GUIDED FIELD TRIPS

New England Botanic Garden at Tower Hill offers a wide range of educational programs to engage children of all ages in hands-on, minds-on outdoor learning. From gardens to trails, there is so much to discover in our outdoor classroom. Whether you are a school, youth, or homeschool group, your visit to New England Botanic Garden will be memorable, educational, and fun! All programs are 90 minutes in length and are designed to align with Massachusetts Science and Technology/Engineering and Next Generation Science curriculum standards. Programs are offered year-round, coordinate your visit to align with your yearly curriculum plan.

Can’t visit us in Boylston? Check out our traveling program offerings to bring the magic of New England Botanic Garden to your classroom or youth organization.

Interested in booking a self-guided visit with your students? Check out our self-guided field trip program and learn more about the interactive resources we provide for students.

PRICING
The fee for guided school and youth group programs is $14 per child and includes the cost of admission unless otherwise noted. We are able to accommodate groups of up to 90 per guided session. Groups that are larger are welcome to split across multiple days and morning and afternoon sessions. Minimum group size is 10 students. One chaperone for every 5 students is admitted free of charge. Additional chaperones pay the group admission rate of $21. Please note, coupons, member benefits, and free admissions do not apply to group visits.

RESERVATIONS
To schedule a group program, please fill out this form or email youtheducation@nebg.org. We recommend you book your program at least one month in advance for the fall and 6 months in advance for the spring. Field trips are offered between the hours of 9am and 5pm. Download our Planning Your Visit Guide and Garden Map to prepare for your visit.

PROGRAM OFFERINGS

PRESCHOOL

Wonder Walk
Join us for an extraordinary garden adventure that follows your students’ curiosity. Together we will learn about local plants and animals and become budding scientists as we sing, play, and discover the wonders of nature.
*60 minutes, $11 per student
Standards PreK-ESS2-1, PreK-ESS2-5, PreK-LS1-1, PreK-LS1-3, PreK-LS2-2, PreK-LS2-3

GRADES K-1

Seasons in Nature
Learn how plants and animals change throughout the seasons and explore the weather and climate of New England. Together we will investigate how plants and animals prepare for the seasons and uncover the secrets to plant and animal survival through hands-on investigation and data collection.
Standards K-LS1-1, K-LS1-2, K-ESS2-1, K-ESS3-2, 1-ESS1-2
Educator Guide

Budding Botanists
Explore the world of botany as we study plants and their parts to understand how they grow and survive. We will study plants of all shapes and sizes and learn how they are similar and different while observing different species in the gardens and on the trails. Students will become budding botanists as they set up a growing experiment to care for and observe in the classroom.
Standards K-LS1-1, K-LS1-2, 1-LS1-1, 1-LS3-1
Educator Guide

Incredible Insects
Join us as we explore the incredible world of insects and learn about the relationship they have with plants. Uncover what makes an insect an insect, learn about some amazing insect adaptations, and more as we search for resident species throughout our gardens and trails.
*Not offered November through March
Standards K-LS1-1, K-LS1-2, 1-LS1-1, 1-LS1-2, 1-LS3-1
Educator Guide

GRADE 2

Ecosystem Explorations
Join us as we explore different habitats in search of local plant and animal species. We will investigate how living and non-living things interact within an ecosystem and learn what these organisms need to survive. Students will collect data to observe and define these relationships in a forest, meadow, aquatic, and garden habitat.
Standards 2-LS2-3, 2-LS4-1, 3-LS4-3, 3-LS4-4
Educator Guide

GRADES 3-4

Blooming Botanists
Explore the world of botany as we study plant life cycles and learn how they grow, reproduce, and survive. We will study plants of all shapes and sizes and learn how they have inherited character traits and traits influenced by the environment. Students will become botanists as they dissect flowering plants and practice the art of botanic illustration.
Standards 3-LS1-1, 3-LS3-1, 3-LS3-2, 4-LS1-1
Educator Guide

