: Addysg

Helo Cyfeillion y Gwanwyn,

Diolch am rannu eich data tywydd i'r wefan. Rwyf wedi atodi rhai o'ch sylwadau isod. Mae'n ddiddorol clywed eich sylwadau ar y tywydd ac rwy'n gyffrous bod cymaint o'ch planhigion wedi pechu drwy'r pridd.

Daliwch ati Gyfeillion y Gwanwyn,

Athro’r Ardd

Eich sylwadau:

Carnbroe Primary School: We have found that 6 of our plant have green shoots.

St Michael's RC Primary: We aren't in school today so we are submitting now in case we forget later!

Ysgol Y Ddwylan: Diweddglo sych i wythnos gwlyb.

Fleet Wood Lane Primary School: Not that much rain this week. Last day of school today! see you next year. p.s merry Christmas and a happy new year!

St Mary's Primary School (Cardiff): The daffodil bulbs started to grow. We have put some leaves on top to protect them from the cold.

Ysgol Deganwy: Four more plants have started to come out of the soil.

Stanford in the Vale Primary School: Temp is rising and we are getting a bit more rain. MERRY CHRISTMAS.

Llanharan Primary School: Colour starting to show on some of the Crocus

Glyngaer Primary School: It was very damp and it had been a bit stormy.

Sandal Castle VA Community Primary School: We had snow on Monday 29th November! Athro A: I hope the snow was fun Bulb Buddies!

Our Lady of Lourdes Primary School: This week our rain-gauge froze this week. Athro A: That’s exciting Bulb Buddies. Did you thaw the ice to take your rain measurement?

Stanford in the Vale Primary School: The rain is starting to appear, and the temp is dropping.

Pil Primary School: It rained all week and it was quite cold.

Hendredenny Park Primary: We were late on Tuesday so we did it at half past two instead.

St Michael's RC Primary: The sky looked a funny colour today, we thought it would rain or snow but it was dry all day.

Henllys CIW Primary: Some of our bulbs are trying to push through.

Our Lady of Peace Primary School: It was very cold on Monday and lots of rain on Wednesday!

Ysgol Deganwy: 1 plant has started to grow by 1cm.

Moffat Academy: This week was dry and sunny but the temperature was quite cold and windy. The week went fast.

Moffat Academy: Rainy week but the rain collector was tipped over frequently. On Monday we had a snowy day.

Fleet Wood Lane Primary School: It has been cold this week!

Cilfynydd Primary: We think we have more than the mystery bulbs growing. Athro A: That’s exciting Bulb Buddies. I’d love to see a photo of your mystery mystery bulb!

Glyncoed Primary: Some of our bulbs have started to grow.

St Mary's Primary School (Cardiff): We are starting to see that some plants are starting to grow now. Hopefully these will grow fully soon!

St Patrick's Legamaddy: More of a wet week this week with Storm Barra.

St Joseph's Cathedral Primary (Swansea): Our plants were affected by the heavy wind. Some of the soil has been blown out of the pots and some of the bulbs are showing. We will put some soil on top again. Athro A: Welldone for looking after your bulbs Bulb Buddies!

Ysgol Deganwy: 1 more plant has started to grow.

Oaklands Primary: It was quite a wet week but still warmer than last week. We have noticed that some of our bulbs are starting to peep through the soil!

Glyngaer Primary School: It was much colder than the temperature we recorded. It was very windy and it made it feel very cold.

Oaklands Primary: It's been a really dry, but very cold week here. We've had frost and we are hoping for some snow on the weekend.

Our Lady of Lourdes Primary School: This week has had high and low temperatures!

Oaklands Primary: We hope that our bulbs aren't getting too swollen by the rain. It's been a wet one here this week! Athro A: I’m sure your bulbs will be Okay. If you notice water collecting at the top of your pots the soil may be saturated and you could tip the excess out.

Ysgol Chwilog: diolch am help efo talgrynu

Gavinburn Primary School: There wasn't much rain and it was fun learning how to do the weather records. Athro A: I’m glad to hear that you are enjoying the project Bulb Buddies.

Glyncoed Primary: We were not in school on Thursday and Friday so didn't collect any data.

Gavinburn Primary School: It was a mild week. We enjoyed doing the weather records.

Glyncoed Primary: Our Mystery Bulb has sprouted!!

Willow Green Academy: Gradually got colder as the week went on.

St Michael's RC Primary: It’s felt much colder this week!

