Science FestivalFun-filled activities with Kew scientists 20 – 21 July

There’s plenty for all budding scientists this weekend. Most activities are drop-in and run throughout the day. We've also scheduled demos, workshops, shows and tours – some of which are bookable. Use the map and timetable (pages 12–15) to help you plan your visit. Most things are suitable for all ages but we also give some age range suggestions, just as a guide. Stop by the Information tent if you need any help. Have fun!

Your day at a glance:

Pop-up Science (page 4)Unearth a wealth of fun and lively science, as Kew’s science teams take you on a journey of plant and fungal discovery. Chat to our scientists and explore their pop-up science stations with games, experiments and hands-on activities for all ages.

Extinction Risk Zone (page 5)Don our VR Google Goggles to become a ‘virtual’ Kew botanical explorer on a mission to conserve species, or beat the odds on our giant Extinction Risk board game.

Amazing Seed Journeys (page 6) Track the adventures of seeds on their amazing quest for survival, and discover some of the many different ways we use plants and seeds.

Fungi Phenomena (page 6)Immerse yourself in our giant glowing fungus installation, as the Wood Wide Web reveals the hidden depths of the astonishing kingdom of fungi.

Botanical Village (page 7)The place for all ages to enjoy a perfect blend of plants and science, exploring the many ways we preserve plants for the knowledge they hold, as well as for their beauty.

Kew Science Festival 2019 Kew Science Festival overview

Rare and Threatened Kew’s annual science festival returns this year, exploring the theme of ‘Rare and Threatened’. With over 350 scientists working at Kew, our teams are focused on solving some of the major challenges facing our planet – climate change, food security, environmental sustainability and human health. Plants and fungi play a major role in all of these, yet loss of biodiversity means that some of the solutions they could provide may be lost forever.

Kew scientists are leading the way in discovering and describing new plant and fungal species, researching their uses for humanity, assessing their risk of extinction, and conserving them for the benefit of future generations. Around 38,000 different species of plants from around the world – and two billion seeds – are conserved at Kew's sister site Wakehurst in Sussex, home to the Millennium Seed Bank.

Explore our science Our scientists are bringing their work out of the labs and back from expeditions to share with you today.

We hope you enjoy taking part in their activities and learning about the work they do.

Whatever you decide to do today, don't forget to speak to some of our enthusiastic scientists, asking them about their work and why it’s so important.

Come curious, leave inspired.

Share your day on social media

#KewSciFest

@KewGardens  

Shows (page 8)Talented performers will make sure science has you spellbound. Join TV’s Gastronaut Stefan Gates for The Wildest Food Show on Earth. For the young (and not so young), enjoy some award-winning outdoor theatre.

Workshops and activities (page 9)From weird and wonderful superfoods to insect encounters! Create your own Wild Adventure comic, fly off on a bee escapade or get creative with plant science and poetry.

Tours and behind the scenes visits (page 10)Exclusive access to the Herbarium, Jodrell Laboratory and Tropical Nursery. Plus, tours of the Princess of Wales Conservatory and newly-opened Agius Evolution Garden. Chat to our Explainers at The Hive, as you experience the drama of life inside a beehive.

Science Café (page 11)Hang out with TV presenter Simon Watt for a series of family games, quizzes and a panel discussion with James Wong to get you thinking. We also have a selection of unusual foods to whet your appetite and feed the discussion, plus a scientific sing-along!

Festival BitesA delicious selection of food and drink is available on the festival site, to help you keep up your energy throughout the day. We’ve a freshly prepared, tasty summer BBQ menu, with a nod to the flavours of Colombia – the location of many Kew research projects. Enjoy botanical brews, summer tipples and brilliantly brainy ice cream!

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Honey DetectiveBecome a honey detective and match the honey to the plant it comes from – just why do different bees seek out certain plants? The best-tasting chemistry lesson you’ve ever had! Take a peek inside a live bumblebee colony too.

