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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

• 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.
• Youth & Family Programs: Programs for young children with their parents or guardian, from Strollerobics on the Garden grounds, to Little Sprouts for 2-3 year olds, Garden Buds for 4-5 year olds, Garden Kids for 6-8 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.
• 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.

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 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 adjacent to the Missouri Botanical Garden, in which teacher professional development workshops and coaching are provided in inquiry-based education techniques.
• 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.

• Ecology Institutes for Teachers: Training and field practicum strengthen plant, ecology, and environmental science knowledge, as well as, teaching skills.
• 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.
• Summer Workshops: Week and 2-week long courses in plants, ecology, and environmental issues that integrate technology into environmental studies and inquiry-based teaching methods for elementary and secondary school teachers.

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.

DORIS I. SCHNUCK CHILDREN’S GARDEN:

• Germination Stations: Located throughout the Children’s Garden, these educator-led stations are meant to plant seeds of knowledge and encourage growing minds through games and hands-on learning.
• Great Green Adventures: Fun and educational drop-in family programming.

INTERPRETATION AND EXHIBITS for Garden Visitors

• Germination Stations: Adult and student volunteers greet visitors on the Garden grounds and engage children and parents in hands-on explorations. Cart topics change seasonally and have
• included the Rain Forest, Camouflage, Japanese Garden, Carver Garden, Amphibians, and Invasive Species.
• Tower Grove House: Staff and volunteers greet visitors at Garden founder Henry Shaw’s home.
• Walking Tours: Daily public guided tours of Garden collections.

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, 150 years after opening, the Missouri Botanical Garden is a National Historic Landmark and a center for science and conservation, education and horticultural display.

1/2/2009