Hope that you have been following our Natural Science #MuseumAdvent Calendar

Our curators and scientists in the Natural Science Department at National Museum Cardiff have been choosing their favourite objects from the collections, to place behind the doors of our very own museum advent calendar. As it is Christmas Eve, all of the doors are now open and we wanted to share with you all of the wonderful 24 objects chosen, and the staff who have helped created it. 

Why not have a look back through all of the doors and find out about these amazing objects and specimens within Amgueddfa Cymru collections.

Helo Cyfeillion y Gwanwyn,

Diolch am eich gwaith caled yn cymryd cofnodion tywydd dros y wythnosau diwethaf. Byddwch yn cymryd darlleniad tywydd nesaf yr wythnos o’r 7-11 Ionawr. Wrth gofnodi eich darlleniadau i’r wefan, plîs nodwch ‘dim cofnod’ ar gyfer y dyddiau rydych i fwrdd o’r ysgol.

Does dim rhaid cymryd eich potiau adra dros y gwyliau. Os yw’r potiau mewn lle saf lle byddant ddim yn cael ei effeithio gan y gwynt, bydda nhw’n iawn. Mae'r pridd yn cadw’r bylbiau yn ddwfn yn erbyn y tywydd oer.

Mae’r tywydd wedi bod yn eithaf cynnes am y gaeaf, a bydd o’n ddiddorol i weld yr effaith mae hyn yn cael ar ein bylbiau!

Mwynhewch eich gwyliau Cyfeillion y Gwanwyn.

Nadolig Llawen a Blwyddyn Newydd Dda,

Athro’r Ardd a Bwlb Bychan

Eich Sylwadau:

Sylwadau am eich bylbiau:

Ysgol Gymraeg Dewi Sant (Llanelli): Mae rhai o'r bylbiau yn dechrau egino. Athro’r Ardd: Newyddion gwych cyfeillion, hoffwn weld lluniau!

Henllys CIW Primary: on Tuesday actual rainfall was o.5mm We have spotted a small shoot coming from one of the pots a - daffodil in R.'s pot Also, the coconut husk pot has surprised us as the daffodil shoot has sprung up this week it is now showing quite a bit and the crocus shoot is poking up from the soil. Athro’r Ardd: How exciting bulb buddies, I’d love to see photos if you are able to take and share these? Keep up the good work.

Carnbroe Primary School: Dear Professor Plant and Baby Bulb it has been very cold this week and the soil in our plant pots are frozen and icy. Our bulbs are doing well and they are really healthy. Athro’r Ardd: Well done for looking after your plants bulb buddies, I’m glad to hear that they are doing well. Thank you for your observations and for providing an insight into the weather conditions in your area.

Good Shepherd Primary and Nursery School: we like seeing the plants grow. Athro’r Ardd: Me too bulb buddies!

Sylwadau am y prosiect:

Stanford in the Vale Primary School: Hi, the week is wrong but it wouldn't show this week on the select a week list. Been cold and rainy this week. Speak to you next week!! R. Athro’r Ardd: Thank you for updating me R. I’ll look into why this week wasn’t showing. Keep up the good work.

Good Shepherd Primary and Nursery School: C.:it was very fun. R.:I think it was very intresting. Athro’r Ardd: Lovely to hear from you buddies, and I’m glad you’re enjoying the project!

Steelstown Primary School:  From reading the data this week we think that it is raining a lot more but also the temperature is rising. We can't wait for next week. We love doing this project. Every week the results are different and we are excited to continue doing it and colleting the data for the weather. Athro’r Ardd: Thanks bulb buddies, have you looked at data from previous years and from different schools? You can do this on the web site and I think you’d find it interesting!

Ysgol Bro Pedr: Our bulbs are feeling a bit cold this week. Thank you very much For the Christmas Card. Athro’r Ardd: It is getting colder, but the bulbs will hopefully stay well insulated and cosy in the soil! I’m glad your card arrived, merry Christmas bulb buddies.

