It's Manchester Big Saturday at The Manchester Museum on 25 February
21 Feb 2012
The Museum will also be holding lots of events this week to celebrate Manchester Histories Festival, plus other events as part of the Museum Meets programme for adults.
Climate change question time
Thursday 23 February (6-8pm)
Your chance to pose questions to experts about climate change and sustainability in a Manchester and global context. With experts from The University of Manchester and other leading research centres and taking place in the Museum’s Living Worlds gallery.
Book on 0161 275 2648, free, adults
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Friday 24 February (11am-12pm)
Magic Carpet: Manchester
Storytelling and activity session for under 5s and their families/carers. Hear the story of Maharajah, the Elephant, who walked from Edinburgh to Belle Vue Zoo, Manchester.
Book on 0161 275 2648, £1 per child, under 5s and their families/carers
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Saturday 25 February (11am-4pm)
Big Saturday: Manchester
The stories behind objects in The Manchester Museum can tell us many things about Manchester’s history, such as Maharaja the elephant’s walk from Edinburgh to Manchester’s Belle Vue Zoo. Investigate these and other objects in our Manchester Gallery; Find out about Manchester’s role in understanding climate change by sharing your knowledge of weather in the past; Discover more about different dialects and languages in Manchester; Handle objects from the collection; Learn French and find out about the Manchester lions. You can also meet Chris Smith and Liz Peel from Finding Manchester - Chris and Liz are embarking on an adventure in search of 52 Manchesters, in 52 weeks, across 5 continents.
Most activities are free and drop-in. Some activities may need to be booked on the day and may cost up to £1.50. All ages
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Saturday 25 February (2-4pm)
Museum Meets: Urban Naturalist
Kitchen, garden waste and a suitable container are all the ingredients you need for good homemade compost. Join Geraldine Wall, our compost expert, for tips on successful composting. Urban Naturalist is a programme of friendly, practical workshops for adults run by leading naturalists. From wild food-foraging and composting to bird song and insect identification, explore biodiversity on our doorstep.
Book on 0161 275 2648, £3, adults
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Saturday 25 February (12noon and 3pm)
Eight lions and an umbrella
Using the history of the umbrella as a starting point, this Museum urban safari is an exploration of Manchester's heritage as a Northern Leontopolis (City of Lions) and an introduction to Survival French.
Book on 0161 275 2648, free, adults
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Saturday 25 February (2-4pm)
Gripping yarns: keeping your toes warm in ancient Egypt
Is this the oldest sock you’ll ever see? Be inspired by the Museum’s 1,700 year old Romano-Egyptian sock and other knitted items.
Part of the Close Knit series of knitting workshops, in partnership with Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester Art Gallery and Gallery of Costume.
Drop-in, free
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Saturday 25 February (2.30-3.30pm)
Weather wise: using past weather impacts to plan for the future
The EcoCities project is studying ways of reacting to changing weather patterns in Greater Manchester. Come and meet the EcoCities researchers who will speak a bit more about their research, why it’s important and what you can do. There will be plenty of time to ask questions on any aspect of their work on the changing climate, historic impacts and adapting ‘whatever the weather’.
Drop-in, free, adults
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Monday 27 February (1-2pm)
Marie Stopes and The Manchester Museum
David Gelsthorpe, Curator of Earth Sciences, will give a talk on Marie Stopes at The Manchester Museum and her adventures in Japan.
Book on 0161 275 2648, free, adults
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Wednesday 29 February (1-2pm)
The Confucius Institute talks on China
Helen Tse’s debut novel Sweet Mandarin tells the story of three generations of Chinese women making their mark in Manchester, beginning with her grandmother, Lily Kwok, the first woman to set up a restaurant in Manchester, before Chinatown was established. When Sweet Mandarin was published in 2008 it became the first ever novel by a British-born Chinese author to be published in the UK.
The Confucius Institute at The University of Manchester is delighted to welcome Helen to talk about her incredible family story and read extracts from her novel.
Book on 0161 275 2648, free, adults
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Wednesday 29 February (10am-4pm)
Leap Day talks
10.00am: Adam Bland - The Reproduction of Central American Leaf Frogs and their captive breeding as an important conservation tool.
10.45am: Matthew Wilson - The Ecology and Habits of the European midwife toads (genus Alytes), including their recent introduction to the British Isles.
2.30pm: Robert Jehle - Revealing the mating system of a poison-arrow frog: insights from DNA fingerprinting techniques and conservation implications.
3.15pm: Andrew Gray: Investigating the structural, optical, and chemical properties of neotropical amphibian skin for conservation purposes.
Part of Amphibian Ark's Leaping Ahead of Extinction: A celebration of good news for amphibians in 2012, to coincide with Leap Day (29 February 2012).
Book on 0161 275 2648, free, adults
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Thursday 1 March 2012 (1.30-2pm and 2.15-3.15pm)
Behind the scenes tours of the Herbarium (plant store)
Find out about three collectors, Leo Grindon, Charles Bailey and James Cosmo who donated many of the plants in The Manchester Museum’s Herbarium. This is an opportunity to see behind the scenes at the Museum and to find out how to preserve a cactus.
Book on 0161 275 2648, free, adults
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Thursday 1 March (6-8pm)
Scott of the Antarctic and Manchester: the untold story
Dr Max Jones, The University of Manchester, author of The Last Great Quest and editor of the Oxford World’s Classics edition of Scott’s last Journals, will reveal for the first time the leading roles which the citizens of Manchester played in Scott’s last expedition.
Visit Manchester Histories Festival for booking details, £6/£4 concessions
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Every Tuesday & Thursday, 12-1pm
Tours of the Vivarium
Zoology students from The University of Manchester will share their knowledge of the animals and highlight the conservation and education work that the Museum and University does.
Book on 0161 275 2648, free, 13+
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To find out more about the Museum:
- Visit The Manchester Museum's website
or - Sign up for The Manchester Museum's e-news