There’s a real buzz around what the real reason is for the weird jelly formations people are finding on grassland in the UK. It’s a mystery that a team of researchers from the BBC Radio Scotland ‘Out of Doors’ programme have made their aim to try and get to the bottom of. Suggestions of what these weird jelly-like globules are include something that prey has coughed up, ‘star snot’ – the remains of fallen stars, or a new type of funghi, perhaps as a result of global warming, as some people on the forums have suggested.

Lots of people have differing views on what these weird organisms actually are but Jody Bourton with the help of his friend and wildlife guru Brett Westwood, believes he has the answer. Read his article on star slime ‘My slimeball mystery’

Have a look at the evidence of these jelly organisms and see what you think,







So is this all to do with global warming? And even if it isn’t, could it be a useful starting point for a science investigation? How would we find out if it is animal, vegetable or mineral? What other tests could help determine what it is? Could it be ‘the remnants of fallen stars’? And why not?

If you make this into a topical lesson, do let us know.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 25th, 2008 at 4:35 pm and is filed under Science, Teaching Ideas, UK teaching. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.