EDUCATOR’S PROGRAM GUIDE 2009

Huntsville Botanical Garden is the place to be to make science come alive for your students. By providing learning experiences that are an extension of your classroom and in-line with National and Alabama Science Standards, your students will discover the amazing world around them in our action-packed field adventures.

We can’t wait to take you and your students on a field adventure like no other! Dates book quickly, so call (256) 430-3572, ext. 226 to make your reservation today!

Big Bugs!

Huntsville Botanical Garden is excited to offer another thrilling exhibit. David Rogers’ "Big Bugs" will be swarming the Garden in March 2009 with 10 insects, each from 3 to 25 feet long. Assassin bugs, carpenter ants, spiders, and many more will be buzzing about the Garden. Due to the great success of almost 60 schools creating customized dinosaurs with our Dinosaur Uproar exhibit, we would like to invite your school to be a part of our new adventure.

Your students can help the insects take over by painting and decorating a bug to be displayed in the Garden. We provide the cut-out; your students provide the creativity.

Join Rainbow Elementary on our winners list and receive a free field trip for an entire class - including bus fare! All insects must be returned for release into the Garden by March 10. We will judge the entries on March 13. $100 winning categories include: Most Original, Best Use of Materials and Most Realistic. The insect judged "Best in Show" will be awarded a free field trip for an entire grade.

Cut-outs will be available for delivery November 1-January 31! RSVP to (256) 430-3572, ext. 226, or email the education department.

Thank you to the Mayor Loretta Spencer Scholarship Fund and Wilson Lumber.

David Rogers’ "Big Bugs" Field Trip

Explore the world of insects and turn your students into Entomologists! You’ll arrive at our amphitheater for a 30-minute interactive presentation about insects and how they are different from other animals. Then a guide will be assigned to each class to take you on your own personal tour of David Roger’s Big Bugs!
$6 per student, 90-minute program, March 16-July 10.

PROGRAMS

All of the Huntsville Botanical Garden educational programs are in line with National and State Science Standards. Groups are welcome to stay after their program is completed and tour the Garden on their own. Please inform us when you make your reservation if you wish to stay longer. Fees are per student. All programs require advance registration.

GARDEN WALK-THROUGHS, All ages, minimum 10 children

Bring your group for a self-guided walk-through of the Garden. Take your time and explore the Nature Trail, Children’s Garden, Nature Center (in season), wherever you wish to wander.
$3 per student, $4 per student with a Garden Docent, year round.

INDOOR/OUTDOOR PROGRAMS

GARDEN HUNT, Four Years Old - First Grade

Using Scientific Inquiry, we’ll teach your children why gardens are important to animals and why animals are important to gardens. Well also show your students how to find out what animals are using the Garden as a home. We’ll encourage your children to use 4 of their 5 senses while exploring the Garden and hunting for animal clues in the Garden.
90-minute program includes inside group discussion and outside time for animal hunt.
$5 per student; offered year round (May and September excluded).
AL Science Standards: K.3.1, K.6.3, K.7.2, K.7.3; 1.4.1, 1.4.2, 1.6.2

BUTTERFLIES!, First Grade - Fourth Grade

From egg to caterpillar, through chrysalis and finally to butterfly, we’ll show your students the amazing transformations that occur in the nations largest netted Nature Center. We’ll try to catch fish and tadpoles while visiting our aquatic garden (1-mile round trip), and discover the beauty of the natural world while walking down our Nature Trail.
Field trips start at 9 a.m. or 11 a.m.
Two-hour program.
$6 per student; offered last week of April through first week of October.
AL Science Standards: K.6.1; 1st grade; 2.6.1, 2.6.2; 4.5.1, 4.5.2

DINOSAUR ROUNDUP, Kindergarten - Third Grade

The world of paleontology will come alive for your students when you visit the Garden. Rotating through different stations in the Children’s Garden, students will discover how fossils are created, why bones and fossils are different, how paleontologists use their creativity to figure out what dinosaurs looked like and even hunt for real fossils. Field Trips begin at 9 or 11 a.m.
60-minute program, year-round (May and September excluded);
$6 per student
AL Science Standards: 1.6.1, 1.6.2, 2.6.2, 3.9.1

INDOOR PROGRAMS

LIGHT IT UP, Second-Fourth Grade

"Light it up" is the perfect program to introduce your students to electricity. We’ll explore the difference between Watts, Amps and Volts, play the battery game, and challenge teams to make the longest working strand of lights.
Book your program at 4 p.m. in December and drive through the Galaxy of Lights as you exit!
$5; one-hour program; October - February
AL Science Standards: 2.3.1, 2.3.2, 4.1.1, 4.1.2, 4.3.1, 4.3.2

