flowered. Pupils shared the heights of their plants and the dates that they flowered with us. They also took temperature and rainfall readings every day that they were in school from 1 November to 31 March, and uploaded this information to the Amgueddfa Cymru website. This data feeds into our nationwide study investigating the effects of a changing climate on the flowering dates of spring bulbs. 

Here are the schools who helped us this year: 

Winners

Wales: St. Mary's CiW Primary

England: Our Lady of the Assumption Catholic Primary School

Scotland: Gavinburn Primary School

N. Ireland: Portadown Integrated Primary School

Runner’s up

Wales: Cornist  Park  C.P

England: Roseacre Primary Academy 

Scotland: Our Lady's RC Primary School

N. Ireland: Sacred Heart Primary School - Omagh

Special Recognition:

Wales: 

Ysgol Gymraeg Tonyrefail

Ysgol Pennant

Ysgol San Sior

Ysgol Tycroes

England:

Fleet Wood Lane Primary 

Stanford in the Vale 

N. Ireland: 

Irvinestown Primary School

St Joseph and St James's Primary 

St Patrick's Primary School - Eskra

Highly Commended 

Wales:

Bedlinog Community Primary

Churchstoke CP School

Forden CiW Primary

Hafod Primary

Henllys CiW Primary

Llanfaes CP School

Peterston Super Ely CiW Primary

Pil Primary School

Raglan VC CiW Primary

Rhayader Primary

Upper Rhymney Primary

Ysgol Bryn Pennant

Ysgol Casmael (Sir Benfro)

Ysgol Gymraeg Aberystwyth

Ysgol Gymraeg Dewi Sant

Ysgol Gynradd Llandegfan

Ysgol Tir Morfa

England: 

Anchorsholme Academy

Eaton Valley Primary School

Educational Diversity

Ferndale Primary School

Kidgate Primary Academy

St John's CE Primary School

Sylvester Primary Academy

Scotland:

Abbey Primary School

Blacklands Primary School

Clare Primary School

Cortamlet Primary School

Cuthbertson Primary School

Doonfoot Primary School

Kirkhill Primary School

Kirkmichael Primary School

Langbank Primary School

Milton Primary School

Newmains Primary School

Newton Primary School

St Peter's Primary School

Whatriggs Primary School

Northern Ireland:

Carrick Primary School

Clonalig Primary School

St John's Primary School

St Mary's Primary School - Maguiresbridge

St Peter Primary School - Plumbridge

St Teresa's Primary - Craigavon

Tandragee Primary School

Super Scientists

Wales: 

Albert Primary

Blaendulais Primary

Creigiau Primary

Eveswell Primary

Hay on Wye CP School

Mount Street Junior School

Neyland Community School

NPTC Newtown College

Pembroke Dock Community School

St. Mary’s CiW School - Wrexham

St. Michael's RC Primary

Trelai Primary

Waldo Williams Primary

YGG Bronllwyn 

Ysgol Deiniol

Ysgol Glan Morfa (Conwy)

England: 

Halsnead Primary School

Hamstead Junior School

Northwood Community Primary School

Old Park Primary School

Phoenix Primary Schoo

Prescot Primary School

Rowley Hall Primary School

Temple Meadow Primary School

Waterloo Primary Academy

Scotland: 

Alloway Primary School

Bishopton Primary School

Elmvale Primary - Glasgow

Leslie Primary School

Livingston Village Primary School

Lochwinnoch Primary School

Logan Primary School

Our Lady and St Francis Primary School

Our Lady of Peace Primary

Underbank Primary School

Windyknowe Primary School

N. Ireland:

Grange Primary School Kilkeel

St Mary's Primary - Craigavon

St Mary's Primary School - Newry

Contributors 

Wales:

Alaw Primary

Bryn Celyn Primary

Ffynnon Taf Primary 

Glyncoed Primary

Hafod y Wern Community Primary

Johnston C.P. School

England: 

Childwall C of E Primary School

Cronton CE Primary School

Grange Primary School

Marton Primary Academy and Nursery

Roby Park Primary School

Shireland Technology Primary School

St Kentigern's Primary School

St Paul's C of E Academy

Summerhill Primary Academy

Scotland: 

Fordbank Primary School

Meldrum Primary School

St Conval's Primary School

St Cuthbert's Primary School

St John Ogilvie Primary School

St Patrick's Primary - Troon

St Vincent's Primary School

Northern Ireland:

St Paul's Primary School

Willowbridge Special School