It might not look very exciting but flint gravel has a story to tell of a warm chalky sea that covered a lot of England about 90 million years ago. That’s when dinosaur were around although they were not living in this particular sea. Sometimes flint filles the holes made by borrowing animals and sometimes, if we’re lucky it enclosed the remains of sea creatures meaning it is great place to look for fossils.
Scientists use all sorts of different ways to name the new plants, animals and fossils they find.
Two parts - Scientific names usually have two parts, just as people have a first name and a family name.
Latin or Ancient Greek - Often the names use words from Latin or Ancient Greek.
About the Session
This set of activities covers and expands on the Year 5 national curriculum unit "Earth and Space", using objects from the Whipple Museum to explore:
The solar system
Terrestrial, celestial and planetary globes
The earth's movement around the sun
Space science today
Duration: Can be booked as:
About the Session
This set of activities covers aspects of the "animals, including humans" topic and can be adapted for KS1 or KS2, using objects from the Whipple Museum to explore:
How we hear
How we see
Bones in the body
The heart
The brain
Duration: Can be booked as:
Make your own mask with snakes instead of hair.
Based on the story and our own sculpture of Medusa, follow this simple step by step tutorial to make your own fun mask. If you need an idea for an arts and crafts afternoon, this is perfect.
It is really unusual for a palaeontologist (scientist who study fossils) to find a complete skeleton with all the bones in the right place. We are more likely to find only a few bones or a jumbled up skeleton.
Putting a skeleton back to together when you know what the animal looks like can be a challenge, but imagine how hard that becomes when there are no more of those creatures alive for you look at. It is a bit like trying to put a jigsaw puzzle together when you don’t have the photo on the box as a guide.
How does burning fossil fuels threaten Antarctic marine life?
This experiment demonstrates the link between increasing carbon dioxide levels and ocean acidification and freshening oceans. Freshwater and more acidic water in the oceans make life harder for Antarctica’s marine animals.
The experiment and video were made by Nick Barrett. Nick is a PhD student at the University of Cambridge Earth Science Department and The British Antarctic Survey investigating the resistance of Antarctic marine species to predicted freshening and lower salinity in the Southern Ocean.
Did you know the first bees would have been flying around in the Cretaceous just as ‘Iggy’ our Iguanodon was snacking on leaves from tall trees? At the Sedgwick Museum we have two 20million year old honey bees trapped in amber. Found on Yarmouth beach in 1891.
Amy Smith studies bees Plant Sciences in Cambridge. In this activity Amy shows us how to make a bee-autiful fluffy bumble bee. You will need some card and wool.
It is really unusual for a palaeontologist (scientist who study fossils) to find a complete skeleton with all the bones in the right place. We are more likely to find only a few bones or a jumbled up skeleton.
Putting a skeleton back to together when you know what the animal looks like can be a challenge, but imagine how hard that becomes when there are no more of those creatures alive for you look at. It is a bit like trying to put a jigsaw puzzle together when you don’t have the photo on the box as a guide.
This resource comes from our bank of Look, Think, Do resources on the Fitzwilliam Museum website.
Maybe you have heard of Emperor Hadrian - who built Hadrian's wall near the Scottish/English border. But have you heard of the man he loved, Antinous? Listen to this story about how much Hadrian cared for Antinous.
