Home School Learning at the Australian Botanic Garden

Join Us in Nature’s Classroom — Where Curiosity Leads, Connections Deepen, and Learning Comes Alive at the Australian Botanic Gardens!

This immersive, syllabus-aligned program invites children from K–12 to explore the healing power of nature through outdoor investigative learning, storytelling, and hands-on science.

Across three tailored sessions for lower primary, upper primary, and high school students, children will connect with both Western and First Nations science, deepening their appreciation of the natural world and the stories it tells. From designing rainwater harvesting systems to exploring native plant adaptations and discovering Dharawal bird habitats, every activity is designed to spark curiosity and inspire people to think and act in ways that balance with nature.

Students will engage in mindfulness, explore native plant adaptations, and become part of the global scientific community through real-world conservation research. With a strong focus on Dharawal Histories and Cultures, this program fosters understanding of Country, connection, and culture through story, play, and scientific inquiry.

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 at all times throughout 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 on the day include:

Primary K-2

Morning: First Nations focus

• Explore how First Nations people read and understand the weather and environments based on Katrina Germein’s book Big Rain Coming
• Understand time and weather while we wait and watch, just like Old Stephen!

Afternoon: Birds of Dharawal Country

• Investigate the birds who call Dharawal Country home!
• Create your very own bird and test your flying skills while investigating habitats and song through hands-on play

Primary 3-6

Morning: Sustainability Superheroes

• Explore and participate in sustainable living and agricultural practices that reduce environmental impact
• Design a simple rainwater harvesting system within the specified design criteria.
• Explore First Nations uses of plants to create your very own first aid kit!

Afternoon: Contact: Second Encounters

• Through story and play, learn how European settlement affected the Dharawal people.
• Get a hands-on experience using artefacts and stories to gain insight into First Nations peoples experiences of settlement and compare ways of knowing, being and doing between these two cultures.

Secondary

Morning: Purposeful Plants

• Learn how features of some Australian plants are adaptations for survival in their environment.
• Investigate five native plants from a Western Science and First Nations science lens
• Discuss and record your observations while discovering the latest scientific conservation and ecosystem research within the Australian Institute of Botanical Science.

Afternoon: Art in the Garden

• How is art reflected in the Garden? What story does it tell?
• Explore our amazing Herbarium and find out more about the Botanical Identification Service
• Explore ideas about your relationship with the natural world through visual arts!