Outreach to Schools
Garden volunteers reach thousands of students annually through events at the Garden and special outreach programs in local schools. Each spring, more than 2,000 students celebrate Earth Day at the Garden with activities exploring conservation and Earth stewardship. In the fall, students from schools around the Ozarks come to the Garden for Butterfly Day, where they learn about the role of pollinators through hands-on activities. Area students have planted thousands of bulbs at schools throughout Northwest Arkansas as part of the Daffodil Principle program. Discovery Backpacks, filled with hands-on science education projects for First and Fourth graders, are also available.
Contact the Garden if you are interested in educational programs for your class.
Discovery Backpacks
Botanical Garden of the Ozarks is pleased to introduce a great new resource created in partnership with UA Science Educators. Discovery Backpacks enable teachers to lead a field trip to the Botanical Garden while meeting educational goals.
Each kit contains materials for one classroom of 24 children. There are five kits in each set, so that up to five classes at one school may participate at the same time. The kits contain all the materials needed for classroom activities, hands-on activities in the Garden, and follow-up activities for after the field trip.
FIRST GRADE
Discover Plants: From Top to Bottom Activities (All supplies included in kit)
- Pre-Trip: What is a Plant? And Tops and Bottoms book
- At the Garden: Hunt for Tops (leaves), Middles (stems), and Bottoms (roots)
- Post-Trip: Growing Vegetable Soup book and “Plants on my plate”
The First Grade Discovery Backpack, Discover Plants: From Top to Bottom, addresses the following Arkansas Science Frameworks: LS.2.1.4 Locate plant parts: leaves, stems, flowers, roots; NS.1.1.3 Conduct scientific investigations as a class and in teams: field studies; NS.1.1.7 Use age appropriate equipment and tools in scientific investigations
FOURTH GRADE
Birds and Bees Activities (all supplies included in kit)
- Pre-Trip: Dissect a flower
- At the Garden: Seeing the World with Insect Eyes, Flowers Can Talk, too!, and Who Pollinates What?
- Post-Trip: Pollination Game
The Fourth Grade Discovery Backpack, Birds and Bees (and other pollinators), addresses the following Arkansas Science Frameworks: LS 4.4.1 Recognize environmental adaptations of plants and animals; LS 4.4.2 Illustrate the interdependence of organisms in an ecosystem; NS 1.4.1 Communicate observations orally, in writing, and in graphic organizers; NS 1.4.3 Conduct scientific investigations individually and in teams: field studies; NS 1.4.7 Collect and interpret measurable empirical evidence in teams and as individuals
The Discovery Backpacks may be checked out for up to three weeks. There is no charge to use the backpacks. There is a $2 per student admission fee to the Botanical Garden of the Ozarks.
To schedule a field trip for your class and check out the Discovery Backpacks, please call the Garden at 479-750-2620 or email Sarah King