Project 366: Spring is in the air, so let the fun begin!

Spring is in the air for those of us lucky enough, I guess. In any case, I suspect even our cousins far up north can feel it after the cold spell that had hit most of Europe recently.

So, we're three-and-a-half months into Project 366 and I'm still hanging in there. So far, I've managed to snap at least one photo a day and with the warmer weather, the gardeners have been out and flowers are mushrooming all over the place. It's hardly surprising, then, that I've decided to focus on flowers in this post, is it?

Pre-lesson task: Ask students to take a photo of a flower or flowers and send them to you. Mount a mosaic like you see above.

Level: Any. Ideas have to be adapted to the level, naturally.

Lesson ideas

1.  Brainstorm names of flowers.

2.  Show mosaic. See if they can guess who took which photo. Language: I think... it can/could/must be... the reason why... I'm sure it's...

3.  Try to identify the flowers. It doesn't matter if you don't know them - perhaps some of the students do. If, at the end, some of the flowers still remain unknown, set it as a task - see who succeeds in identifying them.

4.  Discussion:

• Do they like flowers? Why?
• Why do people like flowers? (eg appearance, colour, smell)
• What's their favourite? Why?
• What colours do they come in? Which is the most common? Which do they like? Is that their favourite colour?
• Does it smell? Can they describe it?
• Do they have a garden? Would they like to have one? What would they do with it? If they have one, what is in it? Describe their garden.
• When they think of flowers, what springs to mind?
• Why are they regarded as romantic? Why do women appreciate flowers more than men?
• Ask the men - do they often buy flowers for women? When was the last time? Have they ever received any flowers? From whom? When was the last time they received any? Ask the women similar questions - if they often buy flowers for men and so on. What about buying flowers for someone of the same sex?
• Would you buy flowers for someone you consider just a friend? If no, why not?
• If you could only buy one for a partner, which would you choose - flowers or chocolate? Why?
• Brainstorm uses of flowers: births, christening (note pronunciation: /ˈkrɪs(ə)nɪŋ/), corsage or buttonhole, tokens of love, expression of sympathy or grief (as in funerals), worship (the Hindus, for example, offer flowers as gifts to the temple), home decoration, food, drinks and spices, health (medicine, essential oils), beauty (perfume and other beauty products), and the list goes on...
• Symbolism: do they know of any?

          - Red rose for love, beauty, passion
          - Poppies for consolation
          - Lillies for life or resurrection
          - Daisies for innocence

• Religion and culture: Different religions or culture may attach certain importance to certain flowers, eg the lotus flower has special significance to the Hindus. Do they know of any others?
• Morphology: Do they know the parts of a flower? Teach them by playing the games below.
• Quotes: Do they know of any flower quotes? Arguably, the most famous is from Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet: "What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet."
• You can find more flower quotes from here.
• Idioms: Do they know of any idioms? Teach them by playing the game below.

Click on the image below to start the labelling game.

Click on the image below to start the alternate labelling game.

Click on the image below to start the idioms game.