Exploring Collective Nouns by Creating Photo Mosaics

Whilst attending the Real World Learning Network Conference in November 2014 I had the opportunity to chat to Liz Earley, who works for the Field Studies Council. Once we discovered we both used iPads outdoors we took 5 minutes to share some apps. Liz showed me how she used FreezePaint to enable students to capture landforms observed in the local environment. Sadly this app is no longer available but it’s perfectly possible to use a range of apps from Book Creator to Pic Collage to many others to create a picture or mosaic of clips to create collections of objects.

In the photo above, I set myself the challenge, “How many different flowers and berries can I find in Seaton Park?” I wanted to find out if any flowering plants existed. As you can see from the photo, there is a good collection of polyanthus or primroses which were offering a little winter colour on the dark December days.

I thought it would be fun to do a collective noun scavenger hunt. This involves a child or group of children deciding what collection of objects they would like to create. This was inspired by the wonderful lists of collective nouns for birds and other animals. At this time of year skeins of geese can be seen flying overhead and these become gaggles of geese when resting on land. A murder of crows is not at all macabre but simply a collection of these birds.

I chose car logos as I thought this would be a creative way of moving beyond the traditional collective nouns for animals. It’s possible to capture just about anything: leaves; colours, lichens, bark, lamppost designs, window frames, etc. Regardless, it helps children tune into observing their environment. By researching and then inventing their own collective nouns, this aids the development of associated vocabulary and understanding of the purpose and use of a collective noun. It helps to discuss the origins of collective nouns and ways of making an informed decision about the collective name.