Willow Green Academy: Rainfall early Monday Morning. No fall after.

St Michael's RC Primary: It feels like there’s been more rain than there actually has! Athro A: It sounds like you’ve had a drizzly week Bulb Buds.

Our Lady of Peace Primary School: It was very cold today!

Darran Park Primary: The weather has been sunny and dry for 4 days and on Friday the temperature has dropped and it has rained.

Stanford in the Vale Primary School: It’s been a cold week especially on Thursday - they say we have snow forecast for next week! Athro A: Was the forecast right Bulb Buddies? Have you had snow?

Pil Primary School: It has been very cold and windy this week and there was no rain. We have enjoyed recording the rainfall and temperature this week.

Canon Peter Hall C of E Primary School: All done before midday.

Ysgol Tudno: Do we empty the rain gauge every day? Athro A: Yes please Bulb Buds, empty the rain gauge after taking your readings Mon-Fri.

St Joseph's Cathedral Primary (Swansea): Everything has been ok this week. We need to make sure that children don't move our plants.

Outwood Primary Academy Kirkhamgate: It was windy. It was cold. It snowed at the weekend. We saw the green tips of five shoots. We covered some of the bulbs with more soil as they were not covered. We are working as a team in school. Athro A: Fantastic Bulb Buddies, keep up the great work!

Llanharan Primary School: We have started to see daffodils and crocus begin to sprout in several of the pots.

Fleet Wood Lane Primary School: Merry Christmas PS-thank you for the card

Pil Primary School: The temperature didn't change much this week. We liked reading the thermometer this week.

Hendredenny Park Primary: On Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday we took the measurements late because we were practising our Christmas concert.

Outwood Primary Academy Kirkhamgate: It feels cold. It's windy. DRY. It's been damp.

Logan Primary School: It has been quite mild weather this week.

Our Lady of Lourdes Primary School: It was a very wet week!

Our Lady of Lourdes Primary School: We love our garden gang!

Our Lady of Peace Primary School: Sorry we're late we didn't know how to send this information at first, but we've got the hang of it now. Athro A: Well done Bulb Buddies, keep up the good work.

Gavinburn Primary School: It was a very dry starter week. We enjoyed doing the weather records

YGG Tonyrefail: It's been a dry week. Wythnos sych yr wythnos hon!

Henllys CIW Primary: Sometimes there is dew still in the pot in the afternoon and not rain.

Our Lady of Lourdes Primary School: It was drier this week.

Stanford in the Vale Primary School: What a dry week! The temperature seems to be dropping.

Canon Peter Hall C of E Primary: Data taken between 9 and 10 in the morning.

Glyngaer Primary School: It was grey, boring, damp, drizzly, cloudy and gloomy. Although it drizzled all week our water gauge didn't collect even half a mm of water.

Pil Primary School: The weather has been very mild this week with some rain. We liked recording our results!

Carnbroe Primary School: No shoots as yet.

Our Lady of Peace Primary School: The temperature was higher on Thursday and Friday than usual!

Cilfynydd Primary: We have one plant pot with two plants growing. They are starting to grow really tall. Athro A: Fantastic news Bulb Buddies!

Helo Cyfeillion y Gwanwyn,

Rwyf isio rhoi diolch mawr i chi gyd am eich gwaith caled yn plannu eich bylbiau. Wnaethom ni plannu dros 10,000 o fylbiau ar draws y DU! Mi welais o’r llunia chafodd pawb llawer o hwyl yn helpu!

Wnaeth Cofnodion Tywydd cychwyn ar 1 Tachwedd. Mae 'na adnoddau dysgu ar y wefan i helpu paratoi am gymryd cofnodion tywydd. Rwyf wedi atodi hyn rhag ofn bod rhai heb ei gweld eto. Mae’r adnodd hyn yn helpu ymateb cwestiynau pwysig fel pam yw mesur tywydd yn bwysig i’n harbrawf.

Defnyddiwch eich siart tywydd i gofnodi'r glaw a’r tymheredd pob ddiwrnod y ydych yn yr ysgol. Ar ddiwedd yr wythnos, cofnodwch mewn i’r wefan i rannu eich canfyddiadau. Fedrwch hefyd gadael sylwadau a chwestiynau i fi ymateb yn fy blog nesaf!

Plîs gadewch i mi wybod sut ydych yn wneud, a rhannwch luniau trwy Twitter ac e-bost.

