I've been working quite closely with Ysgol Llanychllwydog in the Gwaun Valley to increase knowledge and understanding of the amazing temperate rainforest on their doorstep. Recently, we've taken a close look at lichens which thrive in the dampness and low air pollution. We started off by trimming off a few wilder pieces of their willow structure and walked into the woodland adjacent to the school and we set up the tarp shelter and worked together to build a warming fire while discussing the 3 basic types of lichen. We then processed the willow to make some drawing charcoal and while this was going on we collected samples of fallen twigs containing the lichen. 

When we returned to school we looked more closely at the lichen with hand lenses, gave Welsh names to the 3 groups; Cen Gwrychog (Fruiticose), Cen Deiliog (Foliose) and Cen Crwst (Crustose) and tried to draw what we could see. We then annotated our drawings with their grouped names and we even managed to add tarten jam (jam tarts) to some of the lichen which had that type of fruiting body or apothecia. While this was ongoing everyone had a chance to look at their twigs under ultra violet illumination, which was really exciting and helped to make the session even more memorable to the pupils of this great school.