Just the TonicIf you savour the nation’s favourite tipple, you’ll be familiar with the bitter taste of quinine in your tonic. Harvested from the bark of the cinchona tree, quinine is just one of many plants used to treat malaria. Discover its amazing story, and its role as one of the most important drugs in history – your G&T will never taste quite the same!

How Tall is that Tree?Did you know that an acre of trees absorbs in a year the same amount of carbon dioxide as produced by driving a car 26,000 miles? Size up a tree with the help of our experts and discover some of its secrets. Once you’ve got the hang of this technique, you’ll want to try it out at home.

From Grass to PlateSo much of our food and drink comes from grasses – from bread to whisky and sugar. Test your knowledge and your taste buds!

The Seed Biology Lab ExperienceDon a white coat and be like a seed bank researcher. Head into the lab to make your own discoveries using real scientific tools and techniques.

Inside WoodDo you know your oak from your pine? Learn to identify different types of wood and how to spot illegal timber imports. Take a peak up-close, under a microscope.

DNA FactoryWhat is DNA and what does it look like? Come and find out for yourself and try your hand at extracting DNA from a strawberry.

Cryo CornerSome species can’t be saved in seed banks so what can we do to conserve them? Watch ice cream being made with super-cool liquid nitrogen to get a glimpse of the answer! Science doesn’t get much cooler than this.

Pop-up Science All ages

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Extinction Risk Zone

Google Goggles – Virtual Field TripLet our virtual reality goggles take you on a journey to the far reaches of the Earth. Join Kew's intrepid botanical explorers on their field missions to identify and conserve rare and threatened species.

Race Against TimeJoin our scientists in the race against time to collect the world’s seeds in all their diversity – especially those that are under threat of extinction. Ready, steady, go!

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Red AlertDid you know that one in five plant species is threatened with extinction? Our science teams work tirelessly to assess the threats they face.

Spades and LoggersCome and experience for yourself some of the survival challenges the plant kingdom faces, and play our giant Extinction Risk board game.

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Fungi QuestTake some time from your busy day to notice the nature all around you – look up into the trees and down in the grass, as we take you on this journey into the magical kingdom of fungi. There’s much more than meets the eye! Find out about the intricate relationships between fungi and trees, plants and people. Discover some of the wild fungi growing at Kew on our Fungi Quest trail.

More than a MushroomDo you want to be a part of the Wood Wide Web? Let our giant fungus introduce you to the wonders of Kingdom Fungi, help you communicate with each other and join the most extensive network ever imagined! A dynamic and interactive installation from Kew’s outreach project, Grow Wild.

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Botanical Village All ages

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Fungi Phenomena All ages

Botanical StudioVisitors of all ages will enjoy a perfect blend of plants and science in our Botanical Studio, exploring many ways to preserve the beauty of plants. Experience what painting in the field is like and find out why it’s still so relevant today.

The Peaceful PencilMake some space in your day for some peaceful observational drawing. Slow down and take time to appreciate the beauty and wonder of plant life. Absolutely no artistic experience required!

Collect, Press and Preserve Pressed plant material creates a vast reference library, such as can be found in the Kew Herbarium. Visit our cutting bed to collect and press your own specimen to take home with you.

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20 Identification Station

Become a taxonomist in training and try the techniques our scientists use to classify and name plants.

Pop-up HerbariumBotanists at Kew collect plants from all over the world for scientific research. Find out how we prepare, photograph and store our seven million dried plant samples, so the information can be used by future generations.

Amazing Seed Journeys All ages

Hitch a Ride and The Seed Cannon

The transport network for seeds is under threat! As landscapes and habitats change, plants need to adapt to survive – but can they keep up? Explore some of the ingenious ways plants get their seeds out and about, from hitchhikers to cannon balls!

Useful Plants and SeedsDrop by to discover some extraordinary useful plants, from chocolate and coffee to plants that produce cancer drugs. Yet their future is under threat and they need to be protected. Can you play your part in helping to save them?

