If you visit the Museum of Zoology Butterflies through Time exhibition (from 15 March – September 2022), you will be greeted by a magnificent collaborative artwork created by children from three Cambridgeshire Schools – The Grove Primary in Cambridge, Lantern Primary in Ely and Lionel Walden Primary in Doddington – led by artist Eleanor Chaney. Find out more about Eleanor and her project The Library … Continue reading A Kaleidoscope of Butterflies
We all know that Santa has a team of reindeer to pull his sleigh around the globe on Christmas Eve delivering presents. But are reindeer really the best animals for the job? In this Nature Classroom post, we do the maths together to work out what is needed from these magical animals, and compare it with some of the wonders of nature. Why not combine … Continue reading Winter Wildlife: Who Should Pull Santa’s Sleigh?
Sticky post
The natural world is full of stories to discover. Use the Museum of Zoology collection to explore habitats, complete puzzles and build a team of the animals you meet along the way. Before you begin: Grab a pencil and piece of paper so that you can record your favourite stories or animals while you play. Draw a picture of your ultimate animal team to share … Continue reading Animal Adventurers: the game
If you’ve visited the Museum of Zoology, you will have been greeted by the largest specimen in our collection, the magnificent skeleton of a Fin Whale. In this Nature Classroom we will be going on a journey into the oceans to explore the amazing world of whales, and see what their skeletons can tell us about the way they live and have evolved. These activities … Continue reading Whales!
With the RSPB’s Big Garden Birdwatch taking place from the 29-31 January, we have chosen to celebrate our fine feathered friends with a special Nature Classroom all about British birds. We will be uncovering what it is to be a bird, unfurling an amazing world of feathers, and creating a key together for common garden birds. Get your eye in by trying some of our … Continue reading Our Feathered Friends
Last month in Nature Classroom we went on a guided tour of the skeleton, looking at the all the different bits and what they do. Today we are going to focus in on the arms and legs. Why? We can tell a lot about the animals they belong to, the way they move and sometimes even the way they eat when we look at the … Continue reading Skeletons: Arms and Legs
Ever wondered how bees communicate with each other to work as a team? Learn about the important job these pollinating insects carry out. Play our ‘Talk like a Bee’ game and discover how bees can ‘smell’ each other when visiting flowers, and find out how we can give these insects a helping hand by building your very own bee-friendly winter refuge. Insect communication Insects can … Continue reading Busy Bee Communication
Look out of your window and you are probably seeing some big changes happening in the natural world outside. It is getting dark in the early evening. The leaves on the trees are changing colour from green to orange and yellow then falling to the ground. You might have spotted bunches of berries, or conkers and other nuts. And the temperature is dropping too. It’s … Continue reading The Changing Seasons
If you have ever visited the Museum of Zoology, you will have seen that we have skeletons big and small, from our enormous fin whale greeting you as you come into the Museum, to tiny mice and the exoskeletons of insects. In this Nature Classroom we will be exploring what a skeleton is, why skeletons are important, and taking you on a guided tour of … Continue reading Skeletons!
To celebrate the Museum reopening on September 24, for pre-booked visits only (for details and how to book, see our website), we have developed a new trail around the galleries taking in some of the amazing adaptations on display. Not able to visit the Museum? You can explore these adaptations here, with some extra ideas on ways you can discover more about animal evolution at … Continue reading Amazing Animal Adaptations
It’s easy to think of ways animals need plants. We need them for food and shelter, and they provide us with oxygen to breathe. But plants need animals too, and one way they need animals in for pollination. What is pollination? How does it work? Why is it important? Find out in this week’s Nature Classroom. These activities support learning in the following areas: Identify … Continue reading Pollinators
This is the final Nature Classroom post before the summer holidays. We hope you have been enjoying exploring the natural world with us this term. We thought we would finish the term with some fun activities engaging with the wildlife on your doorstep. There is information about a fantastic citizen science project from Butterfly Conservation, as well as wildlife-watching activities as part of Summer at … Continue reading Watching Summer Wildlife
As schools plan for a very different academic year to begin, we appreciate the new challenges being faced by teachers and pupils, and the amount of extra work and stress being placed on you at this time. The Museum’s learning team would like to support you however we can, and are looking to reimagine our schools programme with digital technologies in mind.To make this the best offer … Continue reading Teachers: How can we help you?
Have you taking part in our Nature Classroom this term? A few weeks ago we looked in detail at feeding adaptations in mammals, from enormous lion canines to the grinding teeth of herbivores. Check out the animals and activities in our Jaws post here. This week’s nature classroom is an extension of this. Join Learning Offer Roz Wade as she shows you one of her … Continue reading Exploring Skulls: Badger
A few weeks ago in Nature Classroom we explored feeding adaptations in mammals (you can find it here). There we saw how mammal teeth are adapted to the food they eat. But what about birds? Birds don’t have any teeth, but we can see adaptations to their diets in the shape of the beak. In this Nature Classroom we will be exploring evolution and adaptation … Continue reading Bird Beaks and Evolution
Museum of Zoology Blog 