United Kingdom
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.
The John Innes centre is an international centre of excellence in plant and microbial science. These short films explore our key work in plant growth, development and health.
Explore our exciting new trail in the Dundee Botanic Garden to discover the wonderful world of plants and to celebrate Fascination of Plants Day
Do you want to go to the woods today? You’ll be in for a big surprise!
The Birmingham Institute of Forest Research (BIFoR) is a Free Air Carbon dioxide Enrichment facility (FACE) in the heart of Staffordshire. Here, we are conducting a forest-scale experiment to investigate the effects of rising levels of carbon dioxide (CO2) on our forests. The best way to explore BIFoR FACE is by navigating through our “Virtual BIFoR”. As you “walk” through the facility you can click on the yellow dots to see further information about the experiment underway.
A presentation of a citizen science project going into its 5th year, investigating the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) which underpins the sunflower’s ability to track the sun across the sky and reset every 24 hours. The presentation summarises primarily the work undertaken in 2020 and including heliotropism, details of the leaf movement and the effects of the external environment. It concludes that the sunflower can be described as a complex biological system comprised of sensors, continually reporting to a command system which drives and controls a locomotion system. The imposition of the external environment means this has to operate and react over surprising range of short and long term timescales to maintain control.
The management of natural resources such as plants and soil is critical to ensuring a better and sustainable future while maintaining a healthy environment and biodiversity. Plant health is an important consideration for farmers. This presentation covers a wide range of activities and services we encounter and provide at SRUC Crop Clinic to help agricultural sector in Scotland and the UK grow healthy food sources for present and future generations.
The Lancaster University Photosynthesis Research Group have prepared online activities sharing our enthusiasm about plants, and some information about our research. All content will be available online here (http://wp.lancs.ac.uk/lancsphotosynthesis/fascination-of-plants-2021/) and will be available for people to enjoy in their own time. Activities/content include,
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- Find your inner plant.
- Plant microscopy.
- Interactive map of interesting crops.
- How to make a seed bomb/Bee B’ n’ B, information sheets.
- How to grow food in your garden video.
- Interesting recipes using food from the crops that we research.