Sylwadau am y tywydd:

YGG Tonyrefail: Mae hi wedi bod yn wythnos sych ac oer. Diolch am eich cerdyn Nadolig Athro'r Ardd a Bylb Bychan. Nadolig Llawen a Blwyddyn Newydd dda i chi gyd yn yr Amgueddfa. Welwn ni chi yn 2019!! Athro’r Ardd: Diolch cyfeillion y gwanwyn, Nadolig Llawen a Blwyddyn Newydd Dda i bawb yn Ysgol Gynradd Gymraeg Tonyrefail hefyd!

Our Lady of Peace Primary School: Another normal cold week well see you after Christmas break. Athro’r Ardd: See you after Christmas bulb buddies.

Holy Cross Girls' Primary Schoo: We were out on a school trip on Wednesday so didn't have the opportunity to collect the data. Athro’r Ardd: Thank you for letting me know bulb buddies. I hope you had a good trip!

Tonyrefail Community School: Our rain gauge kept falling over this week so we have no record on Wednesday. Athro’r Ardd: Thank you for letting me know bulb buddies!

Ysgol Nantymoel: We have inputted the wrong data for week commencing 12.05.18 how can we correct it? Athro’r Ardd: Hi bulb buddies, you should be able to re-enter data for previous weeks. When you do this the most recent data entered for a given week shows on the graph. If this isn’t working please email me and I’ll update your data for you.

Stanford in the Vale Primary School: Quite cold this week defenetly today. It was frozen this morning! Today the temperature has slipped down a lot! The week was wrong again because it wouldn't let us choose the right week!! Speak to you next year-2019!! R. Athro’r Ardd: Thanks for the update R. You are doing a fantastic job. I’ll look into the issue with the dates and will fix it for when you start back!

Chorley St James Primary School: This week it has been very dry and very gloomy, but some parts of the day it has been sunny. Athro’r Ardd: Thank you for the weather observations bulb buddy.

This winter at National Museum Cardiff, visitors can get close to a genuine spaceship. The Soyuz TMA-19M capsule, the spacecraft that brought British astronaut Tim Peake back to Earth from the International Space Station, has crash landed in our gallery. The free exhibition is part of a national tour presented by global technology company Samsung and the Science Museum Group.

In association with the exhibition, several lucky secondary schools from across south Wales experienced an exciting science show from the Science Museum Outreach team. The Soyuz Rocket Show combined interactive science demonstrations with stunning visuals to explore the physics of rockets and Tim Peake’s spacecraft.

Beginning with take-off in the Vostok Rocket, the show took students along on Tim Peake’s journey to space. They experienced everything, including docking on the ISS and life aboard. Finally it discussed the perilous re-entry into the Earth’s atmosphere (which you can learn more about in the exhibition’s Space Descent Virtual Reality Experience). The demonstrations included rockets made from Pringles tubes, screaming jelly babies, dry ice clouds and liquid nitrogen ice cream. And of course explosions. Lots of explosions.

A few weeks later, the schools visited the museum to see the spacecraft itself. They also took part in workshops that explored different elements of space travel. Cardiff University School of Computer Science and Informatics delivered coding workshops using Scratch, while AstroCymru put pupils through their paces by testing skills required to be an astronaut. Finally, we did a session on spacesuit engineering, which developed ways to protect astronauts from both harmful UV radiation and the call of nature! One lucky school even got to meet real-life astronaut Steven Swanson, a retired commander of the ISS.

We hope these experiences will inspire the next generation of physicists, engineers and astronauts. Let's hope that soon we will have Welsh astronauts following Tim into space!

The Tim Peake's Spacecraft exhibition runs until 10th February. Admission is free, Space Descent Virtual Reality Experience costs £6.

