Botany Lab

Plants provide the Earth with the basic needs for all life – but they need our help.

Investigate plant species near you, then create sketches and shadings to compare their traits. Learn about flora-based conservation by identifying which are native, invasive and exotic while also understanding what that means for both ecosystem management and home owners.

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Reserve This Program

Fill out our form to begin your reservation. Lab experiences last 60 minutes. Each session accommodates up to 30 individuals. Experiences are primarily offered during core hours of 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Virtual

  • Offered Monday–Friday
  • Requires a strong internet connection
  • $250 for first virtual lab; 10% each additional virtual lab of the same theme on the same day

In-Person

  • Primarily offered on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays
  • Hosted at your site; requires a classroom, library or other quiet setting
  • $300 for first in-person lab; 10% off each additional lab of the same theme on the same day

Requests for alternate days or times will be considered. Within 48 hours after you submit your request, an Education Outreach team member will contact you to discuss your proposed itinerary. Once everything is reviewed and set, the invoice will be sent.

Alignments

Check out how our program aligns to Florida Department of Education and Scout benchmarks:

  • K - 2

    Kindergarten

    • SC.K.L.14.3: Observe plants and animals, describe how they are alike and how they are different in the way they look and in the things they do.
    • SC.K.L.14.1: Recognize the five senses and related body parts.
    • SC.K.N.1.2: Make observations of the natural world and know that they are descriptors collected using the five sense.

    1st Grade 

    • SC.1.N.1.1: Raise questions about the natural world, investigate them in teams through free exploration, and generate appropriate explanations based on those explorations.
    • SC.1.L.17.1: Through observation, recognize that all plants and animals, including humans, need the basic necessities of air, water, food, and space.
    • SC.1.L.14.1: Make observations of living things and their environment using the five senses.

    2nd Grade

    • SC.2.N.1.1: Raise questions about the natural world, investigate them in teams through free exploration and systematic observations, and generate appropriate explanations based on those explorations.
    • SC.2.L.17.1: Compare and contrast the basic needs that all living things, including humans, have for survival.
    • SC.2.L.17.2: Recognize and explain that living things are found all over Earth, but each is only able to live in habitats that meet its basic needs.
  • 3 - 5

    3rd Grade

    • SC.3.N.1.1: Raise questions about the natural world, investigate them individually and in teams through free exploration and systematic investigations, and generate appropriate explanations based on those explorations.
    • SC.3.L.17.1: Describe how animals and plants respond to changing seasons.
    • SC.3.L.15.1: Classify animals into major groups (mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, fish, arthropods, vertebrates and invertebrates, those having live births and those which lay eggs) according to their physical characteristics and behavior.

     

    4th Grade

    • SC.4.N.1.1: Raise questions about the natural world, use appropriate reference materials that support understanding to obtain information (identifying the source), conduct both individual and team investigations through free exploration and systematic investigations, and generate appropriate explanations based on those explorations.
    • SC.4.L.17.4: Recognize ways plants and animals, including humans, can impact the environment.
    • SC.4.N.1.8: Recognize that science involves creativity in designing experiments.

     

    5th Grade

    • SC.5.N.1.2: Explain the difference between an experiment and other types of scientific investigation.
    • SC.5.L.17.1: Compare and contrast adaptations displayed by animals and plants that enable them to survive in different environments such as life cycles variations, animal behaviors and physical characteristics.
    • SC.5.L.15.1: Describe how, when the environment changes, differences between individuals allow some plants and animals to survive and reproduce while others die or move to new locations. B. Individuals of the same kind often differ in their characteristics and sometimes the differences give individuals an advantage in surviving and reproducing.
  • 6 - 8

    6th Grade

    • SC.6.N.1.3: Explain the difference between an experiment and other types of scientific investigation, and explain the relative benefits and limitations of each.
    • SC.6.N.2.2: Explain that scientific knowledge is durable because it is open to change as new evidence or interpretations are encountered.
    • SC.6.L.15.1: Analyze and describe how and why organisms are classified according to shared characteristics with emphasis on the Linnaean system combined with the concept of Domains.


    7th Grade

    • SC.7.N.1.5: Describe the methods used in the pursuit of a scientific explanation as seen in different fields of science such as biology, geology, and physics.
    • SC.7.N.1.6: Explain that empirical evidence is the cumulative body of observations of a natural phenomenon on which scientific explanations are based.
    • SC.7.L.17.3: Describe and investigate various limiting factors in the local ecosystem and their impact on native populations, including food, shelter, water, space, disease, parasitism, predation, and nesting sites.

     

    8th Grade

    • SC.8.N.1.5: Design and conduct a study using repeated trials and replication.
    • SC.8.N.1.6: Understand that scientific investigations involve the collection of relevant empirical evidence, the use of logical reasoning, and the application of imagination in devising hypotheses, predictions, explanations and models to make sense of the collected evidence.
    • SC.8.N.4.2: Explain how political, social, and economic concerns can affect science, and vice versa.
  • 9 - 12

    This program is generally offered for K - 8 audiences. If you'd like to reserve it for high school level participants, please contact the Education Outreach team and share your focused area of study so that we can upscale the epxerience based on your needs.

     

  • Girl Scout Badges and Patches
    Eco Learner (Daisy/Brownie)
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More to Explore

Want to get more from your adventures?

Combine labs, demos and field trips to reinforce learning and fun.

  • Aquarius Journey: Connect to Protect – Take the conservation journey underwater with a biology lab that features Mission Inspire curriculum and focuses on the importance of marine protected areas to global health.
  • Tech to Protect – Join research expeditions and field work in a technology lab that examines different types of camera rigs used in biodiversity science while giving you the chance to troubleshoot and make your own.
  • Explore Your Backyard – At the FIU Biscayne Bay Campus, head into the mangrove forest to learn about three different varieties that dominate the South Florida ecological landscape.