Froglife has received national recognition for a unique approach to explaining the value of biodiversity to young people.
Froglife’s week-long Under the Surface exhibition featured larger than life pond creatures, like frogs, tadpoles and pond invertebrates, and urged visitors to explore the make-believe underwater scene to understand more about the relationships between the animals and plants.
The magical event was awarded Best Science Event by the British Science Association, as part of National Science and Engineering Week (12th – 20th March).
“We thought it was a really wonderful event, and we loved the way they reached out to different parts of the community to create artistic representations of what life is like under the water.” said Dan Richards, of the British Science Association, who judged the award. “It was a great to see an activity that could be tailored to engage all sorts of different groups while still communicating a core message of biodiversity.”
The exhibition formed part of Froglife’s calendar of events celebrating 2010 International Year of Biodiversity – raising awareness of efforts to safeguard biodiversity and focusing minds on the urgent conservation challenges ahead.
“The International Year for Biodiversity proved to be a great theme for the event, backing up the fun and creativity with a more serious lesson to be learnt about what biodiversity is, and why safeguarding it matters to all of us. Essentially, this was a science lesson with a difference.” said Natalie Giles, part of Froglife’s education team.
“This type of event is something of a niche for Froglife, bringing an interactive and hands-on approach to sharing important concepts in conservation. We will be developing this ‘science with a difference’ approach further through our education strategy and future events and projects.” said Froglife’s Sam Taylor.
The larger than life animals featuring in the exhibition were created by local young people and volunteers through Froglife’s Ponds for Life project (funded by the Heritage Lottery Foundation) and Green Pathways Scheme (funded by BBC Children in Need).
