New York Botanical Garden

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Education 
The NYBG Library offers the nation's most extensive collection of horticultural and botanical materials, with over one million items, including books in more than 30 languages.  The Herbarium contains the largest collection of preserved plant specimens in the Western Hemisphere -- 5.6 million, in fact.  These resources combine to provide an outstanding educational resource to students at all levels. 

Adults can take advantage of a variety of continuing education courses in related fields at NYBG. 

Children of all ages can participate in a wide range of classes and activities.  Every weekend afternoon from April through October, free programs (nature and gardening activities) are offered to families and children on a drop-in basis.  Formal education programs requiring pre-registration are offered in spring, summer and fall.  Families can also participate in any number of special events and activities such as festivals, concerts, gardening demonstrations, plant sales, and other cultural and educational programs.  Call NYBG for full details.  There are always great programs to celebrate holidays. 

NYBG is no stranger to the Internet, either.  Their official website offers a lot of helpful information to gardeners and students, including a search engine for finding information about specific plants and related topics.  You will find a link under the NYBG address information at the beginning of the first page of this listing. 

School Group Programs 
Every year NYBG delivers great programs to thousands of school children.  Here are a few examples. Note that many programs are available only during certain days and hours. The listing here is not complete. Call (718) 817-8687 for further information.

Everett Childrens' Adventure Garden Programs

Guided Tours - Call for current fee.

• Adventures in the Garden (Winter) is an outdoor tour encompassing plant science exhibits in six galleries. Grades Pre-K thru 6
• Sensory Walk (All Seasons) is a guided multisensory explorationof the Children's Garden and the Garden grounds. Pre-K

Self-Guided Visits - Call for current fee.

• Kids Herbarium (All Seasons): Students press and mount a plant specimen. Pre-K thru 6
• Kids Lab (All Seasons): Students conduct scientific experiments and learn how plants make their own food. Grades 3 thru 6
• Meadow Gallery (Fall, Spring & Summer): Students learn to identify the parts of a flower, discover seed dispersal and pollination, and examine seeds from around the world. Pre-K thru 3

GreenSchool Programs
Featuring hands-on classroom presentations enhanced by excursions on the grounds or in the Enid A Haupt Conservatory. Students apply their knowledge during a guided exploration of the Garden's living collection.

Class of up to 35 - call for current fee.

• Harvest Moon (Fall) introduces students to harvest time, fruits, and the seeds that they hold. Pre-K thru 1
• Plant Petting Zoo (Winter) is a multisensory explortion of the color, shape and texture opf plants. Pre-K thru 1
• A Forest in the City (Fall): A hands-on tour of the Garden's 40-acre Forest. Grades 2 & 3
• Dig In To Soil (Spring) is an in-depth look at the ingredients of soil, plus an investigation of the Venus Flytrap and the Garden's collection of carniverous plants. Grades 2 & 3
• Wild Wetland Exploration (Fall) examines this all-important habitat and tours the Mitsubishi Wild Wetland Trail. Grades 4 thru 6
• Armed and Dangerous (Spring, Winter): Students take a fascintating look at the world's deserts, construct a giant cactus, and search for desert plants in the Conservatory. Grades 4 thru 6

Ruth Rea Howell Family Garden
Every year children of all ages work together here planting and tending this garden and reaping the harvests. Hands-on programs introduce students to gardening and the natural environment.

Hands-on Gardening Workshops - Call for current fee.

How Does Your Garden Grow? (Fall): Students sow seeds, tend flowers and vegetables, learn how to prepare a garden for the winter and pot a plant to take home. Grades Pre-K thru 6

Similar season-appropriate programs are offered for winter and spring, as well.

Enid A. Haupt Conservatory
Four distinct climatic regions provide the perfect environment in which to study the diversity of plants, the environments where plants grow, and human dependency on plants.Hands-on programs introduce students to gardening and the natural environment.

Guided Tours -- Call for current fee.

• A World of Plants (All Seasons): A South American Healer's House, Lowland Rain Forest canopy, terrestrial carnivorous plants, and desert plants of Africa and the Americas are but some of the discoveries students will make on this tour. Grades K thru 6

Self-Guided Visits - Call for current fee.

• Adventures for Plant Hunters (All Seasons): Students use a map to navigate A World of Plants and search for plants that give us medicines, trees that produce the ingredients for chocolate, and many other amazing plants. Grades 3 thru 6
• Holiday Garden and Train Show (Christmas Season): This now famous annual show features marvelous toy train layouts that wind their way through a variety of landscapes, including historic buildings and townhouses of New York's five boroughs. Great educational value for Grades Pre-K thru 6 and a wonderful time for people of all ages.

Teachers' Workshops 
NYBG offers a wide variety of teacher workshops that will help them better teach their students about tress and plants and things botanical.  The workshops are highly recommended and can teachers who participate may enjoy additional benefits for their groups.