United Kingdom

National Coordinators
Timothy George, Gabriela Toldeo Ortiz
James Hutton Institute
Carmen Hermida Carrera
Lancaster University
Fascination of Plants Day

The seventh international “Fascination of Plants Day” around 18 May 2024 will be launched by plant scientists across the world under the umbrella of the European Plant Science Organisation (EPSO).

The goal of this activity is to get as many people as possible around the world fascinated by plants and enthused about the importance of plant science for agriculture and sustainable production of nutritious food, as well as for horticulture, forestry and the production of plant-based non-food products such as paper, timber, chemicals, energy and pharmaceuticals. The role of plants in environmental conservation is also a key message.

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Events organized in 2019
May 10
Jun 04
00:00
00:00
Gatsby Plant Science Masterclasses
Gatsby Plant Science Masterclasses
University of Bristol
Students
Indoor
handsonactivities

During the summer term Plant Science researchers at the University of Bristol are hosting sixth form students from local schools for inspiring Masterclass days, funded by the Gatsby Plant Science Education Programme. These one-day events are themed around ongoing research in the Sparkes Laboratory concerning the movement of subcellular compartments within plant cells. Students have the opportunity to observe these movements on the microscopes, to learn how formulate and test hypotheses explaining the mechanisms of movement, and to engage in a debate on the theme of regulation of genetically modified crops. The workshops aim to inspire A level students to consider pursuing Plant Science courses or modules during their forthcoming University years.

Further Masterclasses are planned for the autumn term. Interested teachers or students from local schools should contact Dr Alice Baillie to enquire about booking a place.

University of Bristol
Life Sciences Building, 24 Tyndall Avenue, Bristol, BS8 1TQ, UK
Dr Alice Baillie
alice.baillie@bristol.ac.uk
May 25
May 26
10:00
17:00
Kew Science Festival at Wakehurst
Kew Science Festival at Wakehurst
Wakehurst, Ardingly, Haywards Heath, Sussex, RH17 6TN
All
Outdoor

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openday handsonactivities guidedtour presentation exhibition

Grab your goggles, slip on a lab coat and get stuck in to the Kew Science Festival at Wakehurst.

Join us for a weekend of wild workshops, hands-on experiments, shows and behind the scenes tours that will captivate children and adults alike.

Meet Kew’s scientists and find out what they’re doing to protect rare and threatened plants and fungi.

Enter the lab to carry out your very own experiments. Size up a tree, peer down a microscope, hold the world’s largest seed and taste the smallest. Chat to a giant glowing fungus and experience the best-tasting chemistry lesson.

The festival is set in and around the Millennium Seed Bank, home to the world’s largest wild seed conservation project.

Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
Wellcome Trust Millennium Building, Wakehurst, Ardingly, Haywards Heath, Sussex, RH17 6TN
https://www.kew.org
Kew Science
kewscience@kew.org
May 25
May 25
11:00
16:00
Plant Power
Plant Power in Dundee
Dundee Botanic Garden, University of Dundee, Riverside Drive 2, DD2 1QH, Dundee
All
Outdoor

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openday handsonactivities

Plant Power in Dundee is an annual free event held at the Botanic Gardens to celebrate Fascination of Plants Day. This event is a combined effort of the Dundee Botanic Garden, Plant Sciences University of Dundee, and the James Hutton Institute. This year’s event will feature craft activities, facepainting, science workshops from researchers at the University of Dundee and James Hutton Institute, birds of prey, beekeepers, a plant sale from the Friends of the Botanic Garden and much more.

University of Dundee
Plant Sciences, based at the James Hutton Institute, Invergowrie, DD2 5DA
Jorunn Bos
j.bos@dundee.ac.uk
May 18
May 18
10:00
17:00
Festival of Plants
Festival of Plants
Cambridge University Botanic Garden
All
Outdoor

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openday handsonactivities guidedtour

Celebrating the wonder of plants within Cambridge University’s 40 acre Botanic Garden.  Festival of Plants includes Pop-up Plant Science marquee, Plant Fair, Garden Tours, Talking Plants tent, Ask the Gardener, family activities, live music, food trucks.

Normal Garden Admission applies

Cambridge University Botanic Garden
1 Brookside, Cambridge, CB2 1JE
https://www.botanic.cam.ac.uk/
Wendy Godfrey
weg22@cam.ac.uk
May 18
May 18
10:00
16:00
Fascination of Plants Day at Lancaster
Fascination of Plants Day at Lancaster
Lancaster
All
Indoor

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exhibition

To mark the 50th edition of Fascination of Plants Day, Lancaster will hold an exciting event at St Nicholas Arcades in Lancaster City Centre, with various activities, where you can learn on how your everyday products trace back to plants and how crops look like (live plants)! Furthermore, some of the activities will be interactive e.g. seed race game, match plants with their respective products, a microscope showing interesting plant parts and some static e.g. various crops at different growth stages and pictures of unusual plants. All the activities aim to emphasize the importance of plants worldwide and on people’s daily routine. The activities are suitable for all ages and prizes will be won!

 

Lancaster University
Bailrigg, Lancaster LA1 4YW
https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/
Cristina Sales
c.r.sales@lancaster.ac.uk
May 18
May 18
11:00
15:00
Fascination of Plants day Durham
Fascination of Plants day at Durham University Botanic Gardens
Durham University Botanic Garden
All
Indoor

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handsonactivities exhibition

Join us in Durham University Botanic Gardens on Saturday 18th May between 11am and 3pm to celebrate the wonderful world of plants on ‘Fascination of plants day 2019’. We will have activities for all the family designed and run by academics from Durham University Department of Biosciences and colleagues from Dilston Physic Garden.

Have you ever wondered why clover seems to take over your lawn, despite your best efforts to grow grass in its place?”-  come and find out what makes clover so clever! And come and test your senses in identifying traditional medicinal plants with a chance to win a prize!

Durham University Botanic Garden
Hollingside Lane, South Road, Durham DH1 3TN
https://www.dur.ac.uk/botanic.garden/
Flora Hetherington
f.m.hetherington@durham.ac.uk
May 18
May 18
09:00
19:00
Fascination of Plants Day UK
Fascination of Plants Day UK
All
Indoor

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openday handsonactivities guidedtour presentation seminar exhibition arts
May 18
May 19
00:00
00:00
Fascination of Plants day at the Natural History Museum, London
Fascination of Plants day at the Natural History Museum, London
London
All
Indoor

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handsonactivities

Join us at the Natural History Museum to celebrate plants on Fascination of Plants day 2019. Chat with museum scientists and have a look at some sensational specimens to discover how amazing plants are and their importance in our planet.

Natural History Museum, London
Cromwell Rd, South Kensington, London SW7 5BD
http://www.nhm.ac.uk
Cristina Torrente
c.torrente@nhm.ac.uk
May 18
May 18
00:00
00:00
The Hidden Half of Plants
The Hidden Half of Plants
All
Indoor

Ever wondered what the plant looks like underneath the soil?

Plant roots are really important as they anchor the plant in the soil and take up water and nutrients. Unfortunately as the roots grow in the soil it can be really hard to view them. At the University of Nottingham we use X-ray vision to see roots in soil. This allows us to see the part of the plant normally hidden from view. Check out nottingham.ac.uk/hiddenhalf to see the root systems of many plants, from Christmas trees to asparagus.

To celebrate Fascination of Plants day we are going behind the scenes to show you how the images are created. Head over to our twitter page, @UoNHiddenHalf, on the 19th to get an insiders view of the facilities at Nottingham and how we create the images in the Hidden Half website.

Apr 24
May 17
00:00
00:00
Hey Duggee: The Tree Badge
Hey Duggee: The Tree Badge
Online
All
Indoor

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presentation

The popular CBeebies programme ‘Hey Duggee’ has released an episode that is extremely appropriate for Fascination of Plants Day 🙂

Watch the video to learn with the squirrels how fantastic plants are as they travel up and down through a tall tree!

It requires a BBC login to view the video but this is free for UK-based users!

!!!!!Duggee Hug!!!!!

 

FoPD UK Coordinator
GARNet, School of Biosciences, Cardiff University
https://www.garnetcommunity.org.uk/
Geraint Parry
geraint@garnetcommunity.org.uk
May 16
May 17
00:00
00:00
Power of Plants
Fascination of Plants
Duthie Park, Road, Aberdeen| AB11 7TH
Students
Indoor

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handsonactivities guidedtour

This collaborative venture between the School of Pharmacy and Life Sciences, Robert Gordon University (RGU), and Aberdeen City Council’s, Duthie Park aims to engage children with science and educate them on the power of plants. Local primary school children (n=~60) will participate in sessions extracting DNA from Strawberries with scientists from RGU and discovering the Power of Plants on a Duthie Park nature trail led by the Park rangers.

Each educational session is designed to get pupils interested in plants and the importance of science in everyday life

 

School of Pharmacy and Life sciences,
Robert Gordon University, Riverside East, Garthdee Road, Aberdeen AB10 7GJ
https://www.rgu.ac.uk
Dr Morag CE McFadyen
m.mcfadyen@rgu.ac.uk
May 15
May 15
10:00
15:00
Why are plants smelly?
Why are plants smelly?
University of Reading
Students
Indoor

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handsonactivities

Following from our first successful “Why are plants smelly?” event for British Science Week (10th March 2019) “Why are plants smelly 2” is our primary schools outreach event for the International Fascination of Plants Day.  We invite primary schools’ science groups to the University of Reading campus to join scientists from the School of Biological Sciences and the school of Archaeology, Geography and Environmental Sciences to ask: “Why is it that some plants smell so nice and sweet while others are really quite grossly stinky?!”  There will be a range of activities both in the laboratory and outside on the University of Reading’s prize-winning green campus. School groups will examine the different ways in which plants try to attract other organisms (e.g. pollinating bees and hoverflies) while doing their best to repel others such as insect herbivores intent on eating them! We guarantee you will leave looking at plants in a totally new way!

University ofReading
Harborne Building, Whiteknights, Reading RG6 6UR
https://research.reading.ac.uk/botany/
Dr Jonathan Mitchley
j.mitchley@reading.ac.uk
May 11
May 11
12:00
16:00
Plant Power
Plant Power
Leiden Square, Westgate Oxford, Castle St, Oxford OX1 1NZ
All
Indoor

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handsonactivities

How essential are plants to you? Probably more than you ever realised! Meet some of the world’s rarest plants and raid our food fridge to find something you’d like to plant and grow. Drop-in anytime between 12 and 4pm, try our challenges and have a go at our make-and-take activities. Find out more about science behind-the-scenes by chatting with our researchers.

Activities for the whole family brought to you by the University of Oxford Botanic Garden and Arboretum and Department of Plant Sciences.

Oxford Botanic Garden and Arboretum, The University of Oxford
Rose Lane, Oxford, OX1 4AZ
http://www.obga.ox.ac.uk
The Education Team, Oxford Botanic Garden and Arboretum
education@obg.ox.ac.uk