: Spring Bulbs

Gwyliau llawen Cyfeillion y Gwanwyn

Penny Dacey, 13 Rhagfyr 2024

Diolch i'r holl ysgolion sy'n cymryd eu darlleniadau tywydd yn ddiwyd, hyd yn oed yn y glaw a'r eira!

Daw'r cofnodion tywydd ar gyfer y tymor hwn i ben ar 20 Rhagfyr. Plîs rhannwch yr holl ddarlleniadau a gymerwyd hyd yn hyn erbyn hynny. Cofiwch nodi 'dim cofnod' ar gyfer dyddiadau nad oeddech chi yn yr ysgol ac i ychwanegu eich sylwadau.

Mwynhewch y gwyliau Cyfeillion y Gwanwyn. 

 

Eich Sylwadau:

Scarva Primary School: There was a lot of rainfall over the weekend with Storm Darragh.
Professor Plant: Hello Scarva Primary! Storm Darragh certainly brought plenty of rain. Your bulbs will love the extra water! Let’s hope for some sunshine soon to balance it out. Keep up the great observations.

Pil Primary School: It is still cold outside and we have had a lot of rain this week.
Professor Plant:  Thank you for the weather observations Pil Primary.

Gavinburn Primary School: There was a lot more rain this week.
Professor Plant: Hi Gavinburn Primary, thank you for the update. Keep up the great work.

Ysgol Tycroes: We had a lot of rain. Our plants have started to grow shoots.
Professor Plant: Hello Ysgol Tycroes. Shoots already, that’s wonderful news! Your bulbs are making great progress thanks to all the rain. Keep watching them closely.

Meldrum Primary School: Decent rainfall for this week, temperature seems good.
Professor Plant: Hi Meldrum Primary, it sounds like your bulbs are enjoying a balanced week of rainfall and warmth. Keep an eye out for shoots—they might appear soon!

St Mary’s Primary School: Storm Darragh came on Friday.
Professor Plant: Hello St Mary’s Primary, thank you for updating us. 

Bwlchgwyn Primary School: We have got two plant pots with shoots. We think that having a blanket of snow on them may have fooled them into thinking it was a bit warmer than it was.
Professor Plant: Hello Bwlchgwyn Primary! It’s exciting that you have two pots with shoots already. Keep monitoring their progress—they’re off to a great start!

Rhayader Primary: Our plants have started growing - about 5.
Professor Plant: Hi Rhayader Primary. Five plants already, that’s fantastic news! Your bulbs are thriving—keep taking care of them and tracking their growth. Well done!

Cornist Park C.P: Today it is cold and dark with rain clouds all day.
Professor Plant: Hello Cornist Park. A cold and rainy day might not feel cheerful, but your bulbs are loving the extra water. Keep checking—they’re sure to grow more soon!

Ysgol Porth Y Felin: The bulbs have got bigger.
Professor Plant: Hi Ysgol Porth Y Felin. How exciting to hear your bulbs are growing bigger! Keep up the great work!

Doonfoot Primary School: Lots of rain and a storm.
Professor Plant: Hello Doonfoot Primary. Thank you for your update, keep up the great work.  

Stanford in the Vale Primary: Quite a rainy week. Unfortunately, no snow. We wish you all a merry Christmas.
Professor Plant: Hi Stanford in the Vale Primary! Rain is great for your bulbs, even if snow would have been more fun for you! Thank you for the Christmas wishes—I wish you all a merry Christmas too!

Our Lady’s RC Primary: I did this alone :)
Professor Plant: Hello! Doing this alone is impressive—well done! Your observations are very valuable, so keep up the brilliant work. Great job!

Meldrum Primary School: Rainfall a bit low after Monday, temperature seems a bit all over the place right now.
Professor Plant: Hi Meldrum Primary. It's great that you are noticing differences in your daily and weekly weather readings. I look forward to your next observations. 

Pil Primary School: There was so much rain when we checked on Monday and the weather is chilly. Our spring bulbs have started to shoot up.
Professor Plant: Hello Pil Primary! Shoots appearing already? That’s wonderful! The rainy weather is helping your bulbs to grow. Keep watching closely—great job!

Pil Primary School: It was very cold this week.
Professor Plant: Hi Pil Primary. The cold might slow us down, but your bulbs are tough. Keep up the excellent work!

