Section

  • Welcome to Life of Plants online area


    All the resources in this online area are part of a comprehensive programme package to enhance both yours and your pupils' learning experience. There are a mix of learning resources to use in the classroom, outdoors or as homework activities; as you will see below they are split up into classroom and outdoor activities so you can easily find resources to suit your lesson plan - just select a section title to view that section. 

    Feel free to pick and choose the resources you would like to do and these can be done before and/or after your visit to the Garden; or follow our suggested learning pathway outlined below to get the most out of the resources. If you're not booked onto a guided session at the Garden, all the resources stand on their own and will bring a little bit of the Botanics to you instead!

    Learning Pathway

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    • Instructions: Clicking on the section name will show / hide the section.

      • Pollination Mission


        Duration: 15 - 20 minutes
        Activity type: online lesson
        Curriculum link codes:  SCN 1-02a / SCN 2-02a / SCN 2-01a / HWB 2-20a

        Activity description:
        There are lots of different pollinators buzzing around the garden, but what are they looking for? What kind of flowers are their favourite? 

        Botanists from the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh need your class's help with the Pollination Mission! If your class accepts this mission they will find out why plants need pollinators and why different pollinators like bees need different plants in order to stay alive. This activity is an online interactive lesson which is designed for a class to do together and can be projected on a whiteboard.

        Click the following link to enter the Pollination Mission online lesson:
      • Alternative versions of the Pollination Mission online lesson are available in PDF format and as an accessible Word document.

    • Bring the learning outdoors! Outdoor activities help to extend your pupils' learning and increase their understanding of the classroom / guided session teaching.

      • Pollination Mission: Expedition Notebook


        Duration: 30 - 45 minutes
        Activity type: teacher-led outdoor activity
        Curriculum link codes:  HWB 2-20a / SCN 2-01a / SCN 1-03a

        Activity description:
                 In this activity pupils will step into the shoes of a botanist by observing and recording findings on an outdoor expedition!

        They         will practise some important skills to be a junior botanist, such as looking closely at flowers and making notes in their own expedition notebook to describe what they see. Read the teacher guide for instructions and advice to run this activity.
      • Pollination Mission: Expedition Notebook File PDF document
        Print this worksheet off and then fold it in half to give your pupils their own expedition notebooks to record their findings! To add more pages fold blank A4 sheets of paper in half, insert it into the middle of this folded worksheet and staple together.

        An accessible version of the pupil worksheet is available in Word document format. This version has a different layout, but can be made into a notebook format by using the worksheet as the front page and adding blank A4 sheets using staples or paper clips. 
      • Pollination Mission: Teacher Guide File PDF document
        An accessible version of the teacher guide is available in Word document format.

    • Explore the following additional resources and links:

      • Life of Plants Certificate File PDF document

        Award your class and/or individual pupils with this Life of Plants certificate from the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh! An alternative version is available in Word document format where you can edit the name and date sections before printing.

      • Curriculum Links File PDF document
        View for an overview of how the learning resources in this programme relate to the Curriculum for Excellence (CfE). An accessible version is available in Word document format.
      • Online activity: Learn about Dandelions URL

        Click the link to enter the world of a dandelion and find out how these tough little plants thrive in even the busiest city or wildest places (link opens in a new window).

      • Online activity: Brilliant Bumblebees URL

        Click the link to find out how bumblebees are so important for all nature, including humans (link opens in a new window).