School Group Guided Workshops
Explore the Garden and learn about nature from Garden instructors in these hands-on, guided programs for students in pre-K through 8th grade.
Register now for December Exploration Workshops. Registration for January–June 2025 programs starts December 1.
NEW! WALKING TOURS
Walking Tours are 45-minute BBG instructor–led outdoor nature programs. (In the case of inclement weather, programs will take place in the Steinhardt Conservatory.) Teachers return to school with a planting kit containing materials for each student to grow a seed connected to the tour topic. Walking tours are offered October–November and April–June.
Budding Botanists: A Sensory Walking Tour (Grades pre-K–2)
Starting with our senses is the perfect way to begin to learn about the natural world around us. Botanists will be encouraged to make focused observations via sight, sound, smell, and touch as they explore the plants and animals at BBG. Planting kits contain basil seeds.
Nature’s Giants: A Tree Walking Tour (Grades pre-K–8)
Come explore trees with us this fall or spring—these giants of the plant world are fascinating in any season. We will visit some of BBG’s most interesting trees, observing their bark, leaves, flowers, fruits, and growing patterns, as well as the animals who depend upon them. Planting kits contain thornless honey-locust tree seeds.
Fee: $120 | Title I: $96 | D75 & SCSE: $60 | UA: free with class trip voucher
In addition, there is a 4.5% registration fee for all classes.
Registration opens December 1.
EXPLORATION WORKSHOPS
Exploration Workshops are 90-minute BBG instructor–led programs where students explore plants hands-on in our classrooms, pot up a plant to take home, and tour the Garden in small groups.
Sensory Exploration (Grades Pre-K–2 )
Making sense of the world around us starts with sensory observations. How do young scientists make sense of the world? In any season, BBG is a perfect place to engage young scientists’ keen powers of observation using sight, smell, hearing, and touch. Students will tour some of our favorite gardens-within-the-Garden and participate in activities designed to hone in on specific senses, elicit descriptive language, and discover patterns and connections that raise questions about the natural world.
Exploring Plants in Our Lives (Grades Pre-K–8)
What are the important plants in your life? What parts of those plants provide us with food, medicine or practical use? In this on-site workshop, students will be inspired to think about the many ways people depend on plants and get a chance to learn about some culturally important plants from our Education Greenhouse collection.
Exploring Trees in the Garden (Grades Pre-K–8)
How are trees different from other plants? How are they the same? Trees are growing in our city—as the seasons change, they blossom, provide shade, spread their seeds, present bright autumn colors, and catch the snow on their branches when winter comes. Students will compare the diversity of bark, leaves, overall shape, fruits, and seeds, and learn how all these parts function to help the plant grow, survive, and reproduce. We will also explore the many ways trees benefit people and animals.
Ecological Exploration (Grades 2–8)
What does a plant need to grow? How do plants survive the challenges presented by environments as diverse as deserts, rainforests, marshes, or bogs? Comparing and contrasting various biome collections at BBG will inspire young plant ecologists to find answers to these questions.
Investigating Flowers (Grades 2–8) March–May
Flowers are beautiful, but do their colors, fragrance, and patterns have a purpose? We all appreciate flowers for their special beauty, but a flower’s real and very important function is for reproduction of the plant. On a tour of the Garden’s plants in bloom, students will learn about pollination and fruit formation.
Investigating Life in Water (Grades 2–8) October–November & April–June
The water all around us is filled with life! Students will dive into the fascinating world of the water environments around them. How do plants’ features help them survive in their aquatic environments? Can we find other living things tangled in our algae? Why do carnivorous plants digest flies? Students will investigate these questions in our on-site workshop.
Multiplying Plants: An Introduction to Asexual Reproduction (Grades 6–8)
Can we make more of our favorite plants without planting a seed? In the wild, plants often make more of themselves without flowers, fruits, and seeds! In this hands-on workshop, students will use field journals to closely observe and identify the many methods that plants use to multiply asexually.
