

Winter Wildlife: conservation storytelling
For Winter Wildlife 2021, members of the Zoology Club (13-18 year olds) met to discover and write about bird migration and the threats of climate change to migratory species. See the stories they created at the bottom of this post, or continue below to create your own story. Why migratory bird species? Scientists have calculated that climate change has affected around ⅓ of all UK … Continue reading Winter Wildlife: conservation storytelling

Winter Wildlife: Colourful Present Wraps
Everyone likes to experience the surprise of opening a gift from a loved one. Over the holiday period the United Kingdom alone throws away enough wrapping paper to reach the moon! That’s a lot of gift-giving but also a lot of waste. Last year we shared how you can create recyclable festival wrapping paper at home to help save on landfill waste. This year, we’re … Continue reading Winter Wildlife: Colourful Present Wraps

Winter Wildlife: Who Should Pull Santa’s Sleigh?
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?

Winter Wildlife: Wonderful Waxwings
Our Young Zoologists Club members have been busy creating a waxwing irruption to feature in our Winter Wildlife: ZoologiCOOL livestream on December 1st. Why not make one yourselves at home and join in when you see these models flapping on screen. They are quite simple to make and don’t require any special materials or equipment. Just download the template and follow the instructions below to … Continue reading Winter Wildlife: Wonderful Waxwings

Winter Wildlife: ZoologiCOOL
How are animals adapted to the cold of winter? Why do some escape it, and are their migrations being affected by climate change? And as for the most important winter journey of all – are reindeer really the best animals to pull Santa’s sleigh? These are all questions we will be looking into in our Winter Wildlife: ZoologiCOOL livestream on Wednesday 1 December. Join us … Continue reading Winter Wildlife: ZoologiCOOL

Creepy Creatures?
Are you spooked by spiders? Far from being a fan of rats? Minded to avoid moths or backtrack at the sight of a bat? This blog post is here to set the record straight. These animals that may seem creepy or frightening showcase some amazing biology and perform important roles in the habitats where they live. Here staff, students and volunteers from the Museum of … Continue reading Creepy Creatures?

Chicken Licken with Marion Leeper
Storyteller Marion Leeper takes us on a journey around the Museum of Zoology gallery with Chicken Licken. Who might she meet? Made with ages 0-5 years in mind, all ages welcome. This video has been created as part of the Cambridge Zero Climate Change Festival 2021 Discover more tales from Marion Leeper in Love Stories for the Earth There’s plenty more to explore from the … Continue reading Chicken Licken with Marion Leeper

World Habitats Day 2021
Monday 4th October 2021 is World Habitat Day. To celebrate habitats from around the world, here we look at some of the animals that live in different ecosystems from the African plains to the deep ocean floor, written by staff, students and volunteers at the Museum of Zoology. World Habitat Day was set up by the UN to reflect on urban habitats, with this year’s … Continue reading World Habitats Day 2021

A Paddle of Platypuses
What do you call groups of different animals? In this Puggle Club story we explore some of the collective nouns for different animals, from a pride of lions to a shiver of sharks… Want to see more of the Museum of Zoology? Check out our Animal Alphabet for under 5s and go on a tour of the animal kingdom from Aardvark to Zebra: Continue reading A Paddle of Platypuses

Behind the Scenes at the Museum for Open Cambridge 2021
We have a special treat for you as part of the Open Cambridge Festival 2021: not one but three virtual tours of the Museum. Go behind the scenes for a tour of the Bird Room with Curator of Ornithology Dr Daniel Field and a tour of the Insect Room by Research Assistant Matt Hayes. Then follow Assistant Director Jack Ashby as he guides you around … Continue reading Behind the Scenes at the Museum for Open Cambridge 2021

Recycled Rockpool
Did you make a rainforest with us last summer? With the end of the summer holidays coming, why not relive seaside memories and make your own rockpool habitat out of recycled materials? We have some inspiration and ideas for you here, but you can let your imagination run wild and make creatures from crabs to sea anemones, starfish to periwinkles… Read on to discover rockpool … Continue reading Recycled Rockpool

Portals to the World: Exploring Breaking Point
Please note that the Breaking Point exhibition has now ended. These resources remain here to be stand-alone and hope to still spark conversations around conservation, plastics and the natural world. Explore our Breaking Point exhibition with dementia friendly resources. These resources have been created in partnership with Dementia Compass, for adults with dementia and their care partners in mind. While they were initially created for participants … Continue reading Portals to the World: Exploring Breaking Point

Pondwatch: Rockpools
It’s the summer, and so in the last of our posts celebrating National Marine Week we are having a go at our favourite beach holiday activity: rockpooling. Join Learning Officer Dr Roz Wade as she explores the animals living in the rockpools of the west coast of Scotland. Watch the feeding tentacles of sea anemones, the slow but steady movements of sea snails, darting fish, … Continue reading Pondwatch: Rockpools

How to Study: Whales
Anna Guasco: Interdisciplinary Methods to Study Stories Told About Whales I’m Anna, the author of the blogs in this series for National Marine Week and a PhD student in the Department of Geography. I’m from the United States. What do I Study, why do I study it, and how did I come to study it? I study the stories people tell about historical and contemporary … Continue reading How to Study: Whales

How to Study: Pearls of the Past
In this blog series for National Marine Week, Geography PhD Student Anna Guasco describes the many ways Cambridge postgraduate researchers study life in the ocean. Here she interviews: Tamara Fernando: Marine Historical Ecology and Archival Methods Tamara is a PhD student in the Faculty of History. She is from Sri Lanka. Using a historian’s tools to explore these stories of underwater change, ecosystem variance, and … Continue reading How to Study: Pearls of the Past