Exploring the environment through the eyes of a child

Hugged by a gorilla (Picture: Nicky Allsopp) Not a lion but a … dandelion (Picture: Elvirena Coetzee) Sharing interesting smells in the fragrance garden (Picture: Elvirena Coetzee) The Fynbos Node’s Abri de Buys takes the members of the Erica group on an adventurous exploration (Picture: Nicky Allsopp) Tortoise crossing (Picture: Elvirena Coetzee) The explorer trail.

The Fynbos Node team decided to end 2010 on a different note by “seeing” the environment in which they work through the eyes of a group of seven-year-old learners.

Thirty-eight grade-one learners from Prince George Primary spent the morning with the Fynbos team. Assisted by their teacher and two assistants, the team took the learners on an adventurous exploration through the Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens.

The eager youngsters explored the wilder side of Kirstenbosch on a walk through the forest with several streams offering tadpoles, dragonflies, fish and even a crab. The theme was “explore the environment through your senses: touch, smell, sight and hearing”. A taste of the prolific but wild dell fig provided some with a taste experience as well.

The class was split into four smaller groups led by a node member. Each group was given a name of a flower (agapanthus, protea, strelitzia and erica) and a photo badge on arrival. They excitedly spotted their team flowers growing in the garden.

Fragrance garden

Their guided tour started at the fragrance garden, where learners could touch and describe what they smelled. On the Braille trail they imagined what it must be like to be blind. They thoroughly enjoyed the forest lesson and even attempted to communicate with the birds.

Prince George Primary is situated in Lavender Hill, a community notorious for gangsterism and drugs. The learners might not have seen the lions and elephants they had anticipated seeing, but on their first trip to a botanical garden they curiously explored everything from spider webs to borer beetle holes, showing the potential for nature to be a wonder-filled classroom.

There were some interesting creatures that momentarily joined our walk, much to the delight of our young explorers. Learners were exposed to an array of interesting sights, sounds and smells. They enjoyed touching the moss, smelling the buchu and observing the bees pollinating the daisies. At the dell they were cooled by the refreshing mist from the bird bath waterfall and were quite intrigued by the large sculptures they encountered.

The learners and their teacher thanked the Fynbos team for offering their time and for sharing their knowledge of fynbos and the environment. Little did they know that the real learners of the day were the guides who enjoyed every moment with them!