Darwin Centre's Science Aglow event at Pembrokeshire College

The Dragon LNG Darwin Experience hosted its annual Science Aglow event on October 9, showcasing a range of organisations and the work in the county linked to science and the environment.

This year, Science Aglow had a conservation theme, highlighting a range of important habitats and species, the threats they face, and how they can be conserved for future generations.

Schools in attendance were Fenton CP School, Cleddau Reach VC Primary School and Tavernspite Community Primary School.

Anna and Jack from the Sea Trust immersed pupils in a rock pool, introducing them to branching keys which they used to identify organisms from sea lettuce to starfish.

The classes learnt about Pembrokeshire’s big 5 cetaceans that visit our waters and are surveyed by the Sea Trust team.

Emma, Adopt a Tributary officer from the West Wales Rivers Trust, brought some freshwater invertebrate samples which were collected from a stream.

Pupils learnt about the importance of freshwater habitats, the types of pollution can affect them and how invertebrates can be indicator species, highlighting the health of the river or stream in a quick spot check.

Ginny from the Pembrokeshire Hogspital, along with volunteer Orla, highlighted the difficulties facing native hedgehogs, why their numbers have declined rapidly, what to do if you spot one out and about in the daytime, and what we can do to help them in our own gardens.

The pair brought some of their rescues along, and pupils were able to have a close-up look and hold them in a towel on their laps.

This opportunity was a particular highlight for the pupils, with one from Fenton CP stating: "I enjoyed the hedgehogs because it was really cute and fun and I would like to help hedgehogs in the future."

All four classes brought either a science investigation they had been working on or their topic work from science and technology to present to Sam and Amy from the Dragon LNG Darwin Experience.

Sam from the Dragon LNG Darwin Experience stated that "all three schools and four classes did a remarkable job sharing their investigations, results and achievements with us.

"They were well prepared and were able to tell us the story of their work from the planning phase through to the variables and discussing ways in which their work could be improved or developed further.

"They used appropriate scientific language and were able to engage in meaningful dialogue about their work and answer questions from the Darwin team and their peers, we were very impressed."

Science Aglow concluded with an Ugly Animal Roadshow, a comedy show with a conservation twist, performed by TV presenter and evolutionary biologist Simon Watt from the Ugly Animal Preservation Society.

Sam added: "we are incredibly grateful to the fantastic organisations (Pembrokeshire Hogspital, The Sea Trust, and West Wales Rivers Trust) for giving up their time and delivering such invaluable experiences to the schools in attendance and to Simon Watt for making the journey to Pembrokeshire, his third visit to us here at the Darwin Centre.

"This event raised awareness amongst the participants of conservation issues affecting wildlife in Pembrokeshire and beyond and how we can all work together to ensure these species are around for future generations."