Plant Adaptations: Thriving in a Challenging Environment (Grades 6–8)
How do cactus plants survive the arid desert environment? Can rainforest plants protect themselves against too much rain? In this hands-on workshop, students will use field journals to closely observe and compare plants that thrive in desert and tropical rainforest biomes, and identify adaptations that have helped them survive the challenges presented by these habitats.
Fee: $220 | Title I: $176 | D75 & SCSE: $110 | UA: free with class trip voucher
In addition, there is a 4.5% registration fee for all classes.
Please select your topic (confirm recommended grade level) before registering. If you have any questions, contact [email protected].
Science Standards Connections
BBG’s classes for teachers and school groups support the Next Generation Science Standards that developed from the National Research Council’s 2012 Framework for K–12 Science Education. The framework calls for knowledge and practice to be intertwined so that students “actively engage in scientific and engineering practices and apply crosscutting concepts to deepen their understanding of the core ideas in these fields.” This approach aligns with BBG’s longstanding educational philosophy of learning by doing. Our educational programs are grounded in inquiry-based, hands-on experiences to encourage life-long learning about plants, science, and the environment.
Pre-K–Kindergarten
PS4.A Wave Properties
- Sound can make matter vibrate, and vibrating matter can make sound.
Grade 1
LS1.A Structure and Function
- All organisms have external parts. Plants have different parts (roots, stems, leaves, flowers, fruits) that help them survive and grow.
LS3.B Variation of Traits
- Individuals of the same kind of plant or animal are recognizable as similar but can also vary in many ways.
PS4.A Wave Properties
- Sound can make matter vibrate, and vibrating matter can make sound.
Grade 2
LS2.A Interdependent Relationships in Ecosystems
- Plants depend on water, light, and air to grow.
Pre-K–Kindergarten
LS1.C Organization for Matter and Energy Flow in Organisms
- Plants need water and light to live and grow.
Grade 1
LS1.A Structure and Function
- All organisms have external parts. Plants also have different parts (roots, stems, leaves, flowers, fruits) that help them survive and grow.
Grade 2
LS2.A Interdependent Relationships in Ecosystems
- Plants depend on water, light, and air to grow.
- Plants depend on animals for pollination or to move their seeds around.
LS4.D Biodiversity and Humans
- There are many different kinds of living things in any area, and they exist in different places on land and in water.
Grade 4
LS1.A Structure and Function
- Plants and animals have both internal and external structures that serve various functions in growth, survival, behavior, and reproduction.
Grade 5
LS1.C Organization for Matter and Energy Flow in Organisms
- Food provides animals with the materials they need for body repair and growth and the energy they need to maintain body warmth and for motion.
PS3.D Energy in Chemical Processes and Everyday Life
- The energy released from food was once energy from the sun that was captured by plants in the chemical process that forms plant matter (from air and water).
Grades 6–8
LS4.D Biodiversity and Humans
- Changes in biodiversity can influence humans’ resources, such as food, energy, and medicines, as well as ecosystem services that humans rely on—for example, water purification and recycling.
LS4.B Natural Selection
- In artificial selection, humans have the capacity to influence certain characteristics of organisms by selective breeding. One can choose desired parental traits determined by genes, which are then passed on to offspring.
Pre-K–Kindergarten
LS1.C Organization for Matter and Energy Flow in Organisms
- All animals need food in order to live and grow. They obtain their food from plants or from other animals. Plants need water and light to live and grow.
ESS2.E Biogeology
- Plants and animals can change their environment.
ESS3.A Natural Resources
- Living things need water, air, and resources from the land, and they live in places that have the things they need.
Grade 1
LS1.A Structure and Function
- All organisms have external parts. Plants also have different parts (roots, stems, leaves, flowers, fruits) that help them survive and grow.
LS3.B Variation of Traits
- Individuals of the same kind of plant or animal are recognizable as similar but can also very in many ways.
Grade 2
LS2.A Interdependent Relationships in Ecosystems
- Plants depend on water, light, and air to grow.
- Plants depend on animals for pollination or to move their seeds around.
Grade 3
LS1.B Growth and Development of Organisms
- Reproduction is essential to the continued existence of every kind of organism. Plants and animals have unique and diverse life cycles.
LS4.C Adaptation
- For any particular environment, some kinds of organisms survive well, some survive less well, and some cannot survive at all.
Grade 4
LS1.A Structure and Function
- Plants and animals have both internal and external structures that serve various functions in growth, survival, behavior, and reproduction.
Grade 5
LS2.A Interdependent Relationships in Ecosystems
- The food of almost any kind of animal can be traced back to plants. Organisms are related in food webs in which some animals eat plants for food and other animals eat the animals that eat plants. Some organisms, such as fungi and bacteria, break down dead organisms (both plants or plant parts and animals) and therefore operate as “decomposers.” Decomposition eventually restores (recycles) some materials back to the soil. Organisms can survive only in environments in which their particular needs are met. A healthy ecosystem is one in which multiple species of different types are each able to meet their needs in a relatively stable web of life. Newly introduced species can damage the balance of an ecosystem.
Grade 2
LS2.A Interdependent Relationships in Ecosystems
- Plants depend on water, light, and air to grow.
LS4.D Biodiversity and Humans
- There are many different kinds of living things in any area, and they exist in different places on land and in water.
Grade 3
LS4.B Natural Selection
- Sometimes the differences in characteristics between individuals of the same species provide advantages in surviving, finding males, and reproducing.
LS4.C Adaptation
- For any particular environment, some kinds of organisms survive well, some survive less well, and some cannot survive at all.
Grade 4
LS1.A Structure and Function
- Plants and animals have both internal and external structures that serve various functions in growth, survival, behavior, and reproduction.
Grade 5
LS2.A Interdependent Relationships in Ecosystems
- Organisms can survive only in environments in which their particular needs are met. A healthy ecosystem is one in which multiple species of different types are each able to meet their needs in a relatively stable web of life.
Grades 6 –8
LS1.B Growth and Development of Organisms
- Genetic factors as well as local conditions affect the growth of the adult plant.
LS2.A Interdependent Relationships in Ecosystems
- Organisms, and populations of organisms, are dependent on their environmental interactions both with other living things and with nonliving factors.
- In any ecosystem, organisms and populations with similar requirements for food, water, oxygen, or other resources may compete with each other limited resources, access to which consequently constrains their growth and reproduction.
- Growth of organisms and population increases are limited by access to resources.
LS4.B Natural Selection
- Natural selection leads to the predominance of certain traits in a population, and the suppression of others.
Grade 2
LS2.A Interdependent Relationships in Ecosystems
- Plants depend on water and light to grow.
- Plants depend on animals for pollination or to move their seeds around.
LS4.D Biodiversity and Humans
- There are many different kinds of living things in any area, and they exist in different places on land and in water.
Grade 3
LS1.B Growth and Development of Organisms
- Reproduction is essential to the continued existence of every kind of organism. Plants and animals have unique and diverse life cycles.
LS3.A Inheritance of Traits
- Many characteristics of organisms are inherited from their parents.
LS3.B Variation of Traits
- Different organisms vary in how they look and function because they have different inherited information.
Grade 4
LS1.A Structure and Function
- Plants and animals have both internal and external structures that serve various functions in growth, survival, behavior, and reproduction.
Grade 5
LS1.C Organization for Matter and Energy Flow in Organisms
- Plants acquire their material for growth chiefly from air and water.
PS3.D Energy in Chemical Processes and Everyday Life
- The energy released from food was once energy from the sun that was captured by plants in the chemical process that forms plant matter (from air and water).