Amazing Adaptations
What is an adaptation? How do our local plants and animals survive in different environments? How do plants and animals depend on each other for survival? We will answer these questions and more as we search for evidence that different species flourish in some habitats and not others. Students will compare the diversity of plant life across habitats and uncover the amazing adaptations that aid in survival.
Standards 3-LS3-1, 3-LS4-2, 3-LS4-3, 3-LS4-5, 4-LS1-1
Educator Guide

GRADE 5

Be a Botanist
Explore the world of botany as we learn how plants harness energy from the sun to create food for themselves through the process of photosynthesis. Students will investigate the interconnectedness of an ecosystem as we learn about food chains and the movement of matter. We will explore different habitats as we observe and identify producers, consumers, and decomposers.
Standards 5-LS1-1, 5-LS2-1
Educator Guide

Garden Heroes
Help save the Earth! Explore how humans impact the environment and how we can make a difference. We will learn how carbon moves around our Earth and how plants fight back using photosynthesis. Students will participate in a hands-on gardening activity in the Climate Garden as they learn about sustainable gardening practices.
*Only available May-June & Sept-Oct, Maximum group size of 45 students/day
Standards 5-LS1-1, 5-ESS3-1
Educator Guide

GRADES 6–8

Adaptation Fascinations
Join us as we explore the trails and gardens in search of local flora and fauna. Together we will explore the amazing adaptations that increase a plant’s chance of survival and reproduction as well as the various symbiotic relationships these adaptations support and create. Students will discover and categorize these relationships in a forest, pond, meadow, and cultivated garden habitat.
Standards 7MS-LS1-4, 7MS-LS2-2, 7MS-LS2-3, 8MS-LS1-5, 8MS-LS1-7
Educator Guide

Terrific Terrariums
Learn the basics of succulent care by getting your hands dirty and creating your own miniature terrarium. Discover how these plants are adapted to their environments and practice scientific observation by getting up close and personal with unique cacti and succulent species. Get creative and use rock, sea glass, moss, and more to decorate your terrarium.
*Maximum group size of 40/day ; $25 per student  
Standards 7MS-LS1-4, 8MS-LS1-5

GRADES 9–12

Adaptive Ecosystems
Explore the Garden’s ecosystem as we investigate native and invasive species and their relationships with one another. Follow the transfer of energy through the trophic levels and learn how biotic and abiotic factors can influence an ecosystem’s biodiversity and carrying capacity. Students will also investigate the impact of human activities on our environment and explore strategies to mitigate this impact.
Standards HS-LS2-1, HS-LS2-4, HS-LS2-7, HS-ESSE-3, HS-ESSE-1
Educator Guide

ALL GRADES

Trail Detectives
Join us for guided hands-on exploration of New England Botanic Garden’s trails and gardens. Become a scientist as we learn how to make observations of the natural world, study local plant and animal species, and explore some of the different habitats the Garden has to offer.

ACCESSIBILITY
If you have any students with special needs or groups of ELL students, it is helpful for us to know ahead of time so we can provide the best possible experience. We have wheelchairs on site if needed. We also have Spanish, Portuguese, and French field notebooks available if requested in advance.

Click here to view our Guided Field Trip Social Narrative. This social narrative PowerPoint provides a visual narrative that describes what your students should expect on their field trip to help navigate this new environment. It includes photos of garden locations, expected behaviors and rules, signage, etc.

CANCELATION POLICY
Please contact youtheducation@nebg.org or call 508.869.6111 ext. 132, as soon as possible if you would like to postpone, reschedule, or cancel your program. A full refund will be made if the cancellation is requested at least two weeks before the date of the program. Cancelations less than two weeks before the program date will forfeit the program fee (exceptions will be made if the cancelation is mutually agreed upon or due to extreme weather).

QUESTIONS?
Please contact the Manager of Youth Education at youtheducation@nebg.org.

BARBARA’S BUS PROGRAM
Thanks to generous support from the Barbara’s Bus Program Fund, New England Botanic Garden is proud to offer FREE transportation to the Garden for Title 1 schools participating in a guided program as funds are available. To learn more contact us at youtheducation@nebg.org

Barbara’s Bus is generously sponsored in part by: