EDUCATION PROGRAMS

The Missouri Botanical Garden’s Education Division has 46 professional employees and over 200 volunteers. All are dedicated to excellence in formal and informal education programs about plants, and their role in sustainability to promote understanding of the connections among people, plants, and the environment. The Garden’s comprehensive education program includes seven classrooms, an education greenhouse, two science labs, a computer lab, outdoor environmental study sites, and other learning centers.

YOUTH EDUCATION PROGRAMS

Youth & Family Programs: Programs for young children with their parents or guardian, from Strollerobics on the Garden grounds, to Little Sprouts for 2 to3 year olds, Garden Buds for 4 to 5 year olds, Garden Kids for 6 to 8 year olds and the Pitzman Summer Program introducing young children to the natural world.

Camp MBG: Field and classroom programs for children 6 to 13 years old who have a deep interest in plants, ecology, and natural history.

Great Green Adventures: Drop-in to learn about a special place in the Garden each month; designed for ages 6 to 12.

SHAW NATURE RESERVE
(2,400-acre nature reserve 35 miles southwest of the City of St. Louis)

Classes: Structured investigations in field ecology, natural history, and science in the outdoors for elementary, middle school and high school students.
    
Tours: Naturalist-led guided walks or wagon tours of Shaw Nature Reserve for adults.

Adult Education Classes: Botany, ecology, natural history classes for adults and families.

Teacher Naturalists: Volunteer opportunities and training in ecology, natural history, and education enabling adults to work with school groups visiting the Nature Reserve.

Dana Brown Overnight Education Center: Comfortable residential facility offering instruction in field studies, natural history and ecology for upper elementary students and older adults and families.

LITZSINGER ROAD ECOLOGY CENTER
(34-acre environmental education center in Ladue, a St. Louis suburb)

Field Science Grants: Support for travel and research expenses to enable students and teachers to extend their classroom learning through field experiences at the Litzsinger Road Ecology Center.

Internships: Internships provide an extended opportunity to learn ecology, horticulture, and outdoor teaching skills.

Master Ecologist Program: An adult volunteer program providing participants with a foundation in ecology and education, enabling them to assist students in field science programs.

Conservation: Several research projects at the site focus on local ecology and the restoration of natural creek, woodland and prairie habitats.

SCHOOL FIELD TRIPS TO MBG

Classes: Instruction in plant adaptations, seeds, rainforest ecology, trees, pollination and other plant related topics at the Missouri Botanical Garden for elementary and secondary students.

Guided Tours: Themed guided educational walks of the 79-acre Missouri Botanical Garden grounds.

Girl and Boy Scout Programs: Scout troops can tour the grounds with exploration backpacks, loaded with activities to inspire learning and discovery at the Garden.

SCHOOL PARTNERSHIPS

Science Alliance: A partnership between Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis Zoo, St. Louis Science Center and Mullanphy ILC Elementary, a St. Louis Public Schools science magnet school near the Missouri Botanical Garden, in which teacher professional development, student field trips and family science nights are provided in order to better science education at the school.

ECO-ACT: A yearlong environmental leadership course for high school students who teach ecology to elementary school children throughout the school year.

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT FOR EDUCATORS: In-service and extended learning opportunities for educators in inquiry-based education techniques. Classes offer college credit for educators.

Ecology Institutes for Teachers: Training and field practicum strengthen plant, ecology, and environmental science knowledge, as well as, teaching skills. (See next example).

Energy Conservation Institute: A four day training in which teachers learn about energy production and use in the bi-state region, using St. Louis, Mo. as a home base. Field trip may include the following: EarthWays Center, Calloway Nuclear Power Plant, Bagnell Dam, Illinois Rural Electric Cooperative (wind), Kirkwood Green Generation Facility (biomass), Laclede Gas, and Fred Weber’s Landfill (methane).

No Teacher Left Inside: An experimental excursion into the wilds-exploring the Shaw Nature Reserve on a two-day float trip. Educators live and learn in nature’s classroom for three days packed with activities, including bird identification, nature journaling, and water quality monitoring. No outdoor experience required. Canoeing, camping, and caving gear is provided.

