 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
||||||||||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
||||||||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|||||||||||||||
|
Staff-Led and Self-Guided School Tours Bring education to life at Franklin Park Conservatory! Exotic plant collections and special exhibitions provide a fun and exciting link to learning and Academic Content Standards.
School Tour Descriptions (click on a title for full description)
What happens on a staff-guided Conservatory school tour? Guided school tours take place on foot throughout the Conservatory's plant collections with a focus on the tour you have chosen.*(See Pre-school and Kindergarten exception below.)
* Pre-school and Kindergarten school tours take place in a classroom for 30 minutes and include a story and activity. Groups are then escorted to the tour entrance where they take a self-guided tour through the plant collections. What happens on a self-guided Conservatory school tour? Tour the World of Plants
Click here to download Tour the World of Plants (Adobe PDF, 14MB) or call 614.645.5923. To download activity sheets for grades K - 2, click here (Microsoft PowerPoint presentation, 4MB) Click here to download a free PowerPoint Viewer from Microsoft.
Staff-Guided School Tours: Rates: (subject to change)
Self-Guided Tours: Groups of 10 or more receive a group discount rate by reserving their visit in advance. Rates: (subject to change)
Registrations are accepted by mail or fax only and are processed in the order in which they are received.
Download a complete brochure here (Adobe PDF, 3MB). Complete the registration form by choosing either a staff-guided school tour or a self-guided school tour. If you have chosen a staff-guided school tour, be sure to choose which topic you desire for your tour. Please make a copy for your records. Mail or fax the completed registration form(s) to: Once your registration is processed, an invoice will be mailed or faxed to your school detailing your itinerary and amount due. This serves as confirmation of your visit. Payment can be made on day of arrival by check; MasterCard, American Express, or Visa; or through a purchase order. Cash payment is discouraged, as it will hold up your group. If paying by cash, please present large bills. All monies should be collected prior to your visit (including those for accompanying adults) and presented to the ticket desk by the school tour coordinator. Frequently asked questions What do we do while we're waiting for our tour, or while we're waiting for the other people in our group to finish their tour? You can do any of the following:
We ask that you do not go through the plant collections. That is where your school tour takes place, and other groups are trying to walk through with their guides. On most days, it is quite busy. Do you have any pre- or post-tour activities I can do with my class? All programs have pre- and post-tour activities to help prepare your class and provide follow-up. You can access them on our web site. Can we bring our lunches? Yes. Please consolidate lunches in boxes with school name clearly visible. Limited space is available inside the Palm House or in the classrooms and must be reserved in advance. It is picnic style seating on the floor - no tables or chairs are available. Arrangements can be made for special needs students. During nice weather, many people choose to eat outside in the park on blankets or in the park's shelter house at picnic tables. How long are the guided school tours? The guided tours are approximately one hour long. Your Conservatory guide leads you through the first three rooms and through the Education corridor. You are free to explore the last room, the Pacific Islands, on your own. My school requires purchase orders - is that OK? Yes. We accept purchase orders. Please bring it with you on the day of your tour so that we can attach the invoice and mail it in. Yes. You will see everything currently on view while you are on your school tour. Exhibitions are located throughout the plant collections and in the Atrium and Palm House. The only exception occurs when there is a special event scheduled for the Palm House, in which case visitors are asked to be respectful of the event (i.e., weddings, corporate meetings). Rentals of the Palm House are a major source of income for the Conservatory and they allow us to bring in special exhibitions. Staff-Guided School Tours Habitat Adventure
Download a complete brochure here (Abode PDF, 3MB). Botany Basics After a review of plant parts and their functions, take a journey through amazing plants from around the world. Compare the life cycles of flowering and non-flowering plants, and explore the specialized parts that help plants survive in temperate mountain, tropical rainforest and desert climates. Learn about the symbiotic relationships formed between plants and animals, and see prehistoric plants in the Pacific Islands. Download a complete brochure here (Adobe PDF, 3MB). Plants and the Environment As the first organisms to colonize dry land, plants display an amazing array of structural adaptations. Travel through each of the biomes in the Conservatory to learn about individual plants and how they interact with biotic and abiotic components of each environment. A great introduction to a unit on plants, or to deepen knowledge for AP classes. Download a complete brochure here (Adobe PDF, 3MB). Blooms & Butterflies Discover how butterflies use plants to meet their needs at every life stage and make observations about the perfect butterfly habitat. Learn about their specialized body parts and marvel at the tricks they use to escape predation. See butterflies emerging from their chrysalides and watch live butterflies in our Pacific Island room. Download a complete brochure here (Adobe PDF, 3MB). Enchanted Express All Aboard! Take a ride on your imagination in a garden railway exhibition by award winning designer Paul Busse. Let model trains lead you through scenes of ancient architectural wonders of the world crafed entirely from natural materials, and learn about the plants that helped early civilizations thrive. Discover the secret of tea along the Great Wall of China, learn why the Maya are called the People of Corn at Tikal, and decipher a papyrus scroll in ancient Egypt. Before or after your tour, visit Rapunzel, the Three Little Pigs and other favorite characters in the story book garden. Choose Your Field Trip Focus
Language Art Field Trips tour the exhibition with a focus on gathering information and ideas for writing that can be developed back in the classroom. Students will:
Download a complete brochure here (Adobe PDF, 3MB). PRESCHOOL & KINDERGARTEN PROGRAMS These programs are designed for ages 4-6 using Academic Content Standards in Earth & Space Sciences, Life Sciences, and Visual Arts. Each program is 30 minutes long and includes a story and activity. Groups are then escorted to the tour entrance, where they take a self-guided tour of the Conservatory.Download a complete brochure here (Adobe PDF, 3MB). |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Self-guided tours are encouraged to stagger their groups in 15-minute intervals to maintain a comfortable flow through the exhibitions. No materials are provided for self-guided groups, although teachers are encouraged to use our online lesson plans and our 
Review the basic needs of plants and animals. Compare and contrast how plants adapt to a variety of climates including temperate mountains, tropical rainforests and deserts. Discuss food chains and think about the variety of ways that energy moves through an ecosystem. View live blue and gold macaws in the rainforest and make guesses about how they help the ecosystem thrive.