Today our Panda went on a special adventure with his friend Bamboo from Borestone Primary School. When he was there he met lots of different animals and the pandas who live in Edinburgh zoo.
Tag Archives: #citizenscience
We have been making pictures of our panda
We have been making pictures of our panda. The boys and girls of Doune nursery love their new friend and they have been making their own panda pictures to make our panda feel at home. We have been researching children’s questions about pandas – such as where they live, what they like to eat and what baby pandas look like? Did you know pandas are born with no fur?
Special delivery at Doune Nursery!
The boys and girls at Doune Nursery were very surprised when they got a mysterious package delivered today. When we opened it we discovered a panda and a letter inviting us to be citizen scientist. Where will the adventure take us?
What is in our Wooded Area?
With the help from OPAL scientists and The Conservation Volunteers, the adventurous P3s went on a bug hunt. They explored our playground, school playing fields and wooded area. They discovered that bugs prefer the wooded area as there is much more cover and food. Lots of worms, slaters and beetles were found but a ladybird got away!
The children recorded the bugs they found. Look out for our results in the OPAL web site. The children are looking forward to comparing what they find on their bug hunt in June.
Encouraging others to save energy
Primary 3 were learning about technology and how it impacts on our environment. They designed posters to encourage others to save energy by “turning off lights when not in use” and “walking saves money and our planet”. Our panda ‘Bamboo’ helped the children to choose the winning poster.
Bugs at Borestone
The P7s explored pond life with the help from OPAL Community Scientist and The Conservation Volunteers. They discovered that caddisfly and dragonfly larvae are found in healthy pond water. Snails and worm-like animals indicate that the pond water might be polluted. They also had the opportunity to discuss and create a pond life food chain. In addition the children were introduced to various types of lichens. Next week the children will use their knowledge of lichens to explore air quality.
Borestone pupils go on a worm hunt!
Primary 2L braved the cold weather and enjoyed taking part in a worm survey with the help from OPAL Community Scientist and The Conservation Volunteers. The children and our panda, Bamboo, learned lots about worms.
“There are different types such as red, stripy and pale worms” (Mani).
“A baby worm comes from an egg in a cocoon.” (Jade).
“Adult worms have saddles.” (Anna)
Daniel S and his group had a great time finding 19 worms!
Look out for our results on to the OPAL website!
Mini pandas meet the giant pandas!
What a busy Friday I had! My fellow panda friends from
Borestone, Middleton Park and St. Ninian’s and some pupils visited Edinburgh Zoo to learn about the giant pandas and find out about the work being done by the staff at the zoo to protect and research about them. They were lucky enough to see both Yang Guang and Tian Tian. They learned that us Pandas can eat 40kg of bamboo a day and that there are two separate enclosures as they might not get along if they we’re put in together!
We hope the pupils have been inspired by their visit to go back to their schools and find out more about conservation issues in their local environments. I’m looking forward to seeing citizen science activities they’re taking part in; collecting data and using that data and passing it on to scientists. Some schools will be using the OPAL surveys to learn about air, soil and water quality in their school grounds and others will be using the BRISC surveys to investigate biodiversity.
Get blogging so I can read all about it!
Patrick the Panda
Patrick the Panda investigates ponds in Glasgow!
Patrick the panda is getting ready to go exploring the pond at Queens Park in Glasgow. He’ll be using the OPAL water survey to find out about the quality of the water there. Are there lots of invertebrates there or is the cold weather keeping them away?
Matt, the OPAL scientist, has provided Patrick the panda with a water survey pack – it has a guide to identifying different species. Patrick also used the guide to find out that if the water is healthy then there may be species such as dragonfly larvae, but if the water is not very good quality then he might only find species such as pond skaters and water shrimps.
After he’s surveyed the pond he’ll need to remember to submit his information to the OPAL website so that scientists can use it to better understand the health of Scotland’s ponds.
Why don’t you have a look at the OPAL website and see if there are surveys you could carry out in your school grounds.
Remember- Patrick will go with a sensible grown-up to look at the pond- make sure you do too!
The Panda Reporters are on the move!
Strange sightings were reported at Glasgow Airport this morning… 5 shadowy figures, each carrying a stick of bamboo were spotted at the arrivals gate in the early hours of the morning!
Have you seen them?
Where are they going?
They were carrying magnifying glasses, notebooks and pencils – looks like they’ve come here to find out what young people in Scotland are learning about our environment!