Daliwch ati Gyfeillion y Gwanwyn,

Athro’r Ardd

Sylwadau a rhannwyd hefo'r wythnos gyntaf o ddata tywydd:

Stanford in the Vale Primary School: This week was frosty and we had some frost in the morning. We’re looking forward to seeing the weather changes.

Oaklands Primary: Hi Professor Plant - it's been a dry but cold week here in Aberaman. Our first frosty day on Monday, lovely sunshine after a very rainy Hallowe'en which washed away all our labels. Luckily, we know which way round our bulbs were planted and we decided as a class that we'd make sure we look after everyone's pots so it doesn't matter that they are not individually named at the moment. Phew! See you next week!

Ysgol Penalltau: Diolch am y bylbiau, ond dim glaw yr wythnos yma!

Pil Primary School: It has been very cold and dry this week.

Darran Park Primary: The weather is a lot colder and drier this week

St Josephs Cathedral Primary: No rain records as rain gauge was lost. We have found this now so will take records from next Monday.

Ysgol Gymraeg Dewi Sant: Roedd y glawiad yn uchel dydd Llun oherwydd fod llawer o law wedi syrthio dros hanner tymor.

Os gofynnwch i blentyn ysgol gynradd beth fuon nhw’n wneud yn yr ysgol y diwrnod hwnnw, byddant yn aml yn sôn am amser chwarae. Amser chwarae yw'r amser pan maen nhw'n cael penderfynu’n union beth sy'n digwydd. Maen nhw'n cael dewis y gemau, y teganau, hyd yn oed y chwaraewyr, o fewn y paramedrau diogel a roddir iddynt. Ac o fewn y paramedrau hyn, maen nhw'n dysgu. Dysgu sut i symud a'r hyn y gallant wneud yn gorfforol. Dysgu sut i ymddwyn yn gymdeithasol, trwy rannu a gofalu. Dysgu sut i ddelio ag emosiynau pan nad yw'r gêm yn mynd eu ffordd. Mae amser chwarae yn hanfodol.

Ac mae'r dysgu'n dechrau ymhell cyn adeg ysgol. Prynhawn y Plant yw un o fy hoff ddigwyddiadau rheolaidd y mae'r amgueddfa'n ei gynnal. Mae'n gyfle i rieni ddod â'u rhai bach ar gyfer rhywfaint o chwarae dan oruchwyliaeth mewn amgylchedd tawel a diogel. Rydyn ni yno i gynorthwyo, chwarae ychydig, a rhoi pâr ychwanegol o lygaid i rieni ar eu rhai bach. Y rhan orau yw bod hawl gennym ddefnyddio adnoddau’r tîm dysgu, a llunio profiad a thema wahanol bob tro.

Os yw'n ddiwrnod y jyngl, byddwn yn gosod yr ystafell gydag addurniadau chwarae meddal ar thema'r jyngl. Logiau meddal i blant bach ddringo drostynt, rygiau blewog gwyrdd i gropian drostynt. Yna gallwn ddod â'r anifeiliaid allan - y teigrod, y mwncïod, yr eliffantod. Gall plant chwarae gyda nhw, gan wneud straeon eu hunain ac ychwanegu synau a'u symudiadau eu hunain atynt. Hyd yn oed os nad yw plentyn yn siarad eto, mae copïo synau a symudiadau yn eu helpu i ddysgu.

Nid symudiad a sain yn unig y mae plant yn hoffi. Mae cyffwrdd yn hanfodol ar gyfer dysgu cynnar. Mae plant ifanc wrth eu bodd yn archwilio eitemau â'u dwylo, neu hyd yn oed â'u cegau, felly mae ein blychau teganau wedi'u llenwi â blociau syml y gellir eu glanhau yn hawdd iddynt eu harchwilio. Mae gennym lawer o flychau synhwyraidd thematig, wedi'u llenwi â ffwr ffug meddal, ffabrig lledr garw, a phob math o weadau rhyfeddol i'r rhai bach eu cyffwrdd a'u teimlo.

Pan fydd y plant wedi bennu ar chwarae, mae'n bryd cael stori. Mae gennym gasgliad enfawr o lyfrau plant hardd, sy'n addas ar gyfer unrhyw un o'n themâu, y gellir eu perfformio mewn modd bywiog neu dawel, gan ryngweithio â'r gynulleidfa neu beidio. Yr un peth rydyn ni wedi'i ddysgu yw sut i ddarllen y gynulleidfa ifanc.

