Family fun for British Science Week

Plymouth City Museum and Art Gallery will be celebrating British Science Week with two events designed especially for families.

On Saturday 14 March there’s a chance to work with guest illustrator Jo Larson-Burnett to create a huge collage in the shape of the giant wave breakers that are used to reinforce Plymouth's Breakwater each year.

The breakwater is an amazing feat of engineering at the entrance to Plymouth Sound. Measuring one mile long it was built in 1811 from four million tonnes of stone and cost around £1.5 million – the equivalent of £90 million in today’s money!

The following Saturday (21 March) people can experience some hands-on science and see real specimens from the Museum’s natural history collections.

The Museum’s curators will be joined by geologists and biologists from Plymouth University, scientists from Plymouth Marine Laboratory and staff from Dartmoor Zoo for a series of fun activities looking at plants, microscopic animals, extinct creatures and more.

Natural history curator Jan Freedman said: “We’ll be discovering how insects use camouflage to hide, seeing how seeds and their adaptations help plants survive in difficult conditions and looking at the different shaped beaks and feet that birds have.

“We‘ll also be examining how degrading plastics are affecting rich life beneath the ocean and using fossils to help explain how some animals have survived some of the greatest extinctions on our planet. It should be a really fun and interesting day for everyone who comes along.”

The Giant Wave Breaker’ and ‘Super Science’ sessions will both run from 11am to 3pm. Admission is free, there is no need to book advance and people are welcome to turn up for as little or as long as they like.

For full details visit the what’s on pages at www.plymouthmuseum.gov.uk or call 01752 304774.

British Science Week is an annual 10-day programme of science, technology, engineering and maths activities for all ages across the UK. This year’s event runs from 13 to 22 March. Full details can be found at www.britishscienceweek.org.