The University of Bristol will host two exhibition tents at this years' Festival, called 'Biodiversity is Life' and ' Technologies for the Future'. In each tent, there will be hands-on activities for children and adults that bring to life cutting-edge research. Each activity will be manned by University researchers and students, keen to discuss their work and hear the public's thoughts on the research they do.
The 'Biodiversity is Life' tent will be on Millennium Square. In the tent, you will be able to look inside a cell, or dig up the Bristol dinosaur. There will also be a display of plants from the University's Botanic Garden, and a chance to play biodiversity jenga to understand how all life relies on each other. Researchers in the tent will be on hand to take you on a journey through life on Earth, from bacteria and fungi through to plants, mammals and dinosaurs.
In the 'Technologies for the Future' tent on Lloyds amphitheatre you can peddle to the future on a bike-powered climate model, try your hand at steering model solar-powered cars or be a become a palaeodetective and find out how our ancestors lived. Or you might want to find out how much you know about climate change by playing our version of 'who wants to be a millionaire?' Scientists and engineers will be on hand to discuss their research and our writer in residence in the science faculty, author Tania Herschman, will also be in the tent to discuss how fiction is stimulated by science.
The Festival is organised by the Bristol Natural History Consortium, which brings together 11 organisations with interests in the natural world, including the University of Bristol and the University of the West of England.