Secondary

In this session the role of the Wardian case pioneered the transport of live plants across the world and contribute to the establishment of global botanic gardens.

The impact of Empire, plants, enslaved people, transport of breadfruit to Jamaica is explored. As is how harnessing the principles of the water cycle by the Wardian brought about change.

Every pupil then makes their own mini terrariums using sustainable material which they can take home with them.

Pupils will understand the common signs of pest and disease damage on plants.

Examination and identification using light and digital microscopes of plant material affected collected from our Healing/Community Garden. This will be seasonally adjusted.

Practical activities include making leaf prints on agar plates that can be taken back to school and examining premade samples, observing insect traps and their relevance to IPM and making a simple natural pesticide.

The session ends with pupils playing a game to appreciate why plants are smelly and the chemicals they produce to attract pollinators and deter pest and disease attack.

Artefacts and museum archives will be used to illustrate the evolution of pest control

In this session pupils look at adaptation of plants to physical conditions in different ecosystems to ensure survival and success.

Using the unique collection of plants at the Garden Museum pupils will investigate how differences in leaf size, colour, shape make a plant suitable for a particular habitat.

Pupils will collect plants from our Healing/Community Garden, tombs walls and front garden.

The range of plants examined include carnivorous plants, air plants, moss and our signature plant Tradescantia zebrina.

A cross curricular session linking plants and Empire.

Pupils observe the cotton plant, bolls and fibre under microscopes and understand the growth cycle of the plant, cultivation and processing.

The links to enslaved people, industrial revolution and trade are explored. The effects of fast fashion and the environment are analysed, and all pupils are requested to bring in a cotton tee shirt. The session ends with a creative activity involving cotton and a natural dye.

Examination of the Garden Museum tea plants and education on plantation cultivation, harvesting of leaves and subsequent processing. Pupils explore the history behind the global spread of tea, empire, East India Company, Opium wars and how it became the world’s most iconic drink.

Pupils conduct some simple tea chemistry and end the session making herbal tisanes/infusion bags to take home.

Combine any two short enrichment sessions to curate your school visit.

Pupils will get a chance to explore the prevalence of lichens covering the tombs and brickwork in our grounds and nearby trees in Old Paradise gardens.

They will then take samples of Lichen back into our dedicated learning classroom to identify using digital microscopes and relate distribution to pollution levels.

Combine any two short enrichment sessions to curate your school visit.

An innovate approach using the humble moss to dispel the predominance of plant blindness also called plant awareness disparity or simple zoo-chauvinism where plants are assigned the importance bestowed to animals.

Skills learnt include making a slide, observation, and identification of microscopic organisms plus an appreciation of life within a life form.

Pupils learn about biodiversity and according to the season can make some of the following:

• Insect/bug hotel using sustainable material
• Bird feeder using sustainable material
• Seed bombs
• Mini-Flower press

Bespoke sessions can be created to focus on a specific topic of interest.

An investigation into soil by comparing samples from different areas of our community garden. Texture, pH, moisture holding capacity are compared and understanding how soil supports biodiversity

Plant focused topics studied at GCSE Biology. Content covered will be for AQA Combined Science and Triple Biology with resources available for both Higher and Foundation tiers.

Revision will include recap of topic, past papers and model answers.

There will be a chance to carry out a required practical: The effect of light intensity on the rate of photosynthesis.