Teachers & Schools

Brooklyn Botanic Garden is offering a variety of on-site and virtual programing options as well as a limited number of tickets for in-person school group visits. Read on to find an option that works for you and your students.

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Self-Guided Schools & Camp Groups

A limited number of registration slots are now available for groups of up to 10 students with their teachers. Children’s groups from pre-K through high school are admitted for free as space allows.

Teachers must reserve tickets in advance for these self-directed visits, and special safety protocols are currently in place. Teachers may request information to learn more.

School Group Visit Request

School Workshops

Teachers (grades pre-K–8) may select virtual or on-site field trips.

Field trips in the Garden are 75-minute, on-site, BBG instructor–led tours in small groups. Each student will pot up a plant to take with them. Topics include: Using Our Senses in the Garden (pre-K–2), Discovering Trees in the Garden (pre-K–8), and Investigating Water in the Garden (K–8). Fee: $150 per class. Ask about our discount for Title I schools and special needs groups.

Using Our Senses in the Garden (Grades Pre-K–2)

Making sense of the world around us starts with sensory observations. 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 home in on specific senses, elicit descriptive language, and discover patterns and connections that raise questions about the natural world.

Discovering 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.

Investigating Water in the Garden (Grades K–8)

A drop of water falls, and then another and another and it’s raining in our city! Where does the water go? At BBG, water may find its way into ponds, travel into the brook, or seep into the grass in the meadow or on the “green roof!” Students will follow the flow of water along the brook and around the edges of ponds, stopping to make observations along the way of plants and other wildlife living in wetland habitats. Upper grade levels may take a deeper dive into how the water system functions to recirculate rainwater sustainably.

Virtual field trips include a 60-minute, live, BBG instructor–led experience consisting of prerecorded video tours and an interactive lesson. Choose from two topics: Tropical and Desert Plant Explorations (pre-K–8) and Exploring Plants in Our Lives (K–8). Teachers will set up the virtual field trip using the platform of their choice. Teachers will be mailed a kit including plants and potting-up materials for the class. Access to online materials and a potting-up video tutorial for teachers included. Fee: $75 per class. Ask about our discount for Title I schools and special needs groups.

Tropical and Desert Plant Explorations (Grades Pre-K–8)

What’s it like for a plant living in a tropical rainforest or in a desert environment? BBG educators will take students on a whirlwind world tour (courtesy of BBG’s plant collections!) and explore some of the adaptations tropical and desert plants have that allow them to survive and thrive in their environment. Your teacher kit will contain aloe, jade, pothos, and bromeliad plants.

Exploring Plants in Our Lives (Grades K–8)

What are the important plants in your life? In this virtual 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. Your teacher kit will contain mint plants, ‘Chilly Chili’ pepper seeds, oilseed sunflower seeds, and lima bean seeds.

Project Green Reach

Project Green Reach (PGR) is a semester-long program for K–8 teachers and their classes in Brooklyn’s Title I schools. Schools must apply for acceptance into PGR. At least two teachers and their two classes from each school must apply, though both teachers do not have to teach the same grade level.

PGR’s virtual program includes three asynchronous components and one synchronous session: video tours of the Garden; a video lesson in the Garden’s Education Greenhouse; a hands-on, inquiry-based video lesson including a planting tutorial; and a live, synchronous plant science lesson with PGR staff. Each class will receive a mailed kit of plants, potting-up materials for each student, teacher guide, and student worksheets. Teachers will also receive two virtual professional development sessions with training on inquiry-based teaching and plant care. The deadline to apply for PGR’s virtual program this fall is October 1, 2021. Fee: $50 per class. Please email pgr@bbg.org with any questions.

Apply to PGR

Urban Advantage

Redeem a UA Class Visit Voucher for a virtual field trip experience. UA virtual tours are 60-minute, live, BBG instructor–led experiences consisting of virtual tours of the Garden and an interactive lesson. Teachers will set up the virtual field trip meeting using the platform of their choice.

Teachers will be mailed a kit including plants and potting-up materials for the class. Access to online materials and a potting-up video tutorial for teachers included. Additionally, UA Middle School teachers and their classes will also have the opportunity to engage with online materials that extend learning. UA Elementary School teachers will receive a digital plant reference book.

Fee: one UA Class Visit Voucher per class.

Free Virtual Tour Resources for Teachers

These thematic virtual tours of Brooklyn Botanic Garden come with accompanying resources to support and extend your students’ learning.

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Professional Development Workshops for Educators

The Garden will work with you to develop a program to support your professional development goals for science and other areas of study.

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DOE "P" Credit In-Service Course

The Garden offers ASPDP workshops that support goals for science and other curriculum areas, and meet common core, state, and NYC-DOE standards, including Culturally Sustaining Pedagogy.

Learn More

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