Get Growing
Investigate plant life cycles with hands-on activities in the Garden.
Stage 1
Science
2 hours
Visitor Centre, Blue Mountains Botanic Garden Mount Tomah
Minimum charges apply. Discounts apply for full day programs!
What makes a plant a plant? How do they grow and change, and what do they need to thrive?
Students discover this and more as they explore the Garden, plant their own seed to take home, and meet a garden expert.
Students will
- Embark on a ‘plant features’ walk led by a Botanic Garden educator.
- Plant a seed to take home and grow, act out its life cycle and have fun playing the ‘Plant Needs’ game.
- Meet one of the Garden’s expert horticulture staff and find out how they care for plants.
Key content
- Describing the external features of a variety of plants they find in the Garden, e.g. leaves, stems, flowers, fruits.
- Exploring how a plant grows, changes, and has offspring similar to itself, e.g. acting out a plant’s life cycle through embodiment.
- Learning about the specific environment a plant needs to thrive, e.g. light, air, water, nutrients, soil.
- Discovering how a local environment can be improved to help plants grow, e.g. Q&A with a horticulturalist.
Links to New South Wales curriculum
Focus Syllabus Outcomes
Science - Living Worlds
- Describes observable features of living things and their environments (ST1-4LW-S)
Supported Syllabus Outcomes
Science - Working Scientifically
- Observes, questions and collects data to communicate and compare ideas (ST1-1WS-S)
Explore how a plant grows, changes, and has offspring similar to itself.
Related excursions
Experience the Garden and its fascinating nightlife on this adventure by torchlight.
Learn how First Nations People’s concept of time and seasons is circular and explain how things happen in the world around them.
Students will investigate a wide variety of local native plants that are integral in the life of First Nations peoples.