The best tree of all was the ucklyptess (sic). I never knew how important it was. If it didn’t exist, people wouldn’t be using hall drops and more to feel better.                                          ~3rd grader, PS 22Q

Enrich the classroom experience with workshops from Queens Botanical Garden!  A leader in environmental education, QBG welcomes students across New York City and beyond to our 39-acre living museum. Our handson workshops for Pre-K through high school learners cover a myriad of topics from Honeybees to Biomes, and our instructors are noted for their wealth of knowledge about plants, animals, and insects as well as sustainable design and environmental stewardship principles.

Besides the outdoor learning opportunities, our Visitor & Administration Building is a veritable living encyclopedia of sustainable technologies. Platinum LEED® certified by the U.S. Green Building Council, this remarkable space combines innovations such as a green roof, bioswales, photovoltaic panels, and a graywater recycling system into a building that provides habitat for plants and animals, reduces stormwater runoff and heat island effect, and conserves energy.

Teaching by example, QBG’s workshops enhance classroom lessons and are based on science curriculum, satisfying National and New York State Science Standards, along with NYC Performance Standards.

Many of QBG’s education programs can be adapted to meet the needs of special education classes as well. We will work with you to support the particular academic goals of your class.

Workshops fill up quickly for October, April, May, and June. December and February are the least requested months but are still wonderful months to visit QBG. Early registration is recommended. See our current brochure for fees and registration information.

Instructors are also available on a limited basis to present workshops at your school. Please call the Education Department at 718.886.3800 ext. 230 for program selection, dates, and fees. Customized professional development opportunites are available.
 

Key to the Workshops

Con Ed Curriculum	Shoolman Curriculum	Spring best bet	Late Spring/Summer best bet	Fall best bet	Winter best bet	Pre-K & Kindergarten	Grades 1 &2	Grades 3,4 &5	Grades 6,7 & 8

Workshops Click Here for General Workshop Information

As the Worm Turns

Are worms good or bad? Learn the importance of worms in our gardens and how to use them to recycle kitchen and garden waste. Explore a worm bin and the critters that live inside and bring one back to explore in your classroom (optional). $130 per class with $50 optional worm bin set-up

Biomes and Plant Communities 

Explore plants and the ecology of biomes around the world. Discover how plants and their parts have adapted in order to survive in the desert or tropical rainforest. Students create a model environment for further study. Please select one theme per workshop.

• Terrarium — models the rainforest water cycle with tropical plants

• Desert Dish Garden — demonstrates the unique adaptations of cacti and succulents

• Asian Dish Garden — focuses on cultural expression through the landscape

• Propagation Activity — seed or cutting plus one “mini-greenhouse” for each student

$130 per class + $8 per student ($5 per student for Propagation Activity)

City Plants 

Wild plants—what some people call weeds—have ecological importance. Explore QBG and see how our meadows and swales of wild plants and flowers help prevent flooding and erosion while nurturing the soil and providing habitat. Collect and press specimens to take home. Learn to identify wild plants and flowers in your own school or backyard using field identification techniques and how to create a herbarium for further scientific observation. $150 per class

Color Me Autumn 

Available late September — early November. We all begin to adapt to the chill in the air, and there are many changes occurring in our garden environment as well. Observe how plants and animals are preparing for winter and discover how the life cycle of a plant ties into seasonal patterns and changes. Includes a leaf activity. $150 per class

Dr. George Washington Carver

Called the “Wizard of Tuskegee,” Dr. George Washington Carver made significant contributions in the field of botany. Learn how plants played a very important role in his early life and about his later achievements such as uses for peanuts and sweet potatoes. Plant a peanut to take home and watch grow.                     $150 per class

Good Guys and Bad Guys 

Are all bugs insects? What makes an insect an insect? Discuss the interdependency of insects and plants, explore how their characteristics enable them to survive, and discover garden critters that are beneficial and harmful in our garden community. Includes a hands-on activity. $150 per class

Growing Together 

A unique multicultural offering. Plants, like people, come from many different regions and countries throughout the world. Colorful displays of plants and food bring students on a world journey discovering the origins of plants we eat every day. The trip ends with a tasting of fruit and planting of a “little world in a pot.” $150 per class

