Different Shapes
Variety and wonder
by Brian Radcliffe
Suitable for Key Stage 2
Aims
To encourage us to consider the variety and wonder of the natural world.
Preparation and materials
- You will need the PowerPoint slides that accompany this assembly (Different Shapes) and the means to display them.
Assembly
- Show Slide 1.
Ask the children what shapes they can spot in the picture.
Ask them how many squares, rectangles and triangles they can see. - Show Slide 2.
Ask the children what the slide shows.
Explain that it shows a right angle. - Show Slide 3.
This shows that a right angle is 90 degrees. - Ask the children if they can think of things that have right angles in them.
Listen to a range of responses. - Ask the children if they have ever noticed how many right angles there are in their lives!
Show Slide 4.
So many objects that we use and view are either squares or rectangles.
We live in square houses, divided into square rooms full of square boxes, drawers and cupboards, and sit at square tables. We look at square screens or read square books. We look out of square windows at square gardens or yards with square walls or fences. We walk on square pavements, and we open square gates and doors. We’ve gone square mad! - It’s said that there are no squares in the natural world, and no totally straight lines either. I wonder if this is true. There’s only one way to find out: get out into the wild and see what it shows us.
Show Slide 5. - Many of us will be aware of the benefits of walking in nature. For a start, the exercise is good for us. It’s also helpful to take a break from the media-driven world of school, entertainment and home. The effect of colours and movement in the sky, trees and plants can be soothing. It might also be intriguing, looking at the shapes, puzzling about the lack of squares and straight lines.
Time for reflection
The problem is that most of us don’t get into nature very often. There are just so many other things to do! Maybe this assembly could encourage us to spend a little time doing so. We don’t need to take a long journey. The wild is all around us if we look for it, even in towns and cities. Some of us are fortunate enough to have gardens, and many of us are within walking distance of a park, fishing pond, canal or river. Even some of the biggest cities have gardens in the centre of them, or community allotments. If we look for it, we can find nature in the most unusual places.
What might we see? Birdlife can be spectacular. Sparrowhawks and peregrine falcons are on the hunt. Swifts are careering at breakneck speeds. Robins and wrens set up a warning chorus as we approach. Then, there are foxes, hedgehogs and squirrels, even in the city centre at dawn and dusk. Perhaps the most fascinating is insect life: such tiny creatures, yet so productive and energetic. And that’s without mentioning the flowers, fruit and veg.
Many verses in the Bible encourage people to stand in awe of the great things that God has done. Some of us may not believe in God, but to go out into the wild and discover the sheer variety and splendour of the natural world, especially in the early summer, is bound to do us good.
Perhaps while you’re there, you could search for some squares and straight lines. You never know: you could prove me wrong about them not appearing in the natural world!
Song/music
‘Tidal wave’ by Doug Horley, available at: https://youtu.be/hWfYpF40i8U (4.25 minutes long)
