The Botanic Garden is a living textbook for students and scientists studying plants. Research has been happening here since 1846. Come and discover some of the incredible plant families we have in the Garden, as well as how and why we group them as families.
Take a walk through the history of plant life on earth, meeting plants that were around at the time of the dinosaurs and find out about the explosion in different plant life forms since then.
This workshop is particularly linked to the curriculum in Year 6. If you are looking for a workshop covering classification for Year 4 we recommend Plant Families.
Children will
- Sort plants into groups based on their characteristics
- Find out why plants are classified into groups
- Understand the timeline of plant evolution
- Discover how plants have evolved with their pollinators
- Visit the Garden’s plant family beds
- Hear about how the Botanic Garden was designed as a living textbook for studying plants by scientists
Curriculum links
This workshop supports the following sections of the Year 6 curriculum:
Science
- Sc6/2.1a describe how living things are classified into broad groups according to common observable characteristics and based on similarities and differences, including micro-organisms, plants and animals
- Sc6/2.1b give reasons for classifying plants and animals based on specific characteristics.
- Sc6/2.3a recognise that living things have changed over time and that fossils provide information about living things that inhabited the Earth millions of years ago
- Sc6/2.3c identify how animals and plants are adapted to suit their environment in different ways and that adaptation may lead to evolution.
- Working Scientifically
Complimentary self-led activities
If you are looking for ideas of activities to self-lead in the Garden after your workshop ends, we recommend:
