Category Archives: Learning and Teaching

Amorphophallus konjac: Can You Resist the Lure of the Devil’s Tongue?

You are probably familiar with Amorphophallus titanum, the titan arum, which has the largest unbranched inflorescence in the world, but do you know about its smaller, red tongued sibling Amorphophallus konjac? Family Description A. konjac is a member of the … Continue reading

Posted in Africa, Asia, Learning and Teaching, Monocots, Philippines, Students | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

84th Reading Beavers – Saving the environment!

On Friday evening we had the pleasure of hosting a keen and vibrant group of Beavers from the local 84th group along with their leaders and parent helpers.  While the emphasis was very much on look and experience the exciting … Continue reading

Posted in Hands-on, Interactive, Learning and Teaching, Public | Tagged | Leave a comment

Ranikhet Primary School – a rainforest experience

Today pupils from Ranikhet Primary School visited the Tropical Biodiversity Greenhouse (Part of Reading University Herbarium in the School of Biological Sciences) to see, smell, touch and draw plants that grow in the tropics, and particularly the tropical rainforest. Two … Continue reading

Posted in Hands-on, Learning and Teaching, Primary Schools, School Visits | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

1st Whiteknights Brownies

We hosted a visit from the 1st Whiteknights Brownies this evening in a very warm and humid tropical atmosphere.  Over an hour we toured the world of plants asking questions such as ‘What eats chilli peppers and why?’, ‘how do … Continue reading

Posted in Hands-on, Interactive, Learning and Teaching | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

University librarians enjoy the Dew(e)y atmosphere

At 9am sharp today the tropical glasshouse was invaded by a hush of Librarians.  Led by the intrepid Helen Hathway (Head of Academic Liaison and Support) and guided by our biology subject specialist Tim Chapman more than 20 members of … Continue reading

Posted in Hands-on, Interactive, Learning and Teaching, Staff | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

A visit from 71st Beavers

Monday afternoon was grey, cold and wet but the Reading 71st Beavers and their helpers braved the weather to walk to our tropical glasshouse.  Thick coats were soon shed and the children had a chance to look around and interact … Continue reading

Posted in Hands-on, Learning and Teaching, Public | Leave a comment

Welcome Richard Higgins, our latest BSc researcher in Tropical Biodiversity

A new round of BSc research projects have just started for 2014/15 academic year.  Richard Higgins will be working with Paul Hatcher and Alastair Culham on the monitoring and management of Mealy bug in the tropical glasshouse. 

Posted in Integrated Pest Management, Learning and Teaching, Students | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

MERL Village Fete

The Museum of English Rural Life held its annual Village Fete  on Saturday 31st May. The Herbarium was represented in the form of a tropical food plants display showing some of the plants we grow in our tropical glasshouse. The … Continue reading

Posted in Hands-on, Interactive, Learning and Teaching, Public | Leave a comment

Highwood Primary School discovers roots, stems and leaves

Standing amongst the dense foliage of  large exotic plants with the smells of damp earth and fragrant leaves around me, the sun cooking the air, I tried to explain to a group of pupils from Highwood Primary School why plants … Continue reading

Posted in Interactive, Learning and Teaching, People, Primary Schools, Public, School Visits | Leave a comment

Visitors from Talfourd Avenue go Tropical

On Saturday the 15th of March the Tropical Biodiversity Glasshouse project had the pleasure of hosting families from the Talfourd Avenue group. They kindly agreed to come test our new (and hopefully improved) glasshouse tour, which was designed and created … Continue reading

Posted in Countries, Fish, Hands-on, Interactive, Labelling, Learning and Teaching, Pond, Technology, Water Plants | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment