Artful Flowers, Fruits and Seeds Science - Year 3 Plants – Block 3P Artful Flowers, Fruits and Seeds Session 1 Teaching PowerPoint © Original resource copyright Hamilton Trust, who give permission for it to be adapted as wished by individual users. We refer you to our warning, at the foot of the block overview, about links to other websites.

What’s so special about flowers?

A single flower can be more than 3 metres tall or as tiny as a grain of rice

During the 1600s, growing rare tulips was a fashionable hobby During the 1600s, growing rare tulips was a fashionable hobby. Rich people in Holland competed against one another to have the rarest, most beautiful varieties. Incredible prices were paid. For a short time, tulips were more valuable than gold. People even swapped houses for tulip bulbs!

others make delicious food Some flowers are deadly poisonous Many can make beautiful perfumes whilst some can make life saving medicines

There are thought to be as many as 400,000 different types of flower in the world They are amazing!

What do you know about flowers? Make a list of what you know.

Many of the herbs, trees, flowers, fruits and vegetables that grow in our gardens, fields and woods do not come from Britain. They have been brought here by travellers and plant hunters over many hundreds of years.

It all began with the Romans who invaded Britain and lived here from 43 – 410 CE. They bought plants from across their vast empire. Here are some. Can you name them?

In the 1500s and 1600s British explorers began to discover many unknown lands and started to trade with them. In 1585, Walter Raleigh sailed to the Americas. He is said to have brought these plants back to Britain. Can you name them?

In the 1700s and 1800s, plant hunters travelled the world in search of rare, strange and new plants. This was a dangerous hobby as they risked ship wrecks, extreme weather, wild animals and unfriendly natives. Finding a new plant did not make them rich or famous, so why would they risk their lives in search of plants?

They were just completely fascinated by them. Flowers were an obsession. Someone who studies plants is called a botanist. On plant hunting trips they would press flower samples flat between sheets of paper to dry them and preserve them. They would also keep careful notes in a notebook.

Travelling botanists would return home with unusual living specimens too, to plant in their gardens and glass houses

David Douglas was a Scottish botanist who made 3 plant hunting trips to North America in the 1820s. He introduced over 240 species of plant to Britain including the Douglas fir which was named after him. Sadly, he died at the young age of 35 whilst out hunting for new plants. He fell into a pit and was trampled by wild bullocks.

One of the greatest plant hunters was George Forrest who brought back more than 30,000 specimens from trips to China in the early 1900s. Forrest caught a dangerous disease called malaria and was even attacked by Tibetans, narrowly escaping with his life.

Botanists during the 1700s and 1800s made detailed paintings and drawings of plants to show the structure and shape of flowers, leaves and stems. The purpose was scientific study, but they also made beautiful works of art. They were published in books to help people identify different plants and flowers and learn about them. This type of painting is called botanical illustration

In the 1900s an American called Georgia O’Keeffe began to paint flowers in a new style. Her paintings were often large and showed flowers very close up, focusing on their inner structure.

Georgia O’Keeffe, painted over 200 pictures of flowers and became famous for them. She is considered one of the most important American artists. She died in 1986 at the age of 98

During this session, your task is to become a botanical illustrator or a flower artist like Georgia O’Keeffe. This flower is called morning glory. On the left you can see a typical botanical illustration of it, on the right is a painting of it by Georgia O’Keeffe.

Here are 2 paintings of poppies Here are 2 paintings of poppies. Both are beautiful, but which painting is by Georgia O’Keeffe? This one

If you were painting a lily, a botanical illustration would usually show the stem, leaves and buds as well as the flower, whereas a painting in the style of Georgia O’Keefe would probably focus on the detail on one or two flower blooms

Which ever style you choose, the most important thing is to take a very close look at your flower. Use a magnifying lens to help you really tune in to the detail. Look especially at the mysterious parts you see in the centre. Here there are 6 fluffy orange curves and 1 sticky green structure. All of them stand out on stalks from the very centre of the flower Begin by drawing the basic outline in pencil. Make it larger than life. Draw the petals and even more important the parts you see at the centre.

Begin by painting the centre of your flower Begin by painting the centre of your flower. Mix colours in your pallet to match the colours that you see. This flower has a pale green colour deep in its centre

Next paint your petals by building up layers of paint Next paint your petals by building up layers of paint. Begin with the palest shade you can see. Mix the colour in your pallet. Here the middle of each petal was washed in pale pink (made with red and lots of water). The edges of the petals have been left white. 1. Next a deeper purple pink was added to the centre line of the petals 2. 3. Then a rich pink was laid over the heart of each petal

Finally add any other details like these speckles using a fine brush Finally add any other details like these speckles using a fine brush. You could add leaves, stems and buds for a traditional botanical illustration or leave it as a study of just the flower (inspired by Georgia O’Keeffe).

It’s time to become a botanical artist!

Artful Flowers, Fruits and Seeds Science - Year 3 Plants – Block 3P Artful Flowers, Fruits and Seeds Session 1 Plenary PowerPoint © Original resource copyright Hamilton Trust, who give permission for it to be adapted as wished by individual users. We refer you to our warning, at the foot of the block overview, about links to other websites.

The structures in the centre of flowers are the reproductive parts Remember - reproduction means making babies or offspring

When animals have babies, a male and female will have mated first When animals have babies, a male and female will have mated first. It takes a male and a female to make animal babies. Most plants make babies by producing seeds. A flower usually contains both male and female parts.

In some flowers it is very easy to spot the male and female parts because they are large. A good example is this lily. The female part is the sticky top (called a stigma) and the stalk holding it up (called a style) There are 6 male parts on this flower and each one is called a stamen. It is the job of the stamens to make pollen

Let’s make a quick model of a flower in groups of 3

You will need: A sheet of A4 coloured card folded twice with a petal shape drawn on it A piece of Plasticine or sticky tack about the size of a conker A cotton bud with both ends cut off 6 cotton buds with one end cut off

One person will make the petals by cutting around the petal shape on the folded card. Take care to leave the corner uncut. When you open it out, it will look like this. Another person in the group will model the female part of the flower. Break off a small piece of Plasticine and model it into a stigma. It should have a flattish top. Press it onto the cotton bud with no ends (the style). The third person will arrange the stamens. They should roll the remaining Plasticine into a ball and stick the 6 cotton buds in to form a ring of stamens that splay out like this.

Now assemble your flower by putting all the parts together Now assemble your flower by putting all the parts together. Can you point to … The stigma on top of the style Is this male or female? Female These male parts are called … The stamens