Pil Primary School: There was hardly any rain to measure this week.
Professor Plant: Hello again, Pil Primary! Even with less rain, your bulbs should still have enough moisture from earlier weeks. Keep tracking the weather and checking for growth—you’re doing brilliantly!

Weather Data for November

Penny Dacey, 4 Rhagfyr 2024

Hi Bulb Buddies,

I would like to say a huge thank you to all the schools who have uploaded their weather data to the website. For anyone new to the Blog, we have 175 schools across the country taking weather readings for every day they are in school from November to March! Our Super Scientists are exploring the effects of weather on the flowering dates of spring bulbs! 

The MET Office has described November 2024 as a month of two halves, because the weather for the first two weeks was mild and relatively warm but the following two weeks were wet, windy and even snowy! This is reflected in your comments; at the beginning of the month many of you commented on not having much rain. In the second half there were reports of lots of rain and some snow! This was the snowiest November since 2010!

Only one school has mentioned Storm Bert, but this was the cause of lots of the rainfall that you reported. You may have seen lots of discussions around flooding and weather warnings in the news. You can learn more about weather warnings here: Weather Warnings And more about named storms here: Weathering the Storm

Storm season runs from September to August, which aligns nicely with our investigation. Storm Bert was the second named storm this storm season. We've also had storm Ashley and storm Conall. You can see the names for this seasons storms in the image on the right. Last storm season was the stormiest since naming UK storms began in 2015. Last year we had 12 named storms and by this time last year there had already been four named storms and the fifth was on it's way! 

Lets take a look at your comments to see how the project is going in schools across the UK. I'm excited to report that many schools have noticed some green shoots in their pots!

Messages to Professor Plant

Eveswell Primary
Comment:
Hello professor, sorry that we could not send u this data until now. I am in year six now so I'm going to move on to high school so I probably won't see you ever again so bye for now. I hope you see this message if not that is okay. Please can you reply to me so I know that our data has helped you.

Professor Plant's Response:
Thank you, Josh! Your data has been extremely helpful, and I want to say a big thank you for all of the work you have done on this project. Please thank everyone at your school that has worked on this as well. I’m sure you will have a fantastic time at your next school!

Ysgol Pennant
Comment:
Ar y dydd Mawrth aeth yr ysgol i wylio sioe yn theatr Hafren felly doedden methu gofnodi.

Professor Plant's Response:
Diolch yn fawr Ysgol Pennant. It’s okay to miss a day—your effort in recording other days is very much appreciated. Thank you for letting me know. 


Weather Observations

Stanford in the Vale Primary School
Comment:
Sorry for the confusion on the 18-22 of November; this is the actual date for last week's temperature.

Professor Plant's Response:
Thank you for clarifying, Stanford Bulb Scientists. Accurate records are important, and your efforts help us greatly. Keep up the great work!

St Joseph's Cathedral Primary (Swansea)
Comment:
On the 28th, the temperature was not read correctly, so the real temperature was 4 to 8 degrees Celsius. The chart would not let me put two numbers, so I have to make a note. I am not sure about this, but on the 26th, a Tuesday, the rainfall was 49 mm, which I am not sure is correct. Sorry if this reading is wrong.

Professor Plant's Response:
Thank you for adding these detailed notes with your readings Mammals! It’s okay if readings are sometimes uncertain—it’s all part of learning science. You’ve shown good scientific skills by questioning your readings and noting your thoughts on these. 

Henllys Church in Wales School
Comment:
All good big change in rainfall.

Professor Plant's Response:
Great observation! Sudden changes in rainfall can tell us a lot about the weather patterns. Keep an eye on those gauges!

Ysgol Llanddulas
Comment:
We saw more rain this week.

Professor Plant's Response:
Thank you, Roaring Reptiles! It sounds like you’ve had some wet weather—perfect for bulbs to grow!

Bryn Deri Primary
Comment:
There has been a lot more rain recently, especially on the weekend of the 23rd and 24th of November—which is not shown on our data (the weekend). We have also had some frosty mornings. Our bulbs have begun to shoot. 

Professor Plant's Response:
Wonderful observations, Bryn Deri! Rain and frost make for an interesting combination. Keep watching those bulbs—they’re on their way!

Cornist Park C.P
Comment:
Monday: It is cloudy today. 
Tuesday: The weather is damp and cloudy.
Wednesday: There is lots of frost today.
Thursday: It is very cold and lots of white frost.
Friday: It is cold and sunny.