Helo Gyfeillion y Gwanwyn,

rwyf wedi mwynhau darllen eich sylwadau ac astudio eich data. Rwyf hefyd wedi mwynhau'r lluniau a rannwyd ar Twitter yn dangos rhai ohonoch yn cymryd eich darlleniadau tywydd. Mae'n edrych fel eich bod chi wedi wynebu pob math o dywydd i astudio gwyddoniaeth! Wych!

Mae nifer o ysgolion wedi rhoi gwybod bod eu planhigion wedi cychwyn tyfu! Rydw i wedi rhannu ychydig o luniau yma. Plîs rannu'ch lluniau gyda mi, a gadewch i mi wybod sut mae'ch bylbiau'n gwneud pan fyddwch yn cofnodi ei'ch data i'r wefan.

Cadwch fyny'r gwaith da,

Athro'r Ardd

Eich Sylwadau:

Sylwadau am eich bylbiau:

Bursar Primary Academy: Thank you for giving us the chance to grow our plants- they haven't started growing yet. (O.E. Year 4) One of our indoor bulbs in the coconut pot has started to sprout. (K.W. Year 4). Athro’r Ardd: Thank you for taking part in the project and looking after your plants so well! Keep me updated!

Ysgol San Sior: It was a great first week and H.’s crocus has already started to grow. H. had very much enjoyed looking after the plats and is excited to see the first growth. Athro’r Ardd: Fantastic news, please keep me updated and share photos if you can.

Plasnewydd Primary: Some of the bulbs have started to grow. Athro’r Ardd: Fantastic news bulb buddies. It is still early, but a number of other schools have also seen some early growth. Do you think it’s linked to the mild weather we’ve been having?

Garstang St. Thomas' CE Primary School: professor plant how long do you think until our flowers will bloom because of it being so rainy and cold. See you soon<3 Athro’r Ardd: It’s hard to say when our plants will flower. Usually this happens around February – March. Some schools have seen some early growth, but the weather will have an impact on our plants over the coming months. Why not compare your weather readings so far this year to last year, and think about whether you’d expect your plants to flower earlier or later than last year?

Arkholme Primary School: We held our Memeorial service near to where we planted the bulbs - no sign of any growth. Athro’r Ardd: I hope the Memorial sevice went well bulb buddies. Thank you for the update on your bulbs.

Steelstown Primary School: This week has been fun it is good to understand how our bulbs are growing as the weeks get colder. Athro’r Ardd: I’m glad you are enjoying the project! Have you seen the ‘life of a bulb’ origami booklet under the Teaching Resources section of the website?

Good Shepherd Primary and Nursery School: A: I liked watering the plants and checking the rainfall. A: I liked watering the plants and checking the temperature. Athro’r Ardd: Fantastic bulb buddies, you make the perfect team! Keep up the good work!

Tonyrefail Community School: No sign of plants yet. The weather has been much colder this week and it's been drizzly but no water has collected in our rain gauge. Athro’r Ardd: Thank you for the update bulb buddies, keep up the good work!

Bursar Primary Academy: We have moved our rain collector as we're not sure it's accurately collecting any rainfall! A few of our bulbs are sprouting! Athro’r Ardd: Fantastic, thank you for thinking about whether the rain gage was in the best position to collect rain fall. I’d love to see some images of your plants if you are able to share these?

Ysgol San Sior: We are excited to have our second crocus growing. Professor Plant: Fantastic news, please share photos!

Bursar Primary Academy: Sorry our data has not been good for this week- the weather has been against us! (A. Year 4) We are going to measure our plants next week. (D. Year 4). Athro’r Ardd: Thank you for updating me bulb buddies, keep up the good work!

Ysgol Bro Pedr: a damp start but a beautiful end to the week. We planted a few extra bulbs inside the classroom as an experiment this year to try and force them - leaving half the bulb above ground - they re just starting to grow ! Athro’r Ardd: Ah that will be an interesting experiment! Let me know what your findings are. Remember that it’s only the flowering dates for the outdoor plants that will need entering to the project website.

