Last Saturday, we hosted a Jacari Oxford trip to the University of Oxford Museum of Natural History. We were pleased to welcome Jacari pupils, their families and volunteer tutors to the event.
On arrival, pupils and volunteers completed a treasure trail at the museum. It was lovely to see Jacari groups heading off to explore the museum’s activities, displays and artefacts.
At two o’clock we met Sarah from the museum’s education team under the T Rex! She organised a fantastic range of activities for our pupils and families.
Sarah invited us behind the scenes to handle artefacts from the museum, including an elephant tooth, various skeletons, an octopus in a jar and some *live* cockroaches!! It was brilliant to see pupils engaging with the fascinating objects that Sarah introduced to the group. This was an insightful experience with everyone learning some interesting facts about the natural world. For example, did you know that an owl’s feathers are very soft to ensure quiet flight? Or that an elephant’s tooth is larger than a brick?
We then moved to a classroom space where Sarah gave us a presentation about colours in the natural world explaining how chameleons, penguins, wasps and frogs use colour in the natural world to attract, camouflage and warn. In groups, families were then tasked with taking photos of examples across the museum. Jacari groups found brilliant examples of butterflies, bugs and birds using colour in the natural world!
Returning to our learning space, the museum offered an amazing arts and craft activity exploring the flight and use of colour in the Garden Tiger Moth and Large Yellow Underwing Moth. Families created moth finger puppets, decorations or simply completed a colouring sheet! Meanwhile, Sarah offered groups a chance to look at these moths under the microscope. It was fascinating to see the intricate colours used by the moths to camouflage and warn others.
Kids’ events are always a lovely opportunity for Jacari pupils to get to know each other and practise their English skills among friends. It was also nice to catch up in-person with volunteer tutors and families who we haven’t seen for a while. We have more fun kids’ events planned over the summer months.
A special thank you to Sarah at the museum for organising such a fantastic trip!
