GLE Correlated Programming
We are pleased to introduce field trip opportunities geared towards specific grade levels. Our GLE correlated programs are now being offered to fourth through seventh grade classes throughout the school year. Each class is based heavily on topics pertaining to plants and environmental sustainability that are introduced within each grade level’s curriculum. They emphasize hands-on activities, student inquiry, and developmentally appropriate learning goals. Sign your class up today for this exciting opportunity!
Fourth Grade
Gardening 101: Students complete every stage of the gardening process in this sped-up tour of the plant life cycle. From seeds to harvests, this workshop integrates the subject of plant life and reproduction, and their place within ecosystems. We also cover plants as the sources of much of our food and raw materials. Students get to experience a day in the life of a gardener, and the entire life span of a plant.
2.5 hours, 20 student limit
Hands-On Ecosystems: Through activities that are both creative and scientific, students explore the concepts of food webs, adaptations, habitat, and the elements that create a flourishing ecosystem. Students will use scientific inquiry skills to observe, measure, and come to conclusions about, a garden area of high biodiversity. They’ll strengthen presentation skills by reporting back to the group about their findings.
2 hours, 20 student limit
Fifth Grade
Research the Environment: Everything we know about the world, we learned from the hard work of scientists. In this session, students will go about the real work of science, specifically conservation science. In a simulated scenario, students will need to prove that an area of habitat is worth saving from encroaching development. They’ll learn about the emotional and practical sides of the problem, and come to their own conclusions.
2 hours, 25 student limit
Sixth Grade
The Sides of Sustainability: In this session, students will travel between stations in the garden and complete activities pertaining to four major aspects of sustainability: Locality and food security; recycling; inexhaustible energy; and renewable resources. Led by seasoned Botanical Garden volunteers, each station will give students a chance to think in depth about the problems—and their solutions—facing our society.
2.5 hours, 30 student limit
Seventh Grade
Sustaining the Cycle: This workshop focuses on the study of the carbon cycle as a way to determine the effect that human beings have on the environment. Students are introduced to the concept of biomes: The ecosystem, plus the nonliving things it depends on, its climate and topography, etc. Students will examine the carbon cycle in action in one of our demonstration biomes, compare a natural cycle to one influenced by humans, and engage in critical conversation about the issue.
2 hours, 30 student limit