OUTDOOR PROGRAMS

FANTASTIC FOLIAGE, 4 years old - Second grade

Discover the beauty of fall as a guide takes you through an autumn adventure. Your students will investigate why leaves don’t absorb water, discover why leaves change color, find out how boring their food would be without herbs, and make a colorful leaf collage to take back to the classroom. Field trips start at 9 or 11 a.m.
$6; Two-hour program; September - December
AL Science Standards: K.6.3, 1.4.2, 1.4.3, 1.8.4, 2.5.1, 2.5.2, photosynthesis

NATURE TRAIL EXPLORATIONS, Second - Fifth Grade

Your students will learn all about survival of the fittest as they explore the Garden’s Nature Trail. In this program we investigate survival needs and instincts, learn to identify watersheds, and explore how animal’s lives are changed when streams rise and fall.
$4; 90-minute program; 90 students; August - April.
AL Science Standards: 2.6.1, 4.5.2, 5.9.3

SEEDS EVERYWHERE, Kindergarten - Third Grade

Exploding seedpods, rolling gumballs and whirly-twirly helicopters, bet your students didn’t realize that engineering started with Mother Nature. Sign your class up to discover the physics behind seeds and nuts; they’ll have a blast!
$5, 90-minute program
AL Science Standards: K.6.1, K.6.2, 1.1.1, 1.1.2 1.2.1, 1.2.2, 3.7.1

SPECIAL NEEDS NATURE TRAIL EXPLORATIONS, Third - Sixth Grade

We’ve adapted our Natural Trail program to be conducted at a more leisurely pace and provide more hands on experiences for your special needs students. Please book this program at least three-weeks in advance.
15 students; two-hour program; $5 per student, August - April.

CATASTROPHE!, Third - Seventh Grade

Our guides will take your students through the Garden looking for signs of past natural disasters. Using deductive reasoning and scientific inquiry, we’ll challenge your students to try and figure out what damaged trees, flowers, streams and pathways in the Garden.
60-minute program; $4; November-March.
AL Science Standards: 6.2.1, 6.2.2

TRAVELING PROGRAMS

PLANT PARTS AND POLLINATION, First - Third Grade

Using microscopes and actual plants, your students will get a close-up look at the anatomy of a plant and discover how pollination works.
AL Science Standards: 1.4.2, 2.5.1, 2.5.2, 3.7.1, 3.7.2

S’MORE SCIENCE, Second-Fifth Grade

Using chemistry and physics we’ll investigate the world of chocolate and marshmallows. Your students will discover where chocolate comes from and the journey it takes to get into our candy bars. We’ll also learn why marshmallows expand when we cook them, and why heat matters in making a great cup of cocoa. Microwave must be provided.
AL Science Standards: 2.1.1, 2.1.2, 3.1.1, 3.1.2, 3.2.1, 3.2.2, 3.2.3

For information or to register, call the Education Department at 256-430-3572 ext. 226 or email the education department.

HOME SCHOOL PROGRAMS

The Huntsville Botanical Garden is proud to offer a venue for Homeschool families to bring their children to receive hands-on science education. Please look over the selections below, and then call (256)430-3572 ext. 226 to make your reservations.

Junior Master Gardener, 4th-6th grade, 9 a.m.-12 p.m.,
every Tuesday, October 13-December 9 (excluding Thanksgiving week)

Your child will be engaged in novel, "hands-on" group and individual learning experiences that promote a love of gardening and develop an appreciation for the environment. JMG encourages youths to be of service to others through development projects and rewards them with certification.
Fee: $250 (snack included); must attend 7 classes to receive certification

Home Grown Education, November-February, 9:30-11:30 a.m.,
K-2nd grade: 2nd and 4th Tuesday every month,
3rd-5th grade: 2nd and 4th Thursday every month

Twice a month we'll explore the world with fun, educational, hands-on programs. These programs are designed with the homeschool teacher and student in mind.

• K-2nd
  • November: Storm Season, Bats
  • December: Winter Holidays
  • January: Dog Days, It's 'Egg' citing
  • February: They all Fall Down, Tops and Bottoms
• 3rd-5th
• November: Sensational Seeds, Talkin' Trash
• December: See How They Shine (additional cost)
• January: Global Superheroes, Chinese New Year
• February: Mardi Gras Science, S'more Science

$75 for entire series or $12 a class (7 classes)

Please Note:

• Children must be at grade level advertised.
• Advanced registration required.
• Parents and siblings cannot stay in the classroom.
• Fee does not include admission to the Garden.