Er bod pethau'n wahanol ar hyn o bryd, gydag ambell rhan o'r amgueddfa ar gau o hyd, rydym wedi llwyddo i lunio llawer o adnoddau ar-lein ar gyfer y plant bach. Mae gennym ni straeon, gweithgareddau celf a chrefft a llawer o symudiadau ac odl gwirion yn Gymraeg a Saesneg i'ch cadw chi i fynd nes ein bod ni'n gwbl agored eto.

Yn Llanilltud Fawr ym Mro Morgannwg mae traeth caregog poblogaidd – lleoliad prydferth ryfeddol wrth droed y clogwyni gyda golygfeydd ar draws Môr Hafren at Minehead ar ddiwrnod clir. Ond yn bwysicach i chi a fi, mae’r traeth yn un o’r lleoliadau gorau yng Nghymru i ganfod trysorau newydd i helwyr ffosilau ac archwilwyr byd natur. Felly ar brynhawn Llun llwyd, i ffwrdd â fi i’n hoff draeth gyda fy offer a’n llyfr braslunio i weld beth allwn i’i ganfod…

Mae cwymp creigiau yn ddigwyddiad rheolaidd ar draeth Llanilltud Fawr, a nifer o bobl wedi cael eu brifo neu eu lladd, yn anffodus. Er bod temtasiwn mawr i chwilio am ffosilau ymhlith creigiau sydd newydd ddisgyn, mae’n hanfodol bod helwyr yn cadw draw o’r clogwyni! Doedd dim cwymp yn amlwg wrth i fi gerdded at y traeth, ond fe ymddangosodd hwn o fewn ychydig lathenni. Atgof amserol i gadw’n glir!

Pa offer es i gyda fi medde chi? Does dim angen labordy gwyddonol a byddin o balaeontolegwyr arnoch chi wrth hela ffosilau! Gall unrhyw un â llygad dda roi cynnig arni.

Ond cyn bwrw ati, cofiwch:

• Wirio amseroedd y llanw. Mae’n fwy diogel dechrau hela ffosilau pan fydd y llanw ar drai, er mwyn osgoi cael eich dal gan y llanw’n codi.
• Gwisgo dillad ac esgidiau addas. Mae’n hanfodol cael esgidiau cadarn ar dir creigiog fel hwn, a bod yn barod am newid sydyn yn y tywydd.
• Gall hela ffosilau fod yn waith sychedig, felly dewch â digon o fwyd a diod i’ch cadw i fynd. Efallai bod y caffi agosaf yn bell!

Fy offer

• Esgidiau cryf
• Dŵr yfed
• Rholyn cegin i lanhau canfyddiadau diddorol
• Rhywbeth i ddogfennu’r profiad – llyfr braslunio, llyfr nodiadau, ffôn (gyda chamera), pren mesur pensel a beiro.

Fe benderfynais i gerdded i’r chwith, ar bellter diogel o’r clogwyn. Mae’r tirlun yn greigiog ac amrywiol – perffaith ar gyfer pyllau cerrig a hela ffosilau.

Fe ges i olwg gyflym ar y siâl cyn dechrau ar y clogfeini. Y ffosilau mwyaf cyffredin i’w cafod ar y traeth yw molysgiaid, fel amonitau a deufalfiau, ond efallai y gwelwch chi weddillion esgyrn pysgod neu ichthyosaur os ydych chi’n lwcus! Gallwch chi hefyd weld esiamplau prydferth o gregyn modern. Wrth i fi nesu at y clogfeini mawr, fe welais i olion oedd yn edrych fel amonit, ac aros i archwilio ymhellach.

Dyma fi’n tynnu braslun syml o’r canfyddiad a’i fesur. Dyma fi hefyd yn defnyddio fy ffôn i gymryd llun o’r lleoliad, gyda bys yn pwyntio at y ffosil. Mae hon yn ffordd syml iawn o gofnodi lleoliad sbesimen diddorol er mwyn ei ailddarganfod os oes angen.            

