The Ginkgo

This session we bring to an end our Amazing Ancient Trees Ray with the ginkgo. I, for one, have been fascinated by the many roles ancient trees play in our lives and in the life of our planet. The ginkgo surely qualifies for being the most ancient tree of them all, as it not only can live for over 1000 years, but has existed as a species almost unchanged for 200 million years.

We complete our programme at Christmas with a Talent Show and performance of a poem written especially for us by Mark Hutchinson.

Session 5

Amazing Ancient Trees

Information

Go into small groups with a leader (take chairs), practise lines in front of group. Bring chairs into semicircle, facing screen. Film each group in front of screen.

Games

Sit on floor in centre of semicircle. Christmas music

Ginkgo facts (in each layer of the parcel)

Ginkgo can live for over 1000 years

Ginkgo trees were around at the time of the dinosaurs

Ginkgos have separate male and female trees

Female trees produce smelly fruit

Ginkgos were the very first trees

Ancient Chinese people called it the ‘duck foot tree’

Ginkgo leaves are poisonous to most bugs

Medicines made of ginkgo cure tinnitus and memory loss

Ginkgo nuts are edible but must be eaten in moderation

Ginkgos are sacred in Buddhism and Shintoism

Crafts & Activities

How to use this resource

There are 5 Rays, which provide a programme for one year’s sessions for a children’s group running during term-time. For each Ray, there is a set of topics, each of which comprises a theme for a term or half-term.

The sessions are presented in a pick-and-mix way - some information, some games, crafts, videos, etc. You are encouraged to adapt the material to your own setting , the time you have available and the resources you have. Don’t think that you have to do everything on offer.