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Workshops and activities

Wannabe a Bee? Storytelling and craft

11am, 12pm, 2pm, 3pm, 4pm

Venue: Story Den, near Info tent

Join our giant, friendly bee for bee-themed storytelling. Why exactly do they like flowers so much, and how do they talk to each other? Try the waggle dance for yourself and make a bee puppet to take home.Drop in.

The Great Gastronaut Insect Adventure with Stefan Gates 2.30pm

Venue: Gastronaut Theatre, Jodrell Laboratory

Lunch will never be the same again after this hands-on encounter for adventurous foodies, with live locusts, worms and crickets.Limited spaces. Early arrival recommended.

Wild Adventures in Graphic Art 11am, 12pm, 2pm, 3pm

Venue: back of Davies Alpine House

Join graphic novelist and science communicator, Daniel Locke, for a creative workshop about the natural world. Explore the biodiversity of the distant past and learn ways to restore our countryside's health. All these ideas will help you create your own Wild Adventure comic. Drop in.

Future Foods demos11am, 12.30pm, 2pm

Venue: next to the Science Café

There are so many reasons why we can’t keep relying on just a few well-known crops for our food. There are hundreds of less well-known edible plants from all around the world that are both delicious and nutritious. Push your taste buds in new directions to try weird, wonderful and highly nutritious ‘new’ foods that could be finding their way into our weekly food shop – from plant proteins to superfood starches.Drop in.

Poets and Plant Hunters10am – 5pm

Venue: behind the Science Café

Get creative with plant science and poetry. Discover the stories of threatened plants around the world with a creative scavenger hunt designed by Kew’s Youth Forum – and learn more about why we should protect plant species under threat.Drop in.

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Shows

Gastronaut: The Wildest Food Show on Earth 12.30pm, 4pm

Venue: Gastronaut Theatre, Jodrell Laboratory

TV presenter Stefan Gates uses rockets, infra-red cameras, robots, live insects and a huge vortex cannon to create an extraordinary live show about food and science. He’ll blend bizarre plant biology with explosive chemistry, sensory perception and phenomenal physics to reveal the shocking secrets behind the food we eat every day.

Limited spaces. Early arrival recommended.

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Grass 11.30am, 1.30pm

Venue: Grasshopper Theatre, outside the Princess of Wales Conservatory

Look down. What are you standing on? Explore the ground and all of its wriggly inhabitants in this quirky dance show for young children. Featuring worms, slugs, snails, spontaneous outbreaks of ant dancing and plenty of obscure statistics. Grass uses performance and puppetry to inspire children to look closely at the world around them, to get mucky and play! Presented by Second Hand Dance.

Drop in.

Kew Science on Film 10am – 4pm

Venue: Film Room, the Princess of Wales Conservatory

Sit back and enjoy a selection of short films about Kew’s expeditions to far flung places around the world – and the work we do to discover, conserve and study plants and fungi for the benefit of humankind.

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Tours and visits For adults too Science Café All ages

Herbarium drop-in toursEvery 30 minutes, 10am – 4pm

A rare opportunity to see behind the scenes. Find out what our curator-botanists do and how the Herbarium is used by researchers all over the world.

Drop in – the Herbarium, Kew Green (exit Gardens via Elizabeth Gate)

Library, Art and Archives Open House

10am – 5pm, last entry 4.15pm

Visit our Library, Art and Archives collections to discover their rich history and important role in supporting modern scientific research.

Drop in – The Herbarium, Kew Green

Walking bus to the Herbarium departs near the Info tent every 30 minutes. 7 minute walk approx.

Hold onto your admission ticket and show it to re-enter the Gardens at Elizabeth Gate afterwards.

Pollinator walks11am, 12pm, 2pm and 3pm

Join our team on a gentle walk in the Gardens and see plants and their pollinators up-close and in a whole new light.

