Look At All the Flowers!

Summer flowers

by Lydia Parkinson

Suitable for Key Stage 3

Aims

To consider the beauty of flowers, especially in summer.

Preparation and materials

• You will need the PowerPoint slides that accompany this assembly (Look At All the Flowers!) and the means to display them.

Assembly

1. Point out that in summer, fields, parks and gardens burst into life with an array of beautiful colours and smells.
   
   
2. Explain that you are going to have a short quiz to see how well the students know their nature!
   
   Tell the students that you are going to show them images of eight types of wildflower and then eight types of minibeast that are seen regularly in UK gardens. You want the students to see how many they can identify.
   
   Warn the students that some of them are easier to guess than others, but encourage them to be honest – they will be keeping their own scores!
   
   
3. Show Slides 1-16.
   
   - Slide 1 shows daisies.
   - Slide 2 shows buttercups.
   - Slide 3 shows dandelions.
   - Slide 4 shows red clover.
   - Slide 5 shows poppies.
   - Slide 6 shows foxgloves.
   - Slide 7 shows cow parsley.
   - Slide 8 shows a cornflower.
   - Slide 9 shows a bee.
   - Slide 10 shows some woodlice.
   - Slide 11 shows a ladybird.
   - Slide 12 shows a beetle.
   - Slide 13 shows a caterpillar.
   - Slide 14 shows a centipede.
   - Slide 15 shows an ant.
   - Slide 16 shows a butterfly. An extra mark is available if the students identify a Red Admiral butterfly.
   
   
4. Point out that many people now plant wildflower seeds in their gardens. Ask if any of the students have done this themselves.
   
   Show Slide 17.
   
   Wildflowers provide a beautiful array of colour. They also attract insects and help with conservation of the ecosystem.

Time for reflection

We are fortunate to have different seasons that are full of a variety of colours and beauty.

Christians, and people from many other religions, believe that God made the world full of variety and beauty. He wants us to enjoy the diversity that surrounds us, and he wants us to care for the environment and do all that we can to protect it.

Jesus himself loved flowers. He said that they were more beautiful than King Solomon dressed in his finest robes (Luke 12.27).

Encourage the students to look for ways in which they can care for the environment.

Prayer
Dear God,
We thank you for the beauty of the world.
We thank you for the different seasons and the joy that they bring.
We thank you for summer and the beautiful colours that fill the world.
Please help us to do all that we can to protect the world in which we live.
Amen.

Song/music

‘Circle of life’ from the film The Lion King, available at: https://youtu.be/GibiNy4d4gc (4.06 minutes long)