Explore and name plants in our botanical garden. Identify and compare plant parts and look out for signs of the season. Discover plants up close using microscopes and describe observations. Identify and name common plants and practise observation skills by creating plant drawings.  

 
Curriculum links 
Science / Year 1: Plants  

• identify and describe the basic structure of a variety of common flowering plants, including trees 

• identify and name a variety of common wild and garden plants, including deciduous and evergreen trees 
• observe changes across the four seasons 

Our botanical garden has a variety of habitats, compost heaps, log piles and a small pond. Find out which animals live where, and how they are suited to their environment. Identify, name and record animals in their habitats. Discover micro-habitats in detail using microscopes and record observations. Explore the principle of simple food chains and make a clay model food chain to take home.  

Curriculum links 

Science / Year 2: Living things and their habitats  

• identify that most living things live in habitats to which they are suited, that habitats provide basic needs for different kinds of animals and plants and how they depend on each other 

• identify and name a variety of plants and animals in their habitats, including microhabitats 
• describe how animals obtain their food from plants and other animals, using the idea of a simple food chain. Identify and name different sources of food 

Discover the importance of plants and how we depend on them as sources of food. Find out how our food grows and what it needs to germinate and grow well. Explore our botanic garden and discover the range of food plants growing there. Use microscopes to examine edible plant parts up-close and record observations. Investigate the variety of seed shapes, forms and patterns in a drawing activity.  

Curriculum links 

Science / Year 2: Plants 

• observe and describe how seeds and bulbs grow into mature plants 
• find out and describe how plants need water, light and a suitable temperature to grow and stay healthy 

Discover how plants have inspired artists and designers over time. Explore plants and their many colours, shapes and patterns in our beautiful botanical garden. Have a go at drawing plants from life. Be dazzled by plant textures and intricate details under a microscope. Use clay and plant materials to make a nature inspired sculpture to take home.  

Curriculum links 

Art / KS1 

• to use drawing, painting and sculpture to develop and share their ideas, experiences and imagination 

• to develop a wide range of art and design techniques in using colour, pattern, texture, line, shape, form and space 
• To learn about the work of a range of artists, craft makers and designers, describing the differences and similarities between different practices and disciplines 

Discover healing properties of plants growing in our botanical garden. Explore how Mary Seacole used plants to help wounded soldiers. Use microscopes to study medicinal plants up-close. Learn about lavender plant’s’ many uses and make a lavender bag to take home. 

Curriculum links 

History / KS1: Mary Seacole  

•  the lives of significant individuals in the past who have contributed to national and international achievements. Some should be used to compare aspects of life in different periods (for example Mary Seacole) 

Science / YR1: Plants  

• identify and name a variety of common wild and garden plants, including deciduous and evergreen trees 
• identify and describe the basic structure of a variety of common flowering plants, including trees 

Explore an exciting variety of flowering plants growing in our beautiful botanical garden. Learn about the part flowers play in the life cycle of food plants and the importance of pollinators in food production. Discover parts of a flower under a microscope and look at edible food parts up-close. Use different senses to explore aromatic food plants and make an ornamental clay tile using plant materials.  

 Curriculum links 

Science / Year 3: Plants  

• identify and describe the functions of different parts of flowering plants: roots, stem/trunk, leaves and flowers 

• explore the requirements of plants for life and growth (air, light, water, nutrients from soil, and room to grow) and how they vary from plant to plant 
• explore the part that flowers play in the life cycle of flowering plants, including pollination, seed formation and seed dispersal

Observe plant characteristics and group plants in our specialist garden. Explore plant features using a microscope and use a simple key to identify them. Have a peek inside our herbarium to see original herbarium specimens, some of which are over 200 years old. Start an herbarium collection by creating a pressed plant sheet to take home.  

Curriculum links 

Science / Year 4: Living things and their habitats  

• recognise that living things can be grouped in a number of ways 

• explore and use classification keys to help group, identify and name a variety of living things in their local and wider environment 

• recognise that environments can change and that this can sometimes pose dangers to living things 

Science / Year 6: Living things and their habitats  

• give reasons for classifying plants based on specific characteristics 
• describe how plants are classified into broad groups according to common observable characteristics and based on similarities and differences 

Explore life cycles of different plants, including food plants. Discover the part flowers play and the role of pollinators in the reproduction of flowering plants. Find out how some plants reproduce from bulbs, roots and tubers. Dissect a flower under a microscope. Explore plants growing in our garden and learn about their lifecycles and uses. Observe features of seeds to determine how they are dispersed.  

Curriculum links 
Science / Year 5: Living things and their habitats 

• describe the life process of reproduction in some plants and animals 
• recognise different types of reproduction, i.e. sexual and asexual 

Explore how plant life has evolved on planet earth and meet living fossils that survived dinosaurs and now live in our botanical garden. Have a close look at plant adaptations using a microscope and find out how they help plants survive in their habitat. Have a peek inside our herbarium to see original herbarium specimens, some of which are over 200 years old, and find out why they are important to scientists today.  

Curriculum links  

Science / Year 6: Evolution and inheritance 

• recognise that living things have changed over time and that fossils provide information about living things that inhabited the Earth millions of years ago 
• recognise that living things produce offspring of the same kind, but normally offspring vary and are not identical to their parents identify how animals and plants are adapted to suit their environment in different ways and how that adaptation may lead to evolution 

Discover how plants have inspired artists over time. Examine beautiful examples of botanical art in our library. Explore plants and their many forms in our delightful botanical garden. Learn about shading and develop your drawing skills by sketching living plants. Be dazzled by the shapes and patterns of plants under a microscope. Discover simple watercolour techniques and paint a collection of ornamental seeds and fruit.  

Curriculum links 

Art / KS2 

• to create sketch books to record their observations and use them to review and revisit ideas  

• to improve their mastery of art and design techniques, including drawing, painting and sculpture with a range of materials  
• about great artists, architects and designers in history 

With an herbarium of over 47,000 specimens, a densely planted botanic garden and a captivating botanical library, SLBI is the perfect place to bring biology or art subjects to life. Whether you are teaching plant reproduction or classification or want to develop your students’ skills of drawing from observation, a trip to SLBI is a brilliant way to enrich your students learning. We also offer microscopes for scientific investigations and artistic inspiration.  

We encourage teachers to get in touch to discuss a bespoke 2-hour on-site session designed for your specific requirements. We currently don’t offer a set secondary programme. 

Bring Biology to life, observe adaptations firsthand, investigate characteristics and classify live plants. 

Curriculum links 

Biology / KS3 

Reproduction in plants 

• reproduction in plants, including flower structure, wind and insect pollination, fertilisation, seed and fruit formation and dispersal, including quantitative investigation of some dispersal mechanisms 

Relationships in ecosystems 

• the interdependence of organisms in an ecosystem, including food webs and insect pollinated crops  

• the importance of plant reproduction through insect pollination in human food security  

• how organisms affect, and are affected by, their environment, including the accumulation of toxic materials 

Biology / KS4 

Ecosystems 

• levels of organisation within an ecosystem 

• some abiotic and biotic factors which affect communities; the importance of interactions between organisms in a community  

• how materials cycle through abiotic and biotic components of ecosystems 

•  the role of microorganisms (decomposers) in the cycling of materials through an ecosystem 

• organisms are interdependent and are adapted to their environment 

• the importance of biodiversity 

• positive and negative human interactions with ecosystems 

Evolution, inheritance and variation  

• genetic variation in populations of a species  

• the process of natural selection leading to evolution 

• the evidence for evolution 

• developments in biology affecting classification 

• the importance of selective breeding of plants and animals in agriculture 
• the uses of modern biotechnology including gene technology; some of the practical and ethical considerations of modern biotechnology 

Whether your art subject is Natural Forms and you want your students to draw from observation of living or preserved specimens or if you want learners to be inspired by the natural world, SLBI is the ideal place to come.  With a library which includes botanical art, an historic herbarium of over 47,000 specimens and microscopes to explore the minutiae of natural forms, we offer unique opportunities and resources for artistic exploration. 

Curriculum links 

• to use a range of techniques to record their observations in sketchbooks, journals and other media as a basis for exploring their ideas 

• to use a range of techniques and media, including painting to increase their proficiency in the handling of different materials 
• to learn about the history of art, craft, design and architecture, including periods, styles and major movements from ancient times up to the present day