Professor Plant's Response:
Thank you, Cornist Park team, for such detailed daily updates! It’s great to see how all of you are working together to capture the weather conditions.

Bwlchgwyn Primary School
Comment:
This week we were off school for 3.5 days because of heavy snowfall and freezing temperatures. Even today, we cannot accurately look at the rain gauge because it is just so full of snow. We have managed to record the temperatures, but our gauge for the 4 days was just overflowing with snow.

Professor Plant's Response:
Thank you, Fish Group! Snowfall can make data collection tricky, but you’ve done a brilliant job despite the challenges. If this happens again you could bring the rain gauge into the classroom and wait for the ice or snow to melt before taking your rain readings. You could compare the reading before and after it melts too! 

Langbank Primary School
Comment:
Snowed on Friday.

Professor Plant's Response:
How exciting! Snow makes everything look magical—thank you for sharing this detail.

Doonfoot Primary School
Comment:
VERY WET on Monday; okay weather for the rest of the week.

Professor Plant's Response:
It sounds like Monday was a challenging start to the week, but you’ve captured the variation in weather in your comments. Thank you!


Plant Growth Observations

Alloway Primary School
Comment:
Some bulbs have started to grow.

Professor Plant's Response:
That’s fantastic news! Well done, Alloway Primary. Keep monitoring their progress as they continue to grow.

St Mary’s Primary School - Newry
Comment:
There was lots of rainfall over the weekend. Extreme frost and fog and a bit of snow.

Professor Plant's Response:
It sounds like you’ve had some wintry weather! Great job keeping track. Frost and snow can be challenging for bulbs, but they’re tough little plants.

Ysgol Tycroes
Comment:
We had snow this week, but not enough to stick. Our mystery plants have started to grow; we can see stalks with small spikey leaves on them both.

Professor Plant's Response:
How exciting that you’ve seen some snow and that your plants have started to grow! Keep watch over your plants to see what happens next. 

St Michael’s RC Primary
Comment:
We are enjoying taking care of the plants. We haven’t had much rain.

Professor Plant's Response:
Fantastic work, St Michael’s. I’m glad to hear that you are enjoying the project and that your plants are in good hands!

Collecting Weather Data

Penny Dacey, 8 Tachwedd 2024

Hi Bulb Buddies,

I want to say a big thank you to all of the participating schools who worked hard planting bulbs for the project. Together we planted over 18 thousand bulbs across the UK and from the photos I’ve seen, it looks as though everyone had great fun doing it! 

All schools taking part in the project will be collecting weather data from 4 November until 28 March. They will be uploading these records regularly to the Amgueddfa Cymru website, along with comments and weather observations. We'll be learning a lot together over the school year. 

Resources are available on the website that explore different aspects of the project, including ideas for additional experiments and guides to making short videos for the Bulbcast competition!  

I'll be sure to share more photos and comments from schools to the Blog in the coming weeks. 

Keep up the good work Bulb Buddies,

Professor Plant

Gweithredu ar y cyd ar gyfer Natur

Penny Dacey, 18 Hydref 2024

Annwyl Cyfeillion y Gwanwyn,

Dyma un o fy hoff adegau o'r flwyddyn! Bydd ysgolion ledled y DU yn gadael y dosbarth i blannu bylbiau fel rhan o Ymchwiliad Bylbiau'r Gwanwyn i Ysgolion. Anfonwyd bwlb crocws a chennin Pedr ar gyfer pob disgybl yn y dosbarth rhestredig i'w blannu ar 21 Hydref (neu'r dyddiad agosaf posib). Edrychaf ymlaen at rannu eu lluniau gwych hefo chi. Rydym yn cynnal Cystadleuaeth Ffotograffiaeth Diwrnod Plannu bob blwyddyn, felly gwyliwch y Blog Bylbiau hwn i weld y delweddau buddugol a dilyn @Professor_Plant ar X/Twitter i weld yr holl luniau gwych yn cael eu rhannu!

