Homeschool Learning at the Botanic Garden of Sydney

Exciting Learning Adventures Await Your Home Schoolers at the Botanic Garden of Sydney!  

Students will embark on discovery walks to explore the garden's uses, features and inhabitants as well as discover how the Gadigal people use native plants for a range of purposes. Engage in mapping, design technology, art and experiment activities to develop observation and recording skills. Document features of a place and participate in hands-on activities in the Yellow Wood while deepening your understanding of the Gadigal peoples connection to Country, culture and community. 

This program is designed for K-12 with three concurrent programs for students learning at lower primary, upper primary and high school levels.

Please note: Children must be supervised by a responsible adult on the day.

While there is flexibility to book students into any of the programs, parents/carers are required to provide supervision for all students at all times. The three groups will be working in different parts of the garden across the day. We strongly recommend arranging supervision for your child/children before the day of the program.

Activities include:

Primary K-2
Morning:

• Students will go on a Gardens discovery walk, to learn about the ways the Garden is used, the features of the place and what creatures call it home.
• They will complete an ephemeral mapping exercise to map the features they have observed. 
• Then get their hands dirty in the Yellow Wood garden, learning about sustainable gardening practices and planting seeds to take home.

Afternoon:

• Students will examine a wide variety of local native plants within the Cadi Jam Ora garden which were integral in the life of the First Nations people for food, medicine, tools and weapons.
• They will deepen their understanding of the Gadigal peoples connection to Country, culture and community. 
  
  

Primary 3-6
Morning:

• Students will learn about First Nations ways of interacting with the environment, using sustainable management practices that are thousands of years old.
• They will investigate how natural resources are sourced, selected and used for food, medicine, tools and weapons. 

Afternoon:

• Students will explore plant life cycles on a guided walk through the Garden and discover how scientists classify plants.
• They will conduct a hands on scientific investigation into whether specific Australian plants need fire and smoke to complete their lifecycles, including planting seeds to take back to school to complete the investigation. 
• Using problem solving skills, and teamwork, students will be challenged to design a simple rainwater harvesting system.
  

Secondary
Morning:

• Students will observe features of some Australian plants are adaptations for survival in their environment.
• They will research how the knowledge of physical properties of natural materials is used by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in everyday life.

Afternoon:

• Through visual arts, close observation, mindfulness and art making, students explore ideas about their relationship to the natural world and learn about the benefits of connection to the natural environment.
  
  

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