Sylwadau am y prosiect:

Steelstown Primary School: We are really enjoying it so far and we are looking forward to collecting the data next week. Athro’r Ardd: Fantastic bulb buddies, I’m glad you are enjoying the project!

Ysgol Gymraeg Dewi Sant: Diolch am anfon y bylbiau aton ni. Ni'n edrych ymlaen i weld y blodau. Athro’r Ardd: Diolch am gymryd rhan yn y prosiect Cyfeillion, rwy’n edrych ymlaen at weld y planhigion blodeuo hefyd. Wrth edrych ar y data blaenorol, pryd rydych yn meddwl bydd y planhigion yn blodeuo?

YGG Tonyrefail: Roedd yn hwyl cofnodi y data. Athro’r Ardd: Rwy’n falch i glywed rydych yn mwynhau'r prosiect Cyfeillion!

Stanford in the Vale Primary School: happy to restart the project and i am teaching the younger children in the club how to record. Have a good weekend and we will be back next week. Regards R.. Athro’r Ardd: Welcome back R.! I’m glad to know the project is in good hands again this year. Keep up the fantastic work!

Hudson Road Primary School: Thank you, we have enjoyed learning to read the temperature and the rain gauge measures. It has only rained once this week but it has been a bit chilly. Athro’r Ardd: Fantastic, I’m glad you are learning new skills and hope you are enjoying the project my friends!

Auchencairn Primary School: We had to move the rain gauge on Wednesday after someone knocked it over so we aren't sure if the results are correct. Hopefully it is alright in its new position. Stormy at the weekend and a plant pot was blown over. Athro’r Ardd: Thank you for the update bulb buddies, I hope the pots and rain gauge are safe now. Keep up the good work!

Our Lady of Peace Primary School: We were glad we won the photograph competition and it was fun. Athro’r Ardd: I’m glad you enjoyed it bulb buddies and I hope you liked your prize!

Our Lady of Peace Primary School: It was fun and cold. Athro’r Ardd: I’m glad to hear you are enjoying the project even in the cold bulb buddies!

Whitgreave Junior School: I realised that I had misread the scale last week, so the rainfall data was completely out! It won't let me go back and edit submitted data, not sure if there is a way of doing that, please let me know if there is, so it can be more accurate! Thank you. Athro’r Ardd: Thank you for updating me bulb buddy. You should be able to re-enter data for previous weeks, and the most recent entry will show on the graph as the correct entry. If this isn’t working for you please send me an email and I will make the corrections.

Shirenewton Primary School: We had to recheck the temperature because I took the Fahrenheit reading, not degrees Celsius. Athro’r Ardd: I’m glad you are learning about different temperature scales bulb buddies. Keep up the good work.

Woodlands Academy: This week we put a new net over our plants to ensure the wildlife would not dig up our bulbs again. The children also loved the opportunity to go outside and check the readings. Athro’r Ardd: There’s good thinking bulb buddies! It sounds like your bulbs have had an exciting time of it. Thank you for looking after them, and I’m glad you are enjoying the project.

Y3AE St Julian's Primary Newport: Unfortunately when we arrived at school on Monday morning we discovered that many of our planted pots had been thrown around and outside the school site. We still have lots left but we are keeping our fingers crossed that these will not be touched this weekend! Athro’r Ardd: I’m sorry to hear this bulb buddies. How are your pots and bulbs now?

Steelstown Primary School: We are all enjoying collecting the data for this project. It gets more fun each week we take part. Athro’r Ardd: I’m glad to hear it bulb buddies, I enjoy studying the data you collect each week!

Sylwadau am y tywydd:

YGG Tonyrefail: Wythnos wlyb iawn!!

Ysgol Beulah: Roedd hi'n oer Dydd Mawrth:)

St. Nicholas Primary School: Wednesday was a very hot day for November. Professor Plant: Wow 19 degrees is warm for November!