Book at the Reservation station

The Hive Explained Immerse yourself in Kew’s famous Hive installation and enter the whirring world of a beehive. Chat to our Explainers to find out more about the secret life of bees and their powerful role in sustaining life as we know it.

Drop in

Tropical Nursery tours11am, 12.30pm, 2pm, 3.30pm

A rare glimpse inside our tropical glasshouses where the conservation of some of the world’s rarest plants begins. Get up close to some rare living plants that are kept behind the scenes at Kew.

Book at the Reservation station

Princess of Wales Conservatory toursThe Secret Life of PlantsEvery hour, 10.30am – 3.30pm

Experience a multisensory journey through lush rainforests, temperate bogs and arid deserts, and discover the amazing variety of plants in this iconic conservatory.

Book at the Reservation station

Davies Alpine House Alpines are some of the world’s most resilient plants – adapted to endure the severe conditions of the Earth’s poles or mountaintops, from the Arctic to the Alps or the Andes. Venture into high-altitude territory and experience the cool, dry and windy conditions where these plants flourish.

Drop in

Agius Evolution Garden toursEvery 30 minutes, 11am – 4pm

Visit our brand-new Agius Evolution Garden and find out how its innovative design was created through collaboration between our scientists and horticulturists. Learn the story behind the Plant Tree of Life and how we use it for species discovery, plant conservation and teaching.

Book at the Reservation station

Jodrell Lab toursEvery hour, 11am – 4pm

Step inside our labs and find out more about the research our scientists do here every day – from analysing DNA and plant chemistry, to state-of-the-art imaging techniques.

Book at the Reservation station

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Venue: Lawn in front of the Princess of Wales Conservatory

Hang out, relax and have fun in the Science Café, set within the heart of the Festival. Talk science with TV presenter Simon Watt in a series of interactive and entertaining family games and quizzes. Choose which species you’d save, pit yourself against our extinction risk predictor and taste one of the world’s most resilient wonder-crops. We’ve also got a selection of unusual foods to whet your appetite and feed the discussion, fresh from the Future Foods demo kitchen.

For those who want to get really stuck into their science, join Kew Ambassador, James Wong for a discussion and decide for yourself – do plants think?

Enjoy a spot of scientific wit set to music and sing along with the Hounslow Community Choir. In a specially commissioned performance and workshop, you’ll discover more about music’s connection to the natural environment and

James is a best-selling author, TV presenter and a regular on Radio 4’s Gardeners’ Question Time. On a mission to communicate plant science to new audiences in accessible ways, his credits include the international best-sellers Grow Your Own Drugs and Homegrown Revolution. James is equally obsessed with food, and his small London garden serves as a testing station for all manner of crops and horticultural ideas from around the world.

Simon is a biologist, science communicator, comedian, author and TV presenter. He is passionate about conservation and much of his time is spent running his science communication company Ready Steady Science, taking science and conservation into schools, museums, theatres and festivals.

how music is often used to communicate ideas and stories about regional plants. All abilities welcome.

Check the Science Café blackboard for the daily programme. The Hounslow Community Choir is performing Saturday only.

Allages

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Simon WattJames Wong

Kew Science Festival map

Measuring Trees

Princess of Wales Conservatory

Davies Alpine House

Jodrell Laboratory

The Hive

Orangery

Victoria Gate

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ScienceCafé

Festival Bites

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Botanical Village

Herbarium Specimen Cutting bed

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Extinction Risk Zone

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Grasshopper Theatre

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Gastronaut Theatre

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Story Den

Agius Evolution Garden

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Pop-up Science1 Honey Detective

