Britain’s Distant Lands DVD is a specially designed DVD set containing a 30 minute long film about the wildlife of the UK Overseas Territories, a 4 minute mini-documentary exploring each Overseas Territory, a video overview of FOTBOT featuring interviews with Philip Smith, as well as maps and photos covering all of the UK Overseas Territories.
What's in the UK 2019 Hanson Box
The 2019 Hanson Box was developed by the Don Hanson Charitable Foundation team to inspire student’s passion for learning.
One box (containing all of the resources listed below) has been donated to each of 10,000 primary schools across the United Kingdom and the UK Overseas Territories.
Partnerships with the Amateur Entomologists’ Society, the Friends of the British Overseas Territories, the Royal Horticultural Society and Wild Nature Press have enabled the creation of many of the resources within the 2019 Hanson Box listed below, and the Don Hanson Charitable Foundation team wishes to reiterate our thanks to all partners who have made the 2019 Hanson Box possible.
What is in the 2019 Hanson Box?
The resources of the 2019 Hanson Box were designed to inspire young people’s interest and curiosity for nature, science and conservation, in the hope of promoting better appreciation of wildlife and the natural environment.
Helping young people to connect to nature is important. These days, not enough children see the beauty of spider’s web sparkling with dew in the morning light, or explain the miracle of the metamorphosis of a butterfly, or grow an amazing flower from a bulb.
But those magical early encounters with nature imprint on children’s minds, and can be the most powerful memories that stay with us for our entire lives. Do you remember seeing a butterfly as a child? Or perhaps birds and flowers in your garden?
Never has the world needed more passionate naturalists, scientists and conservationists than now, so to that end, the Don Hanson Charitable Foundation team especially created the following resources for the 2019 Hanson Box (in addition to a cover letter):
- a book titled Britain’s Distant Lands which showcase the terrestrial wildlife of the UK Overseas Territories.
- a book titled Spectacular Plants and How to Grow Them which explores a range of amazing plant species children can grow at home.
- a book titled Amazing Pets and How to Keep Them which explores a range of incredible invertebrates that can inspire children (e.g. rearing butterflies to show the amazing process of metamorphosis).
- a DVD titled Britain’s Distant Lands which accompanies the above book. It contains 17 films which document the terrestrial wildlife of the UK Overseas Territories.
- a seed kit in partnership with the Royal Horticultural Society with seeds of the sensitive plant, Mimose Pudica.
- an offer for free stick insect eggs from the Amateur Entomologists’ Society.
- 28 online films (14 Spectacular Plants and 14 Amazing Pets films available at www.weirdandwonderfulpets.com and www.spectacularplants.com
- an A3 map of all of the UK Overseas Territories.
Publisher: Redfern Natural History Productions
Author: Stewart McPherson
ISBN: 978-1-908787-31-6
Page size: 254 x 300 mm
Cover format: Hardcover
Britain’s Distant Lands is a 208 page, hardcover coffee-table book, featuring over 660 stunning images exploring the wildlife, landscapes, people and cultures of each of the UK Overseas Territories.
The sixteen UK Overseas Territories are scattered across all seven seas, from the Equator to the South Pole. They harbour lush tropical rainforest, pristine coral reefs and Antarctic tundra, as well as some of the world’s largest penguin, albatross and sea turtle populations. More than one thousand unique plant and animal species call the UK Overseas Territories home, as do 270,000 British subjects united by a proud cultural heritage and many unique stories.
Through breath-taking imagery and concise text, each page of this work has been passionately crafted to take the reader on a journey across the Territories to explore the key wildlife and histories that have made these fascinating British outposts what they are today.
Each of the 16 main chapters of this work explores a different UK Overseas Territory and includes a detailed, full-page, custom-drawn map.
With contributions from hundreds of residents and conservationists from across the UK Overseas Territories, Britain’s Distant Lands is filled with captivating photographs and interesting facts, and is both a spectacular coffee table photo book and a concise reference volume!
This title was created in partnership with the Friends of the British Overseas Territories.
Publisher: Wild Nature Press
Author: Stewart McPherson
ISBN: 978-1-9995811-1-4
Page size: 240 x 285 mm
Cover format: Hardcover
Designed specifically for the 8–12 year old age group, Amazing Pets and How to Keep Them showcases the world’s most exciting small creatures suitable for children to easily and ethically rear at home!
All of the groups of pets included in this work (listed below) are easy to keep, harmless, fast growing and fascinating.
The diverse range of small creatures included here is specifically selected to showcase many of nature’s most intricate animal groups to inspire interest and awe in the natural world. Observation of the life cycles of these pets also introduces understanding of biological processes including, among others, metamorphosis, camouflage and drought survival adaptations.
Amazing Pets and How to Keep Them includes carefully crafted text that is easy to read but rich with educational information. Featuring over 400 spectacular images and drawings, this work details everything you need to know in order to obtain, successfully rear and breed your own collection of incredible small creatures at home!
Publisher: Wild Nature Press
Author: Stewart McPherson
ISBN: 978-1-9995811-2-1
Page size: 240 x 285 mm
Cover format: Hardcover
Aimed at enthralling readers in the 8–12 year old age range, Spectacular Plants and How to Grow Them showcases the world’s most bizarre, surprising, weird and wonderful plants, and reveals many that can be easily grown at home!
Spectacular Plants and How to Grow Them explores plants that truly defy belief: from deadly insect-eating sundews, to sensitive plants with leaves that move rapidly when touched, to flowers that look like tiny dancing people, to an Aristolochia that resembles Darth Vader.
All of the plants recommended for cultivation in this book are harmless, and most are easy, fun and fascinating to grow on the windowsill, in the conservatory, garden or the greenhouse.
Age appropriate text and more than 400 captivating images explain each plant’s adaptations and the science behind each species’ unusual traits. This work also reveals how to cultivate many of the world’s most interesting plants, allowing children to grow, at home, stinky star-fish flowers to startle their parents, or chocolate-mint plants, white strawberries and purple potatoes to surprise their friends!
Spectacular Plants and How to Grow Them makes plants and horticulture fun and engaging! This work will appeal to students, schools, naturalists, pet enthusiasts and all those interested in science and conservation.
Created in partnership with the Royal Horticultural Society, the sensitive plant seed kit offers a pack of seeds of the sensitive plant (Mimosa pudica), detailed growing instructions and spectacular plant activities!
Designed to complement the Spectacular Plants and How to Grow Them book this kit enables you to grow one of the most interesting of all plants. The sensitive plant’s leaved close instantly when touched, and if touched again, the plant’s branches droop downwards as a mechanism to deter herbivores!
This interesting plant is fast growing and easy cultivate, and makes a perfect addition to biology class room windowsills!
Please see below for a detailed video showcasing easy instructions on how to germinate your sensitive plant seeds!
Map of the UK Overseas Territories: a specially created, A3 size map showcasing the location and briefly introducing each of the UK Overseas Territories.
Perfect for displaying on a wall!
Organised in partnership with the Amateur Entomologists’ Society, we have mobilised a network of stick insect enthusiasts who are donating free eggs of numerous species of stick insects (phasmids) on a request basis. A flyer with instructions is included in the 2019 Hanson Box offering teachers the opportunity to receive eggs free of charge.
Stick insects are wonderful classroom pets and inspire children’s interests in the intricacy of nature, camouflage and evolutionary adaptations.
With our friends at the Amateur Entomological Society, we can offer mixtures of eggs of species of stick insects that eat bramble leaves, and (separately) mixtures of eggs of species that eat privet leaves. Each school may request either or both egg mixtures.
Intended to compliment the Amazing Pets and How to Keep Them title, students can then use that book to identify the stick insect species which they rear, and learn about their biology!
After a full year of development and planning, the 10,000 * 2019 Hanson Boxes were shipped duringMarch and April, 2019.Each of the 10,000 * 2020 Hanson Box weighed over 5 kg, so in total, more than 50 tonnes of educational resources were sent!
The Don Hanson Charitable Foundation team really hopes that students and educators will enjoy the resources in the 2019 Hanson Box!
To request next year’s Hanson Box, click here.
About the UK 2019 Hanson Box
The 2019 Hanson Box was sent to 10,000 primary schools across the UK with the objective of providing resources to UK schools to support the crucial work that teachers undertake on a daily basis in nurturing students’ passion for leaning and equipping them with the tools they need to succeed.
Each of the 10,000* 2019 Hanson Box weighed over 5kg, so in total, more than 50 tonnes of educational resources were sent!