Honeybees 

Explore the life cycle of honeybees while discovering the intricate relationship they have with flowering plants. Visit the QBG Bee Garden’s working hives and taste honey. $150 per class

Katydids for Kids 

Aimed at younger audiences, this workshop explores insect biology and diversity. Includes a take home flower planting to encourage pollinator species. $150 per class

Making Scents of Plants

Flowers are not the only part of the plant that can have a beautiful fragrance. Discover how plants evolved to use scents to communicate with the world and how people have used them. Includes a take-home potpourri. $130 per class + $6 per student

Plants & Animals 

Plants and animals need each other in many ways. Investigate the food chain and food web and the ways that living things rely on each other in order to survive in the garden community. Includes a seed planting to take home. $150 per class

Plants in the Lives of the First Americans

Available October, late March through May.Discover the importance of plants as they relate to history. Identify needs shared by all people and how the first Americans used plants to fill those needs. Go on a food foraging tour and make a tasty “wild” salad. $180 per class

Plants We Eat! 

Do you eat your fruits and vegetables? Explore plant parts, identify their functions, and discover which of these parts we eat. Includes a seed planting to take home. $150 per class

Trees & Me 

Trees provide us with wood, food, and paper and help our environment in many ways. Explore the life cycle of a tree and what they need to grow while determining the role trees play in our daily lives. Plant a tree seed to take home and watch grow. $150 per class

Special Workshops 

Energy: You Move Me

Be moved by the amazing journey energy takes as it transforms from one form to another;explore the plant adaptations that make them the base of every food chain, and how people are learning from their example. Using demonstrations in your classroom, this course discusses various sources of energy and processes that humans use to generate electricity. During the second lesson the students visit the Garden and become familiar with plant adaptations that collect and allocate energy, learn how plants increase their energy efficiency, and discover how our U.S. Green Building Council Platinum LEED® certified building mimics those adaptations. An optional third lesson is available to take a closer look at the consequences that human decisions regarding energy have on our local and global environment, and the available remedies.

Made possible by leadership support from The Louis Calder Foundation.

Sessions 1 & 2: $300 per class

Session 3: $150 per class

Water: Round & Round It Goes 

3-session program

Bring your students on a journey of discovery focusing on the vital importance of water and how environments—either natural or man-made—offer ecological and economic services that clean water and slow down and absorb storm water. This three-part program provides an overview of NYC’s watershed, reviews the scientific method, and offers an experiment for set-up in your classroom. Students learn about the water cycle, the interdependence of living things in the non-living environment, and the consequences of human activity. Students visit the Garden twice for hands-on experiences in QBG’s U.S. Green Building Council Platinum LEED® certified building and associated landscapes and participate in activities that solidify the learning goals of the program.

Made possible by leadership support from The Louis Calder Foundation.

$450 per class

Tours

Guided Tours

To help you get the most out of your visit, QBG instructors are available to guide tours for classes Pre-K and up through garden exhibits that provide unique learning opportunities. Seasonal displays, which vary from year to year, provide a showcase of environmental, botanical, and cultural themes. Our permanent gardens include the Bee Garden with working hives, as well as the Woodland, Herb, Perennial, and Wetland Gardens. Tours of our Visitor & Administration Building (LEED® Platinum certified by the U.S. Green Building Council) are also available. Teachers may request a customized tour related to the subject area being investigated in the classroom.  $125 per tour

Self Guided Tours

Self Guided Tours offer an excellent opportunity for groups to explore Queens Botanical Garden at their own pace and investigate the specific exhibit areas that compliment their classroom studies. To enrich the experience, a map and suggested activities will be provided with pre-trip information. As an added value, the QBG Field Guide is also available at a discounted rate of $5. Self Guided Tours are available Tuesdays through Fridays with advanced registration; pre-payment is required.                $30 per tour + $5 per field guide (optional)

Special Programs

Urban Advantage

QBG is one of eight partner institutions in the Urban Advantage middle school science exit project initiative—a standards-based science education initiative that utilizes the extraordinary resources of New York City’s science-rich cultural institutions to support learning of science for the city’s public middle school students. For more information, go to: www.urbanadvantagenyc.org

Professional Development

Queens Botanical Garden is committed to serving as a resource for area schoolteachers. Education staff is available to provide inquiry-based workshops tailored to your school or regional professional development goals. QBG teacher training workshops provide an opportunity for educators to integrate outdoor experiences into their classroom curriculum. Please call 718.886.3800 ext. 371 to discuss your professional development goals and to tailor any one of QBG’s current program themes into an exciting training experience. Our Professional Development roster includes:

• P Credit Course: Botany, Ecology and Sustainability

Schools and school district offerings include:

• • Classroom Extensions into the Garden and Garden Extensions into the Classroom
• • Observations with Plants — How Do Scientists Think?
• • Exciting and Easy Classroom Gardening
• • The Waste Stream
• • Customized Workshops

General Workshop Information

Maximum class size is limited to 30 students. Special Education class size is limited to 15 students. Workshops and Guided Tours are offered Mondays through Fridays. Self Guided Tours are available Tuesdays through Fridays.

Workshop fees include one adult chaperone per 5 students for Pre-K classes, and one adult per 10 students for grades K and above. This does not apply to Special Education classes.

A maximum of 5 additional chaperones may accompany a class for an additional fee of $10 per person.

Workshops start promptly and are approximately 1-1/2 hours. Guided tours are one (1) hour. Classes arriving late will receive a shortened program that will end at the originally scheduled time. Groups arriving more than 30 minutes late for their scheduled program will be cancelled. Refunds are not available.

Registering for School Programs

Advance registration and pre-payment are required for all programs. To register call 718.886.3800 ext. 230 or email schoolprograms@queensbotanical.org.

Payment

Payment may be made by DOE Purchase Order, check or money order made payable to Queens Botanical Garden. Please mail your payment to:

Queens Botanical Garden 

 Education Department

43-50 Main Street

Flushing, NY 11355

Payment is due upon receipt; if payment is not received by the invoice due date, Queens Botanical Garden reserves the right to cancel the program. Separate registration is required for each class. We cannot accommodate groups of students combined from different classes.

Once your payment is received, an email confirmation will be sent that includes a website link to access pre-trip information and other details on your visit.

Please note that the confirmation you receive via email is your only invoice for your registration. Because of the large volume of registrations we receive, we are unable to make reminder calls; a scheduled visit is not confirmed until payment is received.

Queens Botanical Garden reserves the right to refuse registrations for any reason.

Postponements and Cancellations

Please call us as soon as possible if you must cancel your trip. Notice of cancellations 30 days or more in advance of trip date will receive a full refund. Cancellations received with more than 5 business days and up to 30 days from booked trip will be charged a $30.00 processing fee. There are NO refunds issued for cancellations received within 5 business days of booked trip or for any missed classes. Questions? Contact schoolprograms@queensbotanical.org or 718-886-3800 ext. 230.

All workshops run rain or shine. QBG reserves the right to postpone workshops and programs, and will work with classes to reschedule.

Arrival at the Garden

The Garden’s main entrance is located at 43-50 Main Street. Buses MUST drop off students in the Parking Garden bus loop located at 42-80 Crommelin Street (see map for details). Buses MUST drop off students in the Parking Garden bus loop, but we are not able to accommodate bus parking. Car parking is available for a fee.

Instructors will meet classes scheduled for Workshops and Guided Tours in the Parking Garden. If you are here for a tour, please make arrangements with your bus driver to return immediately to the Garden in case of sudden shower or weather change. There are no indoor facilities for tour groups.

Restrooms are located in the Visitor & Administration Building. Please allow time before and after your program for restroom use.

QBG does not have an indoor lunch facility or any food for purchase on site. Weather permitting, groups are welcome to picnic in the Arboretum. If you plan to picnic, it is recommended that you have an alternate plan in case of inclement weather.

Late Arrival Policy

Classes arriving late will receive a shortened program that will end at the originally scheduled time. Groups arriving more than 30 minutes late for their scheduled program will be cancelled. Refunds are not available.

Garden Rules

Visitor safety is our top priority. Teachers and chaperones are responsible for students and should supervise classes at all times. Children must stay with their group and are expected to observe all Garden regulations. They may leave the group only with chaperone supervision. During class time, we ask that all cell phones be turned off. The following are strictly prohibited: radios, ball playing, picking flowers or plants, climbing trees, stepping or walking in garden beds, feeding wildlife, littering.

Copyright 2006 Queens Botanical Garden | 43-50 Main Street, Flushing, NY 11355