Welcome to The Great Plant Hunt Joseph is having a birthday party, and your class is invited! The theme

for the party is ‘colour’ and here are a few activities to help get ready.

Welsh curriculumPersonal & social development Become

confident explorers of the indoor and

outdoor environment, develop a growing

interest in the world around and understand

what the environment has to offer.

Language, literacy & communication Skills should be fostered and promoted

through first hand sensory experience.

Mathematical development Identify, collect

and organise information and use a variety

of ways to represent collected data.

Knowledge & understanding of the worldExploring and experimenting, sorting and

grouping, making observations and records.

Creative development Make choices when

choosing materials and resources, mix,

shape, arrange and combine materials to

create images. Develop and use an

understanding of colour, line, tone,

texture, pattern, shape and form.

Northern Irish curriculum Mathematics Sorting, (sort and re-sort

materials, recording the outcomes)

understanding number, counting.

The Arts Investigate and talk about colours,

lines, shapes, textures and patterns.

Explore and use a wide range of materials.

Create and develop ideas using colours,

line, shapes, textures and patterns.

The World around us Place - what is in

my world?

Scottish curriculum for excellenceArt & design Chose ways to create images

and objects using a variety of materials.

Numeracy, number & measure (I have

explored numbers, understanding that

they represent quantities, and can use

them to count).

Numeracy, information handling Collecting, organising, matching and

sorting using own and other’s criteria.

People place & environment Explore and

appreciate the wonder of nature within

different environments.

English CurriculumCommunication, language & literacyLanguage for communication, language for

thinking, reading.

Problem Solving, Reasoning & Numeracy Calculating, shape, space and measures.

Sort or match objects and talk about sorting.

Knowledge & Understanding of the World Exploration and investigation, designing and

making, place, recognising similarities and

differences.

Creative Development. Being Creative,

responding to experiences, expressing and

communicating ideas, exploring media and

materials. Exploring colour, texture, shape

form and space.

New English Curriculum (from 2011)Science & Technology Explore and observe

in order to collect data, apply knowledge and

understanding in practical work, investigate

the local environment.

Mathematical understanding Estimate the

number of objects and count them.

Communication & Languages Pupils

organise what they say, giving relevant

details and using appropriate vocabulary

to make main points clear to the listener.

The Arts Explore a wide range of media

and materials, tools and techniques to

create artworks, improvise and depict

imagined worlds, and model the real

world through the arts. To experiment with

designs, shapes, colours and sounds.

Learning outcomes and Curriculum links

You

are i

nv

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oseph,

s

bir

th

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,

Dear D

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Adventu

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Jos

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Jos

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Activity 1:

Thinking WalkActivity 1 should take 2-3 lessons.

1) Make a Darwin Doodle BookSee the Darwin doodle book cover on the foundation page of the website.

This will act as the Adventurers project note book.

2) Knowing your coloursShow the party invitation postcard of Lily, Ash and Joseph to the class, and ask them

how many colours they can see and name. You might want to discuss the children’s

favourite colours.

Next show the class the photos in the ’colours in nature’ PowerPoint and see how many

colours you can find in these natural habitats. This is a good way to start a discussion

about the colours that can be found in the natural world.

3) Make a collecting bagBefore going on your thinking walk, you will need to make a collecting bag for all the

colourful things you will collect. Below is a simple sequence of images to help you make

your bags, but please see the PowerPoint on the website for a more complete guide.

You can make the collecting bags from squares of recycled newspaper, as these will be

decorated to create party bags in activity 3. Either print or make multicoloured ‘daisy

bands’, and stick them on the bags to provide a colour reference for the children while

on their walk, and also help secure the bag.

1) Square of paper 2) Fold in half 3) Fold corner to

opposite edge

4) Then the other

5) Fold one top flap

down

6) Turn over and

repeat step 5

7) Use the coloured-

in ‘daisy bands’ to

stick these down

8) Add a handle

4) Go on a Thinking Walk• Spend about thirty minutes walking in the school grounds, local park

or anywhere in the neighbourhood.

