Mother Nature is Speaking – Lesson 1 of 4
Mother Nature is Speaking – lesson 1
This work is linked to the film ‘Mother Nature’ made by Conservation International and is the first lesson in a series of lessons that focuses on the issue and the film. NB Don’t show the children the film until lesson 2.
The notes and suggestions below have been written with use of the What is Mother Nature pdf in mind to help children capture their ideas and thinking.
Getting started
It is important for the children to have an understanding of what Mother Nature means to them before embarking on a mini project about it so encourage them to find and research definitions for “Mother Nature” before writing their own. Ask them to visualise what Mother Nature means to them, writing and / or drawing their thoughts. Ensure that the children understand the use of personification and the strong link between nature and the maternal role.
The next step is to explore how Mother Nature is used in advertising. Spend some time looking for adverts that contain references to Mother Nature. Ask the children to write down the names of the products and think about why they have chosen to use Mother Nature to sell their product and what effect it has. This could be opened up into a larger discussion.
Design task
The design task for this lesson involves creating a logo for Mother Nature based on their understanding of it and how it should be represented. Children can be very imaginative and this should be an open-ended task although hint that logos tend to be quite simple. Encourage them to explain their choices for the logo that they create to others.
Final discussion
The last activity is a thinking and discussion task. Ask the children to create a list of 10 things that are important to them in their life or life in general. Let them interpret this as they wish and do specify or hint at any areas. Once they have created a list ask them to rank the 10 things in order of importance. Note if nature or activities associated with nature appears – it may or may not! This could lead to an interesting discussion exploring what nature means to us.
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