2 Just the Tonic

3 How Tall is that Tree?

4 From Grass to Plate

5 The Seed Biology Lab Experience

6 Inside Wood

7 DNA Factory

8 Cryo Corner

Extinction Risk Zone 9 Google Goggles – Virtual Field Trip

10 Race Against Time

11 Red Alert

12 Spades and Loggers

Amazing Seed Journeys 13 Hitch a Ride and the Seed Cannon

14 Useful Plants and Seeds

Fungi Phenomena15 Fungi Quest

16 More than a Mushroom

Botanical Village 17 Botanical Studio

18 The Peaceful Pencil

19 Collect, Press and Preserve

20 Identification Station

21 Pop-up Herbarium

Shows 22 Gastronaut: The Wildest Food Show on Earth

23 Grass

24 Kew Science on Film

Workshops and activities 25 Wannabe a Bee?

26 The Great Gastronaut Insect Adventure

27 Wild Adventures in Graphic Art

28 Future Foods demos

29 Poets and Plant Hunters

Tours and visits 30 Herbarium drop-in tours

31 Library, Art and Archives Open House

32 Walking bus to the Herbarium – meeting point

33 Pollinator walks

34 The Hive Explained

35 Tropical Nursery tours – meeting point

36 Princess of Wales Conservatory tours – meeting point

37 Davies Alpine House

38 Agius Evolution Garden tours - meeting point

39 Jodrell Lab tours – meeting point

Food and drink40 Festival Bites – bar and BBQ

41 Whipsmiths – ice cream

42 Arepas Colombia! / ice cream

43 Coffee and cake trike

w Welcome and orientation point

i Kew Science Festival Information tentr Reservation station – tours ? Feedback station – tell us what you think

The Broad Walk

To Elizabeth GateElizabeth Gate

Herbarium

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Abbreviations key:

PoWC – Princess of Wales Conservatory

Reservation station

At a glance timetable

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Pop-up Science

Extinction Risk Zone

Shows

Activity no. 8 9 22 23 24

Activity Cryo Corner

Google Goggles

Gastronaut: The Wildest Food Show on Earth

Grass Kew Science on Film

Age guide All 10+ 8+ 4+ 5+

Duration 20 min 20 min 40 min 45 min 15 min

Location Front of Jodrell

Lab

Front of PoWC

Jodrell Lab Grasshopper Theatre, next to PoWC

Inside PoWC

Where to book? Drop in

At the stand

Drop in.Arrive early Drop in Drop in

10am

10.30am

11am

11.30am

12pm

12.30pm

1pm

1.30pm

2pm

2.30pm

3pm

3.30pm

4pm

4.30pm

Workshops and activities

Tours and visits Science Café

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Wannabe a Bee?

The Great Gastronaut

Insect Adventure

Wild Adventures in Graphic

Art

Future Foods demos

Poets and Plant

Hunters

Herbarium tours and

Library, Art and Archives visits

Pollinator Walks

The Hive

Explained

Tropical Nursery tours

PoWC tours

Agius Evolution Garden tours

Jodrell Lab

tours

Games and

science chat

Under 5s

8+ All All 5+ 10+ and adults

All All 10+ and adults

5+ and adults

10+ and adults

10+ and adults

All

40 min 30 min 45 min 30 min 30 min 30 min 30 min 15 min 1 hour 30 min 30 min 30 min

Story Den

Jodrell Lab Back of Davies Alpine House

Next to the

Science Café

Behind the

Science Café

Herbarium or take the

walking bus from Info tent

The Hive The Hive Info tent

Front of

PoWC

Corner of Jodrell

Lab

Entrance to

Jodrell Lab

Lawn in front of PoWC

Drop inDrop in.

Arrive early Drop in Drop in

Drop in

Drop in r Drop in r r r r Drop in

TImings correct at the time of going to print, but may be subject to change.

Many of our activities are drop-in and run throughout the day. Work your way around the Festival site and visit our Pop-up Science stands, the Extinction Risk Zone, Amazing Seed Journeys, Fungi Phenomena and Botanical Village, at your leisure.

Some activities run at scheduled times – use the timetable below to help plan your day. r

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