A few years ago I produced a number of blogs addressing this idea and illustrated it by visiting a range of places from a peregrine observatory run by the RSPB to Benjamin Franklin’s House in London to the homes of Gilbert White and Charles Darwin. All these and more are available to view in the Archive of Science Education Ideas.
Now I plan to produce a few more blogs with this idea in mind and start with this one which features a visit to the Durham University Botanic Garden. Many people ignore plants as they go about their daily lives even though they are all around. Look at this picture:
I guess your eyes will be drawn to the two people in the distance without thinking about the trees in the foreground. A botanic garden will really help you focus on plants as the following pictures show.
While there are greenhouses you may find in parks, in a botanic garden you may find
one simulating a tropical rainforest which may suddenly drop a cloud of rain and mist on you
a greenhouse may have pools of tropical water plants
and another may be simulating a desert.
There are many places in a botanical garden that simulate a patch on the planet. Here is one simulating a mountain top.
Which brings me to the “patch on the planet” features in the Archive where you can see short drone videos of a local patch through the seasons to see how the plants change.
If you are taking children to a botanical garden why not follow it up with one of the many plant books available to help them learn more such as my Curiosity Box Plants, Ways into Science All About Plants or Step into Science Plants which is featured on the home page of this website.
There are over seventy botanic gardens in the UK for you to visit but you could start by looking more closely at the plants around you and especially in your local park as science really is nearer than you think.