Inquiry Training: Experience practical classroom inquiry activities, while gaining a deeper understanding of scientific inquiry and how to implement it in the classrooms.
    
GEMS Training: Workshops featuring Great Explorations in Math and Science curriculum from the Lawrence Hall of Science, U.C. Berkeley.

INSTRUCTIONAL RESOURCES

Stupp Teacher Instructional Resource Center: A center of books, instructional kits, and audio-visual materials, many of which may be borrowed by community educators, and a center for instructional resource books and materials which teachers may use in planning and preparing instruction.

GEMS and Discovery Unit Kits: Materials kits to support instruction in these science and math curriculum units.

MBG Videos: Five video series for elementary and middle school classes on ecological concepts, biomes of the world, plant biology, and environmental issues.

Garden Produced Curriculum Materials: Tropical rain forest information, aquatic ecology curriculum, field study methods, lessons for self-guided trips to the Garden, and pre-visit and post-visit materials for Garden field trips.

Suitcase Science Kits: Thematic kits containing supplies, teaching aids, and suggested activities

Mapping the Environment: Instructional modules using ArcView GIS to engage middle school students in a series of earth and environmental science topics.

THERAPEUTIC HORTICULTURE

Soule Scent-sational Senior Group: Seniors aid in the planting, maintenance and interpretation of the Scented Garden.

Garden Programs: Nature-based daytime plant and gardening classes for senior citizens and special populations taught at the Garden, as well as, MBG satellite sites.

Senior Program Outreach: Senior Program Volunteers give slide, travelogue, and “how to” gardening presentations to the senior community at venues such as skilled care nursing homes and senior retirement facilities.

Community Outreach Programs: Volunteers and staff provide therapeutic hands-on programming to seniors living in the senior living communities and special needs populations.

INTERPRETATION AND EXHIBITS for Garden Visitors

Doris I. Schnuck Children’s Garden: Missouri people and plants take center stage as kids explore the natural world at the Children’s Garden. Look for hands-on learning and family fun throughout the Children’s Garden all season long. Open daily April through October from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Separate admission fees apply.

Tower Grove House: Experience the Garden’s roots at Tower Grove House. Take a step back in time in the country home of Henry Shaw. View artifacts and furniture that belongs to Mr. Shaw. Explore timelines and discover how Tower Grove House was used after 1889. Listen to voices from the past and hear from those who helped build Shaw’s Garden. The Garden has grown over the last 151 years. Come see where it all began! Open April through December, Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m and Sunday from 1 p.m. to 4. Entry is included with Garden admission.

Brookings Interpretive Center: This 4,300 square foot interpretation center links the living exhibits in the Climatron® with the Shoenberg Temperate House. Previously used as a permanent exhibit space, this venue has played host to season traveling exhibits. In 2010, Brookings will be transformed into a fully immersive DinoQuest experience, where visitors can learn more about extinction and biodiversity, why it is important, and what they can do to help preserve it. Through the help of staff and volunteers and hands-on props, visitors will explore how real science is done today and distinguish between science fact and science fiction. Included with DinoQuest admission.

Germination Stations: Interpreter-led “Germination Stations” enrich visitors’ experience with discovery and learning. These stations have been developed with a goal of “planting seeds and growing minds” in understanding of the Garden’s mission. Adult and student volunteers greet visitors on Garden grounds and in the Children’s Garden and engage children and families in hands-on explorations. Topics change seasonally and have the Power of Pollination, Bushels of fun, Cave Experience, Wetland Wildlife Observations, What’s So Neat About Trees, Nature of Fun, the Rain Forest, Japanese Garden, and Exploring with Carver.
    
Walking Tours: Daily public guided tours of Garden collections with experienced Garden docents. Included with Garden admission.

The Missouri Botanical Garden's mission is "to discover and share knowledge about plants and their environment in order to preserve and enrich life." Today, 151 years after opening, the Missouri Botanical Garden is a National Historic Landmark and a center for science and conservation, education and horticultural display.

3/2010