Grades 6–8
LS1.B Growth and Development of Organisms
- Organisms reproduce, either sexually or asexually, and transfer their genetic information to their offspring.
- Genetic factors as well as local conditions affect the growth of the adult plant.
LS1.C Organization for Matter and Energy Flow in Organisms
- Plants, algae (including phytoplankton), and many microorganisms use the energy from light to make sugars (food) from carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and water through the process of photosynthesis, which also releases oxygen. These sugars can be used immediately or stored for growth for later use.
LS1.D Information Processing
- Plants respond to stimuli such as gravity (geotropism) and light (phototropism).
Grade 2
LS2.A Interdependent Relationships in Ecosystems
- Plants depend on water and light to grow.
LS4.D Biodiversity and Humans
- There are many different kinds of living things in any area, and they exist in different places on land and in water.
ESS2.C The Roles of Water in Earth’s Surface Processes
- Water is found in the oceans, rivers, lakes, and ponds. Water exists as solid ice and in liquid form.
Grade 3
LS1.B Growth and Development of Organisms
- Reproduction is essential to the continued existence of every kind of organism. Plants and animals have unique and diverse life cycles.
LS3.B Variation of Traits
- The environment also affects the traits that an organism develops.
LS4.D Biodiversity and Humans
- Populations live in a variety of habitats, and change in those habitats affects the organisms living there.
Grade 4
LS1.A Structure and Function
- Plants and animals have both internal and external structures that serve various functions in growth, survival, behavior, and reproduction.
Grade 5
LS1.C Organization for Matter and Energy Flow in Organisms
- Plants acquire their material for growth chiefly from air and water.
PS3.D Energy in Chemical Processes and Everyday Life
- The energy released from food was once energy from the sun that was captured by plants in the chemical process that forms plant matter (from air and water).
Grades 6–8
LS1.B Growth and Development of Organisms
- Genetic factors as well as local conditions affect the growth of the adult plant.
LS1.C Organization for Matter and Energy Flow in Organisms
- Plants, algae (including phytoplankton), and many microorganisms use the energy from light to make sugars (food) from carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and water through the process of photosynthesis, which also releases oxygen. These sugars can be used immediately or stored for growth for later use.
LS1.D Information Processing
- Plants respond to stimuli such as gravity (geotropism) and light (phototropism).
Grades 6–8
LS1.B Growth and Development of Organisms
- Organisms reproduce, either sexually or asexually, and transfer their genetic information to their offspring.
- Plants reproduce in a variety of ways, sometimes depending on animal behavior and specialized features for reproduction.
- Genetic factors as well as local conditions affect the growth of the adult plant.
LS1.C Organization for Matter and Energy Flow in Organisms
- Plants, algae (including phytoplankton), and many microorganisms use the energy from light to make sugars (food) from carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and water through the process of photosynthesis, which also releases oxygen. These sugars can be used immediately or stored for growth or later use.
Grades 6–8
LS1.B Growth and Development of Organisms
- Genetic factors as well as local conditions affect the growth of the adult plant
LS1.C Organization for Matter and Energy Flow in Organisms
- Plants, algae (including phytoplankton), and many microorganisms use the energy from light to make sugars (food) from carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and water through the process of photosynthesis, which also releases oxygen. These sugars can be used immediately or stored for growth or later use.
LS2.A Interdependent Relationships in Ecosystems
- Organisms, and populations of organisms, are dependent on their environmental interactions both with other living things and with nonliving factors.
- In any ecosystem, organisms and populations with similar requirements for food, water, oxygen, or other resources may compete with each other limited resources, access to which consequently constrains their growth and reproduction.
- Growth of organisms & population increases are limited by access to resources.
LS4.B Natural Selection
- In artificial selection, humans have the capacity to influence certain characteristics of organisms by selective breeding. One can choose desired parental traits determined by genes, which are then passed on to offspring.
- Natural selection leads to the predominance of certain traits in a population, and the suppression of others.