• Try to avoid formal planted areas and look for wild native plants (weeds!)

On the walk:Encourage the children to:

• Discover all the different colours in your local area, look high and low for these,

they might be leaves on a tree or small daises hidden in the grass.

• Observe which ones match the colours on the collecting bag ‘daisy band’.

• Collect small items of as many colours as possible in the collecting bag.

• Compare different versions of the same colour you might find, like green.

Discuss that there are many slight variations of this colour that we call green.

Helpful Hints• Take care when picking wild flowers.

Please pick only the species from

The Great Plant Hunt Identikit.

These are common species.

Collect photos or fallen material

(eg leaves/ petals from the floor)

from any other species.

• Emphasise that in general, wild

flowers should not be picked and

the children are doing this as part

of a special project where it has

been allowed.

• Permission should be sought to

dig up plants if they are not on

school land.

• Follow appropriate procedures after

handling plant material. Health and

safety information can be found at

www.greatplanthunt.org

• For a ‘sticky wrist band’ alternative

to collecting bags, see the activity

worksheet on the website.

• Either stop at various points along

the walk where there might be

fallen leaves etc for the children to

collect or ask the children to point

out items for you to collect. When

supervising children of this age

group outside at Kew, we use a

ratio of 1:2 adults per pupil.

ResourcesWhat is on the website?

Darwin doodle book cover

Party invitation postcard

Colours In Nature PowerPoint

Instructions for making your collecting bags

‘Daisy band’ for collecting bags

Things you need to collectNewspaper, scissors, glue, string/ribbon

The fun stuffInteractive video

Game

Activity 2:

SortingActivity 2 should take 1 lesson.

For this activity use the materials collected from the thinking walk or go out and collect

fresh material.

1) Collection countingAsk the children to count the items they have collected, they can write the number on their

collecting bags.

2) SortingDepending on how much was collected, ask the children to work either individually or in

groups to sort their collections. First suggest that the children sort their items into different

colour groups. You could use the colour grouping sheet as a guide if desired. Make a

record of these groupings by taking photographs. Think about what happens if your

collection doesn't match any of the colours on your sorting sheet, or if one of your items

has more than one colour on.

3) Sorting discussionDiscuss that there are often many ways that you can sort a collection. In groups ask the

children to talk about the different ways that they could sort these items, and pooling their

collections, suggest they try these groups out.

Helpful HintWhen thinking about different groupings, you might want to think about shape, plant/

animal/mineral/manmade, size, texture etc.

ResourcesWhat is on thewebsite?

Sorting template

The fun stuffInteractive videoGame

Activity 3:

Party bags!Activity 3 should take 1 lesson.

If you’re going to go to Joseph’s party, you might want to make party bags and party hats!

Depending on how well the class collection is going, you might want to prepare for this

activity by collecting more. Children might want to arrange their materials on the bags in

the colour groups they sorted for activity 2, in any other groupings they thought of or in their

own creative way!

1) Party bagsUsing the collection of colourful items, ask the children to decorate their collection bags,

turning them into party bags for Joseph’s colour party. You could suggest the children use

other art materials such as coloured tissue paper, foil, paint and pencils alongside their

collections for this decoration process.

If you have sufficient time/materials, you

could create party crowns in the same way.

Possible extensions

You might want to hold a small party to celebrate

Joseph’s birthday. The children can wear party hats

and take their party bags – you could even suggest

they bring in colourful home clothes to fit in with the

‘colour’ theme of the party!

This could be a great opportunity to discuss what

they have learned about colour in the natural world,

and talk about their favourite colours.

Joseph,s birthday

presentsJoseph is having a birthday party.

Which of these items do you think he may want as a present?

Colour in the one you chose, cut it out and put it in your party bag.

You might want to have a class discussion to see what other people think he would like.

Books

A potted plant

Watering can

Wellington Boots

Framed picture Daisy