Discover the magic and creativity of nature

This lesson works off the back of the Life Rocks YouTube episode "24 Hours in the Forest", which will be played at the beginning of the lesson. We then draw a tree on the white board, and with the help of the kids, add all the different animals and insects that call the forest home. We look at the vital role each little life plays in the health of the ecosystem, and how their relationship with the forest is one of reciprocity, that being 'give and take'. This give and take allows an ecosystem to balance, and in a balanced ecosystem, everything thrives. This same principle applies to humans, as we rely on the health of our natural ecosystems as well.

We look at the importance of diversity with an ecosystem, and begin to understand how the ecosystems with the most diversity are the most resilient. Diversity is a strength. We then look at our diversity within humanity, by inviting five kids up to the front of the class, and acknowledge the multitude of differences between them. We then show how these differences make up our diversity, and our diversity, like nature, is our biggest strength. By comparison, when we let our diversity divide us, we end up with inequality and disunity. Humans must learn to celebrate their diversity, to achieve equality and unity, and then we will have the unified effort required to care for our beautiful planet together.

This lesson involves storytelling. I tell the story of a group of birds - White Winged Choughs - that I followed and observed during lockdown. It involves footage of amazing displays of community support. We start to see how nature can be a teacher, and we look at the importance of community for humans as well - being a part of, and contributing to, something greater than ourselves. We then, as a class, come up with a list of benefits that come from being a part of a strong community. The lessons conclude with a community-building game that instills the power of working together.

We take a look at the history of creation, as if it were condensed down into a 24-hour day. A timeline is drawn on the whiteboard and we take a journey from the beginning of time - beginning 4.5 billion years ago - when Earth was just lava and meteors. Step-by-step we look at the magical moments of creation that formed the world we live in today, and eventually realise that humans only show up 3 seconds before 'midnight'. We then look at the responsibility we as humans hold in our hands to care for our world today after billions of years of evolution, and the innate powers we humans share with all life-forms to create (or destroy) life on Earth. We then work together to write a list of human creations that have contributed to the world's beauty and magic.

We start to experiment with our creative powers as humans - we are each capable of magic too. We can take a blank piece of paper and use our imaginations to draw something that has never been drawn before. We are all artists and there is nobody with the same imagination and creativity as us. The kids then complete the exercise of drawing something from their imagination. This lesson will involve a character of mine - a French artist named Jean-Luc De La Fluke. The kids will present their creations to Jean-Luc who will decide whether they will be accepted in the famous gallery of the imaginary. Of course, they will all be accepted and encouraged by Jean-Luc to continue sharing their unique creations with the world.

This lesson involves storytelling. I tell the stories of my amazing encounters with different birds, and the lessons those experiences have taught me. From the Black Cockatoo I've learned about connection; I've learned about helping one another from the Grey Fantail; about overcoming fear from the Superb Fairy Wren; and about respecting our elders from the Pacific Black Ducks. Each story involves either props or video footage. We then look at the power of storytelling, of sharing our encounters with nature, and of how nature can be one of our most important teachers.