Bring your students to experience hands-on learning and connect with nature through our free Discovery Field Trips at Birmingham Botanical Gardens. All field trips extend the life science concepts that you teach in your classroom. Curriculum based, they correlate with the Alabama State Course of Study and are aligned with the National Science Education Standards. For Kindergarten-6th grades Monday-Friday 9:30 a.m. Each field trip is one hour and is designed for approximately 25 students. You may bring two classes, or up to 50 students. Each half will spend one hour on a field trip and one hour exploring The Gardens with our instructional scavenger hunt.

The Secret Life of Trees (September-November & January-May)

  • Kindergarten
  • Discover the life cycle of a tree and earn a tree detective badge.
  • Count annual growth rings on "tree cookies".
  • Compare tree bark and leaf shapes.
  • Investigate a fallen log.

Alabama Woodlands (October-November & March-May)

  • 1st-6th grades
  • Discover how animals need plants as well as ways woodland plants depend on animals: interdependence!
  • Search the Barber Alabama Woodlands and find evidence of all kinds of creatures who live there.

Native American (October-November & March-May)

  • 1st-6th grades
  • Identify varieties of plants used by Native Americans for food, medicine, ceremonies, travel, and shelters.
  • Observe different farming methods used by Native Americans including a Three Sisters Garden.
  • Photograph your students in an Indian dugout canoe.

Dr. George Washington Carver (September-November)

  • 1st-6th grades
  • Examine Dr. Carver's life and his unique contributions to science.
  • Simulate the nitrogen cycle through an interactive game.
  • Harvest peanuts, sweet potatoes and cotton in The Gardens to take back to class.
  • Identify edible plants.

Garden Gates Workshop (January-February)

  • 3rd-5th grades
  • Enhances the science curriculum for 3rd-5th grade students.
  • Students identify basic parts of a plant and their functions: roots, stems, leaves and flowers.
  • Students pot a 3-cell pack using different propagation methods: seed, cutting, and division.
  • Every teacher plants a paper-white bulb for the class to grow.

Tropical Rain Forest (March-May)

  • 1st-6th grades
  • Explore our Conservatory and discover plants from which we get chocolate, coffee, lemons, and bananas, to name a few!
  • Find and describe six different plant adaptations for survival in a tropical rain forest.

Reserve your Discovery Field Trip at least TWO WEEKS in advance. Contact 205.414.3953 to schedule your field trip. Or, click here to request a field trip.

This is only a request; you will be contacted by our staff to confirm your field trip. Birmingham City Schools: Save your bus receipt! The Junior League of Birmingham will fund bus transportation for 2 classes, or 50 children, for Birmingham Botanical Gardens' field trips.

Teacher Links

  • The Gardens' Discovery Field Trip Objectives
  • The Gardens' Library Teacher Resources
  • Tuskegee Univeristy: Carver Tribute

What teachers are saying about our Discovery Field Trips
100% of responding teachers say they would recommend our field trips to others!

  • "Hands-on, very interactive, students involved, children were interested in all activities."
    "Relates to Alabama Course of Study."
    "Subject matter matched class work."
    "Excellent to teach science objectives."
    "Aligns with our curriculum."
    "Developmentally appropriate."
    "Excellent: right on grade level, great outdoor science lesson."
    "Well organized."
    "Docents excellent, exciting and motivating to children."
    "Every child should have this experience."