Open weekend for the public 2006

Click here for the 2010 event

---

The details below relate to the 2006 event

Examples of what to see and do

It's a bug's life

Insects in a changing world. Some insects are vital to our well-being but others are our competitors. Find out how insects affect us and how we affect them. As we change the environment which will the insect winners and losers be?

The Bees' needs. Why you need bees, and bees need you. Come and see inside a honeybee hive and a bumblebee nest. Find out how we track the flight of the bumblebee

Pest Control For Free. Can you tell friend from foe in the insect world? Come and see the bugs that attack our plants and others that are our allies in the fight against pests. Find out how we can look after natural enemies in farmland

 

Rothamsted overseas

Why me? Why do mosquitoes bite one person more than another?

Rothamsted International. Find out how local charity Rothamsted International works to share research to alleviate poverty overseas

Good companions. Companion planting for pest and weed control on African smallholdings

 

 

Doing the sums for biology

Living with risk. Explore the challenges in making decisions in the presence of uncertainty. How can we make decisions with uncertain information? How good is your judgement of odds?

What do the human body, a credit card and a pyramid have in common? Certain mathematical principles occur in nature all around us. We look at how the existence of such phenomena in nature influences processes like disease spread and the invasion of new species

Sudoku? No, but you can try designing your own laboratory experiment

From Millionaire to micro-chip. See how our tools for analysing data have changed over time. Do arithmetic on our antique "Millionaire” calculating machine and compare it with your calculator today!

Digging for information. Looking after our soils requires information from soil samples but how do you decide where to dig? see how research allows us to obtain environmental information efficiently.

Are insects good at maths? Some insects use special tactics to help them search for food efficiently, we look at the maths hidden in such tactics.

See how computers can be used to mathematically describe the internal workings of plants. Find out why we use computer models, how we simulate the biochemical machinery and see some mathematical "modelling" in action.

 

The Cereal Killers

Touchy feely fungi. Find out how fungi touch, feel and taste their way to the right location for germination and infection of the plant.

• Can you match the possible infection cues to the fungi?
• See plant diseases
• Find out how plants are colonised by fungi

Supermarket challenge. Do you know the fungi in your shopping basket? How about chocolate and coffee? Find out why some fungi are ideal foods, while others produce toxins and pose a serious health risk.

Spot the Spore. If you suffer from hay fever you might look out for the pollen count as part of the weather forecast. At Rothamsted we’re using a similar approach to forecast fungal diseases that farmers can expect to see later on their crops by identifying spores trapped in air samples.

Have a look down the microscopes on display and see if you can match the spores seen to those shown in posters that cause important crop diseases.

 

Battling the Superbugs

Insect pests can fight back by becoming resistant to insecticides

• What are the world’s top ten super-bugs?
• How do they become resistant
• How do we know if an insect is resistant or not
• Can we defeat the super-bugs

 

 

Down to earth

Have you ever thought about how important soil is? It has many functions and is fundamental to life on earth

• Explore the secret life of the soil and learn how soil organisms are at risk from contaminants
• Learn how soils may help combat global warming – or make things worse!
• Learn how charcoal helped to make ancient Amazonian agriculture sustainable, and how their technology may have new relevance
• Selenium is essential for good health – are you getting enough?
• Pipettes, precision and popcorn – how do you measure up? Come and test your skills in a real laboratory
• Park Grass started 150 years ago and is the oldest ecological experiment in the world. What more can it tell us?

Feeling the heat

How climate change affects our soils and crops and how the way we manage our soils can impact upon the wider environment.

• How does our weather today compare with the past?
• What influence does drying soil and soil strength have on crop yield?
• Modelling and managing our crops
• The importance of minimizing nitrogen losses from soils and crops

The acrylamide problem

Acrylamide is a harmful chemical formed during cooking from substances that are naturally present in some foods. Find out what Rothamsted scientists are doing to solve this problem and see if you can guess which foods contain most acrylamide.

Controlling plant development in agriculture

Plant growth and development is regulated by several classes of hormones. We will show how one group of hormones is manipulated to improve the architecture, yields and quality of major crops. Find out about our research on how hormones control plant growth and how this information is used for crop improvement.

Fish oils from plants

Your granny was right - fish oils are good for you! But global fish stocks are becoming polluted and over-exploited and we must find an alternative source. Work here at Rothamsted is investigating the use of genetic engineering to develop plants containing these healthy fish oils. And before you ask, no, they don't smell fishy.

Wheat quality for breadmaking/adverse reactions to wheat

Wheat is the major food crop in the UK and Europe, being used to produce bread, pasta and noodles, cakes and biscuits and a range of other products. We explain how grain composition affects end-use quality and why we grow different types of heats for different purposes. We also look at why some people can't eat wheat products due to allergies and intolerances.

Dieting for plants

How we wish to optimise fertilizer inputs to improve produce and minimise environmental damage. We are using the world's oldest field experiment here at Rothmasted to examine how crops responses to nutrient deficiency, using latest gene and analytical technologies. One fascinating development is 'smart' plants that glow when they need fertiliser and which will be on display.

What's in a plant?

Magnetic Resonance and Mass Spectroscopy. Knowledge of the chemical composition of plants is key to understanding plant growth and development in changing environments, as well as for safety testing of food crops. Come and see the state-of-the-art molecular scanners that are used to identify these complex chemical components in plants.

Growing energy

The words “renewable energy” usually conjure up images of wind turbines but did you know that plants can help solve problems with future energy supplies and climate change caused by greenhouse gas emissions? Come and find out how energy can be grown and why willows and miscanthus could be among the energy sources of our future.

Renewable energy

What are the options for replacing energy from fossil fuels? What does “renewable energy” mean when we talk about plants? How can we get fuel from growing plants and which ones are best for this purpose? What is the energy used for? Can we run cars on fuel from plants? Come and find out what our energy future will be like.

Willows for energy

How well do you know willows? Can you identify males and females, do you know which willows are used for cricket bats or baskets and why? Have a go at identifying willows and matching them with their uses in our Willow Quiz and learn about how they can be used for heat and power.

Grasses for energy

Do you know how tall grass can be? Come and find out what miscanthus grass is and how tall it grows. Learn about how this crop is being utilised.

Will growing energy crops change our environment?

Do you know what insects or diseases are found on willows? Come and be amazed by one of the largest aphids. Learn about biodiversity of willows and miscanthus and find out whether growing energy crops will change our countryside.

Broom’s Barn – Sugar Beet Research

Based in Suffolk, Broom’s Barn is the sugar beet research Department of Rothamsted Research.

• What is sugar beet and how is it used?
• Find out about the range of research at Broom’s Barn, from DNA to Drought
• Broom’s Barn – the link in the chain: from science to industry
• www.bertiethebeet.co.uk – follow the growth of one plant on his own internet site

 

What exactly is GM?

Most people have heard of GM (Genetic Modification) but have you ever wanted to know more?

• How does GM differ from plant breeding?
• Come and discover how we genetically modify wheat
• What are the potential applications of GM?

Talk to the animals - tapping the chemical communication channels of insects

Rothamsted through the years

Rothamsted has a long and unique history.

• Find out how the Rothamsted site has changed over the years.
• Who was Gilbert? Many of you will be familiar with the name of Sir John Lawes, but who was the other half of the famous Lawes and Gilbert collaboration?