Carnbroe Primary School: Hello Professer Plant this week it was a wee bit cold and very wet.

Ysgol Beulah: Oedd yn oerach yr wythnos hon.Cawson llawer o law nos Fercher.

Henllys CIW Primary: actual rainfall Tusday was 0.5 mm and Friday 32 mm

Darran Park Primary: we had a lot of rain

Darran Park Primary: the weather was warmer but we had a lot more rain.

Arkholme Primary School: we found that there was a lot of rain and that it felt colder than it was.

Kirkby La Thorpe Cof E Primary Academy: wettest week but very mild for December , double figures!!! only 1 frosty morning. soil becoming waterlogged but luckily in a breezy rural location so surface will dry.

St Julian's Primary School: A very wet week!

Our Lady of Peace Primary SchooL: It’s so close to Christmas we are so excited it was very cold this week.

Chorley St James Primary School: This week was very wet and rainy. Also, during the day time the wind started to pick up and on Friday we had hale. It was very bad.

Chorley St James Primary School: This week it has been a little bit hotter that last week, but we still had rain and wind.

Chorley St James Primary School: This week it has been dry and hasn't really had any rain except on Wednesday. Hopefully the next week will be more hot.

St. Robert's Catholic Primary: There was no rain at all this week!

St. Robert's Catholic Primary: It was mostly dry this week and not too cold.

St. Robert's Catholic Primary: A lot of rain this week. The measure was completely full on Monday.

Cultural heritage collections need a friendly home. 'Friendly' means: a building that protects the collection from the elements – wind, sun and rain. Conservators worry a lot - and rightly so - about pigments fading when they are exposed to light, about stuffed animals being eaten by insect pests, about wartime medals corroding because of the presence of air pollutants. But it’s no good having a fantastic pest management system if the roof leaks. Getting the basics right makes the job of the conservator an awful lot easier and is better for the collection.

Like many museums up and down the country, National Museum Cardiff is housed in a historic building. The museum contains 30 public galleries and 50 collection stores which accommodate almost 3 million objects. This is only part of the national heritage collection of Wales and arguably something we want to protect for the benefit of current and future generations.

But being in a historic building, as beautiful as it is, has its challenges. Much of the building infrastructure is aging and needs modernising. Our roof needs some tlc. Our air conditioning systems are so old, there is nobody left in the museum who was around when they were first installed. And the electrics in parts of the building are not far from receiving a birthday telegram from Her Majesty the Queen.

All of those issues are a problem not just for visitors and staff, but also for the collections. Therefore, we have started modernising our museum building. In the past few years we already had parts of our roof replaced. Less publicly visible was the recent replacement of the electrical infrastructure in the west wing. We are now in the process of undertaking much more work to improve the building.

Some of this work will happen behind closed doors: replacement of our chillers and humidifiers with new, modern and efficient technology, making the museum leaner and greener. Other work will be more obvious to our visitors, including works to the roof of our south wing. Various works will require the temporary closure of some of our public galleries – please bear with us during this time, we are keeping the rest of the museum open and, once the works are completed, all galleries will be accessible again.

One difficulty remains: once all the works are completed the museum will look like nothing ever happened – we do not have a brand new building to show off for all our efforts. BUT the building will feel and operate differently. It will form a more reliable envelope around our collections. It will require less maintenance, saving us money and staff time. It will be more energy efficient and environmentally friendly, reducing our energy bills and forming a substantial contribution towards lowering our greenhouse gas emissions.

During this time of potential disruptions please bear in mind the end product, which will include a better museum experience for visitors today (well, next year) and in the future. And a building that continues to help us look after Wales’ national collection.

Should you have any questions at all about our refurbishment programme in relation to the collections, please do get in touch. We will be happy to assist in any way we can.

Find out more about Care of Collections at Amgueddfa Cymru - National Museum Wales here and follow us on Twitter.