Mae gennym lawer o adnoddau digidol ar y wefan. Mae rhai yn benodol i'r ymchwiliad ond mae'n bosib addasu rhai ar gyfer eich ysgol hyd yn oed os nad ydy'ch yn cymryd rhan eleni. Dyma'r adnoddau sef yn addas at gam hwn o'r ymchwiliad:

Cam 1: Paratoi i plannu (dechrau mis Hydref)

Cam 2: Diwrnod plannu

Cam 3: Gweithgareddau ymarferol dewisol i wneud a'r tywydd a garddio

Cystadleuath Bylbcast

Hwn yr ail flwyddyn i ni gynnal y gystadleuaeth Bylbcast. Mae hon yn dasg hwyliog a chreadigol y gall dosbarthiadau gweithio ar drwy gydol yr ymchwiliad. Gofynnir i'n wyddonwyr ifanc gynllunio, recordio a chyflwyni fideo byr yn archwilio eu hoff rannau o'r ymchwiliad. Mae adnoddau i gefnogi'r dasg hon ar gael fan yma, a bydd yr enillwyr eu cyhoeddi cyn diwedd y flwyddyn academaidd. Alla i ddim aros i weld beth mae'r meddyliau creadigol eleni  yn cynhyrchu. Tybed faint o ysgolion fydd yn sôn am ddiwrnod plannu yn eu ceisiadau?

Anfonwyd adnodd newydd i'r ysgolion sy'n cymryd rhan eleni, calendr hwyliog sydd wedi'i gynllunio'n arbennig i helpu'r dosbarth i gofnodi eu data tywydd a blodau. Mae hyn yn cynnwys dyddiadau pwysig ar gyfer yr ymchwiliad a strwythur arfaethedig ar gyfer trefnu'r casgliad data. Gall athrawon ddewis i rannu eu dosbarth yn bum grŵp, sydd i gyd yn cymryd eu tro i ddogfennu a uwchlwytho data'r tywydd. Y gobaith yw y bydd hyn yn helpu i berchnogi'r ymchwiliad i'r plant. 

Edrychaf ymlaen at rannu datblygiadau ddiweddaraf yr ymchwiliad hefo chi. Rwy'n gobeithio eich bod yn dathlu'r Diwrnod Plannu, wrth i ysgolion ledled y DU ymuno â'i gilydd i blannu dros 18,000 o fylbiau yn y weithred gyfunol hon ar gyfer natur. Gwaith Gwych Cyfeillion y Gwanwyn! 

Athro'r Ardd

Bylbiau'r Gwanwyn ar gyfer Ysgolion

Penny Dacey, 30 Medi 2024

Mae'r flwyddyn academaidd newydd wedi dechrau'n dda. Mae'r Athro'r Ardd a'i gynorthwywyr hapus wedi pacio a dosbarthu 175 o becynnau adnoddau i ysgolion ledled y DU.

Mae'r pecynnau hyn yn cynnwys popeth sydd ei angen ar ysgolion i gymryd rhan yn yr ymchwiliad eleni:

- Pot a bylbiau ar gyfer pob plentyn sy'n cymryd rhan

- Mesur glaw a thermomedr i gofnodi data tywydd

- Calendr i gadw cofnodion tywydd a blodau

- Talebau i brynu compost heb-fawn

- Cynllun Tymor hefo dyddiadau allweddol ar gyfer y project

- Pot gwahanol i gymharu defnydd

- Bylbiau dirgel i ddysgu am wahanol blanhigion 

Ar 21 Hydref (neu'r dyddiad agosaf posib) mae ysgolion yn cael y dasg o blannu eu cennin Pedr  a bylbiau crocws. Dyma'r cam cyntaf y bydd ysgolion yn ei gymryd ar gyfer natur fel rhan o'r project.  Dilynwch y blog hwn a'@Professor_Plant ar X/Twitter i weld y lluniau sy'n cael eu rhannu wrth i ni ddathlu'r plannu torfol hwn.  Bydd @Professor_Plant hefyd yn rhannu diweddariadau rheolaidd gan ysgolion, a gallwn ddathlu gyda nhw pan fydd eu planhigion yn dechrau blodeuo!

Yr adnoddau cyntaf sydd eu hangen ar ysgolion sy'n cymryd rhan yw:

- Bylbiau'r Gwanwyn i Ysgolion: Canllaw i athrawon

- Cam 1: Paratoi i plannu (dechrau mis Hydref)

- Cam 2: Diwrnod plannu

Gall pob ysgol ddilyn y prosiect a gallant ddefnyddio'r taflenni gwaith ar y wefan.

Rwy'n edrych ymlaen at rannu'r gwaith y mae ein Gwyddonwyr Gwych yn ei wneud gyda chi.

Athro'r Ardd