Pictured on the left are some of the Seedlings Montessori Pre-scholars singing their ode to the Hilton Daisy.They are from left to right: Roxy Richmond, Klara Steenkamp, Oliver Cornelius, Milan Michaux, Anna Prentice & Thomas Prentice, Isobel Armstrong, Harry Vickery, Louise Hay & her little brother, Matthew
With the help of a Seedlings Montessori parent on the eco-committee, Karen Zunckel, a visit was arranged for Seedlings Montessori Pre-school and Hilton Pre-Primary Grade Rs to see our very beautiful and endangered Hilton Daisy at Queen Elizabeth Park.
It was with much excitement and anticipation that the children arrived on Friday 14th October to look for the flowers. The Hilton Daisy (Gerbera aurantiaca) is a beautifully vivid red flower that gets its name from the village of Hilton where it is endemic. The children discovered them amongst a great many more wild flowers at the Queen Elizabeth Park site and were so delighted to see the 'real thing' as they had only seen photographs before.
As preparation for the visit the children had been introduced to a set of discussion cards using photographs of the daisy, its seeds, the brown hairy monkey beetles that help pollinate it and pictures of the flowers in the wild. They had learnt a special song about the Hilton Daisy as young children internalise information more readily if it is introduced in different ways. They had spoken about what it means if something is endangered and how important it is for us to be aware and help protect such things. There was a little series of vases of flowers on the nature shelf with labels above them saying 'We can pick these flowers