On Monday (Monday July 12) the University of Aberdeen Natural History Centre will launch the first of three weeks of free fun filled hands-on activities for families and young people exploring the amazing variety of life on the planet and how we experience it.
The sessions are the latest in a series of events hosted by the University of Aberdeen Natural History Centre that have been inspired by the United Nation’s ’International Year of Biodiversity 2010’ a world wide initiative aimed at raising awareness of the variety, complexity and sheer spectacle of life on our planet.
During the next few weeks a series of programmesat the David Welch Winter Gardens in Aberdeen’s Duthie Park will take place between 10am and 4pm. They will include severalguest workshops and provide an opportunity for families to explore and experience the world around us, both near and far.
The first week, which has the theme A Sense of Nature concentrates on the human experience of nature through sight, sound, touch, taste and smell with a sensory trail through the glasshouses exploring plant life, while hands-on displays in the education room will help children to discover how we sense the world around us and compare this experience to those of other animals.
Everyday will offer an opportunity to take part in special workshops that investigate the world though our five senses.
The Week 1 sessions will feature guest organisations including the Cosmic Dome - a mobile planetarium on Monday, and dot.rural - the University of Aberdeen research hub which is investigating how digital technologies could transform rural communities, society and business on Tuesday.
A workshop on sound will be held with Satrosphere on Wednesday and how and why we choose our food will be considered with the University of Aberdeen Rowett Institute of Nutrition and Health on Thursday.
There will also be a photographic exhibition installed in the Japanese Garden from Gray’s School of Art sculpture students who have been reflecting on the meaning of nature.
Additionally each day there will be different arts and crafts where children can make and create crafts or pot on young plants relating to each of our five senses.
Marie Fish, Education Officer at the Natural History Centre, said: “We rarely think about how we really experience the world, or consider if animals even experience it in similar ways to us.
“This is a unique opportunity to step back and consider how important the multitude of life around us really is and what it means to us and have a great deal of fun in the process – there really will be something for everyone to enjoy.
“This year we have activities which will appeal to all ranges from families with young children to primary and secondary pupils.”
For full details of the sessions visit www.abdn.ac.uk/nhc/events