As we move outdoors for the summer, thoughts turn to gardens and nature. Looking for something unusual to plant? How about some olives or sunflower? For a more natural environment to attact butterflies, we suggest the Wildflower Seed Mat.

If you prefer animals to plants, we have recently added some exciting kits. The Owl Pellet Kit reveals information about the food chain by examining the undigested bits of an owl's dinner. They may contain bones, seed husks, insect casings, fur and feathers. An illustrated worksheet helps identify the bits.

For living creatures to care for, the Triop Volcano provides an easy summer activity. Triops hatch in 24 hours and grow to a visible size in 2 or 3 days. They double in size each day until they are fully grown, about 4cm. Triop Volcano gives an insight into the world of these fascinating creatures that have been on earth since before the time of the dinosaurs.

For life at a more basic level, the Genetics and DNA Kit is a good introduction. Learn about the biology of reproduction, the components of cells, and how chromosomes are combined and copied. Assemble a model to see the elegant double-stranded helical structure of DNA. Then crack the genetic code and find out how the different parts, called nucleotides, fit together to compose it. Read about how scientists use DNA sequencing to reveal the order of nucleotides in DNA. . isolate the DNA from a tomato . learn about inheritance and how traits are expressed . build a DNA model . breed bacteria to experiment with genetic engineering Kit.

Please let us know of any science-related events coming up!