Schools and Outreach

All Clarke County School pre-K students visit the garden each year through the Experience UGA program.

Education at the garden enriches the curricula of schools across the state of Georgia. The garden conducts instructional field trips that address state standards, lends materials for self-guided children’s programs, provides resources and programming for science nights, and hosts various seasonal activities with an environmental focus.

Contact our Education Department at 706-583-0894 or sbgeduc@uga.edu.

Field Trips

Field trip programs are available September through May on Tuesday through Friday mornings. All field trips are correlated to the Georgia Performance Standards and include sensory-filled and hands-on activities to guide learners through our gardens, collections and natural areas. Field trips are available for schools and homeschool groups.

We currently offer eight field trips to choose from, tailored to students in pre-K through 12th grade. Programs accommodate between 30-100 students at a time and range from 1.5-2 hours. There is a minimum of $100 per field trip, and all teachers, parents and chaperones attend for free.

For more information about field trips, click here.

Adventure Packs

The Garden Adventure Packs provide self-guided field trip options for youth leaders, home school groups, families and friends. Each pack contains maps and supplies for hands-on science activities, plant hunts and forest explorations to be completed in different areas of the garden. Bring your students or family to enjoy activities and games that introduce you to our shared earth at your own pace.

Poster Contest: Give Wildlife a Chance

Each year, the State Botanical Garden co-sponsors a poster contest with the Wildlife Conservation Section of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources. The contest provides an opportunity for teachers to introduce their students to Georgia’s native plants and animals. Any student in grade K-5 enrolled in a public, private or homeschool association is eligible to participate.

Posters must highlight nongame wildlife (species not hunted or fished for) and/or native plants that live in Georgia. Artwork is judged at the local school level in four divisions: kindergarten, first and second grades, third and fourth grade and fifth grade. Teachers then electronically submit the first-place winning artwork from each age division to the garden for entry in the state-level competition. Updated rules, guidelines and entry deadlines are posted online every fall.

For more information, click here.

Teacher Resources