Wildflowers blooming in front of Kings College Chapel

Zoology Live! Goes Urban

It’s that time of year again: time for our Zoology Live! festival. For Zoology Live! 2023 we are exploring the wildlife in our towns and cities. Zoology Live! Online Thursday 29th June 2023, 7pm-8pm Join us live on our YouTube channel as we take a deep dive into the wildlife of the city of Cambridge, jump across the world to find out about urban wildlife … Continue reading Zoology Live! Goes Urban

Create your own Scientist’s Notebook

Find animals in the Museum or in an outside green space and draw or write about what you see. Scientists do this when they explore the natural world. Scientist’s Notebook activity sheet Download our Scientist’s Notebook activity sheet and use the notebook template on there to help you explore the natural world Your Notebooks These Scientist Notebooks were created in the Museum of Zoology on … Continue reading Create your own Scientist’s Notebook

Starling on a branch

Five Minutes in Nature: Starlings

Winter is a tough time of year, with its short days, long nights, and often overcast skies. But there is still wildlife to be enjoyed, and spending time in nature has been shown to improve wellbeing. With these posts, the team at the Museum of Zoology are sharing how they like to spend five minutes in nature and get reacquainted with the wildlife on their … Continue reading Five Minutes in Nature: Starlings

Lego pieces

LEGO Creature Challenge

For #ZoologyLive 2020 we challenge you to build an animal you have seen using LEGO. LEGO bricks are excellent building materials that allow us to use our creativity, imagination, and observations to create sculptures. The tips below will help you to get started and let you know how to enter our prize draw… #LetsBuildTogether and Create a Lego Creature Top tips: Build a creature you … Continue reading LEGO Creature Challenge

Recycled Make Challenge

Let’s be creative with materials at home For #ZoologyLive we challenge you to use the materials around you to create a creature! There are many materials, containers and items that we put into the recycle bin. While recycling is one way to look after our planet, they can also make excellent crafting materials. The natural world also provides us with some excellent crafting ingredients. Discover … Continue reading Recycled Make Challenge

How to observe wildlife: iRecord

Matt Hayes, research assistant, takes us through how to record the wildlife we see using iRecord: What is iRecord?iRecord is a website for sharing wildlife observations. What does iRecord do?Its goal is to make it easier for wildlife sightings to be collected, checked by experts and made available to support research and decision-making. How do I add my wildlife sightings?You can register for free and … Continue reading How to observe wildlife: iRecord

Shieldbug found on beat-net

How to observe wildlife: beat-netting

Matt Hayes, research assistant writes: There are many ways to look for minibeasts that live around you and one easy method is to use a beat net. You don’t need any fancy equipment; a white sheet or tray will work just as well as a store-bought net. An upside-down pale umbrella also makes the perfect substitute. A pale white colour works best as it helps … Continue reading How to observe wildlife: beat-netting

By Bernard DUPONT from FRANCE - Fungus-growing Termites (Macrotermes carbonarius), CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=40231177

Termite mound-mates create even more questions for scientists

To celebrate International Women’s Day and Women’s History Month the Museum is sharing the stories of 27 inspirational women, alongside the animals they work with the most. Dr Amelia Hood Department of Zoology “I’m an ecologist who loves social insects. For my PhD, I worked in oil palm plantations in Indonesia and studied ants and termites. There is one termite species, Macrotermes gilvus, that is … Continue reading Termite mound-mates create even more questions for scientists

Conifers, Mead's Plantation. Credit John Howlett

How can green space affect children’s wellbeing?

To celebrate International Women’s Day and Women’s History Month the Museum is sharing the stories of 27 inspirational women, alongside the animals they work with the most. Kate Howlett Museum of Zoology “I’m a PhD researcher in the Museum working on biodiversity within the green spaces in primary school grounds. I’m particularly interested in the diversity of insect and other invertebrate species because this is … Continue reading How can green space affect children’s wellbeing?

Weevil on hand. Credit S Steele

30 Days Wild Challenge

Kate Howlett, PhD student: Kate Howlett, PhD student at the University Museum of Zoology, talks about why she’ll be taking part in the Wildlife Trusts’ 30 Days Wild challenge. She’ll be doing one ‘random act of wildness’ each day this June and seeing what effects this has on her happiness and health. Click the button below to read her piece about why she’s never taken … Continue reading 30 Days Wild Challenge

Climate Change: the board game

You are an animal species, living in the savannah. The world is divided in four habitats based on the average temperature and precipitation (rain and snowfall) in each area. There are hotter and colder regions around you, but you find the average temperature of the savannah very comfortable. The savannah is occupied by a number of different species (the other players), all adapted to this … Continue reading Climate Change: the board game