Roeddwn i’n eiddgar i ganfod mwy, felly dyma fi’n symud i lawr y traeth. Roedd y clogfeini fan hyn wedi chwalu fwyfwy a cefais fy nenu at un yn benodol. Roeddwn i wedi canfod ôl amonit arall! Fe benderfynais i beidio morthwylio ar y garreg o gwmpas yr olion, gan fod hyn yn aml yn niweidio’r ffosil yn hytrach na’i ddatod yn daclus. Dychmygwch ddinistrio ar ddamwain gydag un ergyd esgeulus rywbeth sydd wedi goroesi am filiynau o flynyddoedd – mae’n anfon ias oer drwydda i! Penderfynais i adael y ffosil yn y fan. Yn anffodus mae gormod o gasglu ar draeth Llanilltud Fawr, a dwi’n credu dylai’r esiampl hwn gael ei adael i eraill ei fwynhau. Efallai y byddwch chi’n ei ganfod wrth ymweld!

Os ydych chi’n canfod unrhyw ffosilau neu wrthrychau diddorol, cysylltwch â’r Amgueddfa drwy’r wefan. Rydyn ni’n dwlu gweld eich canfyddiadau, ac mae ein tîm o arbenigwyr wastad yn barod i adnabod canfyddiadau a rhoi gwybodaeth bellach.

Cofiwch, gall pawb fod yn balaeontolegydd!

Hela hapus!

I ffeindio rhagor o adnoddau i'ch helpu chi gydag archwilio, ymwelwch â:

Ar Eich Stepen Drws: Natur, daeareg ac archaeoloeg yng Nghymru

The next steps in a Professional Training Year

It’s been a little while since my last blog post and since then there has been a lot of exciting things happening! The scientific paper I have been working on that describes a new species of marine shovelhead worm (Magelonidae) with my training year supervisor Katie Mortimer-Jones and American colleague James Blake is finished and has been submitted for publication in a scientific journal. The opportunity to become a published author is not something I expected coming into this placement and I cannot believe how lucky I am to soon have a published paper while I am still an undergraduate.

There are thousands of scientific journals out there, all specialising in different areas. Ours will be going in the capstone edition of the Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington, a journal which covers systematics in biological sciences, so perfect for our paper. Every journal has its own specifications to abide by in order to be published in them. These rules cover everything from the way you cite and reference other papers, how headings and subheadings are set out, the font style and size, and how large images should be. A significant part of writing a paper that many people might not consider is ensuring you follow the specifications of the journal. It’s very easy to forget or just write in the style you always have!

Once you have checked and doubled checked your paper and have submitted  to the journal you wish to be published in, the process of peer reviewing begins. This is where your paper is given to other scientists, typically 2 or 3, that are specialists in the field. These peer-reviewers read through your paper and determine if what you have written has good, meaningful science in it and is notable enough to be published. They also act as extra proof-readers, finding mistakes you may have missed and suggesting altered phrasing to make things easier to understand.

I must admit it is a little nerve wracking to know that peer reviewers have the option to reject all your hard work if they don’t think it is good enough. However, the two reviewers have been nothing but kind and exceptionally helpful. They have both accepted our paper for publication. Having fresh sets of eyes look at your work is always better at finding mistakes than just reading it over and over again, especially if those eyes are specialists in the field that you are writing in.

As you would expect, the process of peer-reviewing takes some time. So, while we have been waiting for the reviews to come back, I have already made great progress on starting a second scientific paper based around marine shovelhead worms with my supervisor. While the story of the paper isn’t far along enough yet to talk about here, I can talk about the fantastic opportunity I had to visit the Natural History Museum, London!

We are currently investigating a potentially new European species of shovelhead worm which is similar to a UK species described by an Amgueddfa Cymru scientist and German colleagues. Most of the type specimens of the latter species are held at the Natural History Museum in London. Type material is scientifically priceless, they are the individual specimens from which a new species is first described and given a scientific name. Therefore, they are the first port of call, if we want to determine if our specimens are a new species or not.

The volume of material that the London Natural History Museum possesses of the species we are interested in is very large and we had no idea what we wanted to loan from them. So, in order to make sure we requested the most useful specimens for our paper, we travelled to London to look through all of the specimens there. We were kindly showed around the facilities by one of the museum’s curators and allowed to make use of one of the labs in order to view all of the specimens. The trip was certainly worth it. We took a lot of notes and found out some very interesting things, but most importantly we had a clear idea of the specific specimens that we wanted to borrow to take photos of and analyse closer back in Cardiff. 

Overall, I can say with confidence that the long drive was certainly more than worth it! I’m very excited to continue with this new paper and even more excited to soon be able to share the results of our first completed and published paper, watch this space…

Thank you once again to both National Museum Cardiff and Natural History Museum, London for making this trip possible.