Schools and Education

Discover new ways to connect with the gardens
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Explore the videos, activities and resources below to learn more about Descanso Gardens and our natural world.

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Field Trips and Programs | Habitats (TK-2nd) | Adaptations (3rd-5th) | Nature Guides (All ages) | Partnerships

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Field Trips and Programs


Self-guided field trips are offered September 1, 2021– June 3, 2022. Reservations are available now.
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Docent-guided field trips will be offered March 1, 2022 – June 2, 2022. Reservations available beginning Tuesday, November 16, 2021.

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Field trips and programs are available free of charge for qualifying schools with advance reservation. A qualifying school must meet one or more of the following requirements:

  • An accredited California public or private school
  • A preschool providing instruction to students over two years of age
  • A program through a school that provides academic instruction to students
  • A Head Start or Child Development Center
  • Homeschool groups

 

Make a Reservation

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Self-Guided Field Trips (on-site)

Self-guided field trips allow teachers to structure and lead the educational experience. Offered Monday through Friday at 9, 9:30 or 10am. Minimum of 10 students per day, maximum of 120 students per day. Complete the form below to request a field trip.

Before you visit, download a self-guided chaperone guide and student activity booklet in either English or Spanish.

FIELD TRIP REQUEST FORM

 

Garden Pen Pal Program (distance learning)

Can’t make it to the gardens this year? Sign your class up to be our pen pal. Choose from a variety of nature and science-based topics and receive letters from a Descanso docent.

Complete the form below to request the program:

PEN PAL REQUEST FORM

 

Docent-Guided Field Trips (on-site)

Reservations for docent-guided field trips at Descanso Gardens will be available beginning November 16, 2021.

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Descanso’s Education staff will call you within 3 business days to confirm your reservation. Questions? Call (818) 949-0120 or email programs@descansogardens.org.
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Habitats

Learn how Descanso Gardens is a habitat for many animals.


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Grade Levels: 4–7 years old, TK–2nd

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Next Generation Science Standard, Disciplinary Core Ideas:

  • LS1.C: Organization for Matter and Energy Flow in Organisms
    All animals need food in order to live and grow. They obtain their food from plants or from other animals. Plants need water and light to live and grow.
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  • LS1.A: Structure and Function
    All organisms have external parts. Different animals use their body parts in different ways to see, hear, grasp objects, protect themselves, move from place to place, and seek, find, and take in food, water and air. Plants also have different parts (roots, stems, leaves, flowers, fruits) that help them survive and grow.
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  • LS2.A: Interdependent Relationships in Ecosystems
    Plants depend on animals for pollination or to move their seeds around.
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Find out what animals need in their habitats to survive, and how oak tree habitats provide for local wildlife.

Habitats are different from one another, but still provide animals with what they need to survive. Compare and contrast different habitats at Descanso and learn about the animals that call the gardens home.

 

Adaptations and Interactions

Explore how plant adaptations support the balance of nature, and the many ways plants and animals depend on each other to survive.
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Grade Levels: 7–11 years old, 3rd–5th grade

 

Next Generation Science Standard, Disciplinary Core Ideas:

  • LS1.B: Growth and Development of Organisms
    All animals need food in order to live and grow. They obtain their food from plants or from other animals. Plants need water and light to live and grow.
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  • LS4.C: Adaptation
    For any particular environment, some kinds of organisms survive well, some survive less well, and some cannot survive at all.
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Adaptations are about survival. Discover how adaptations help plants survive in their environments.

Investigate oak trees from the ground up and learn all about how these important trees survive.

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Nature Guides

 

Descanso Partnership Programs

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The Harvest Garden

The Harvest Garden encourages curiosity and discovery of the natural world by providing diverse communities the therapeutic benefits of gardening. Descanso Gardens partners with a variety of schools and organizations to bring these communities to the Harvest Garden.

A Day of Discovery

A Day of Discovery at Descanso Gardens is a collaboration with the LAUSD Beyond the Bell Office of Outdoor and Environmental Education. In this program students investigate several of California’s native habitats; explore relationships between living and non-living things, and record observations in journals provided. For more information, click here.

My Masterpieces: Discovering Art in My Community

A collaboration between Pasadena Unified School District, the Pasadena Educational Foundation, and local cultural institutions, My Masterpieces provides community-based arts learning opportunities for students in Pasadena, Altadena, and Sierra Madre. Descanso Gardens offers a 3rd grade program combining nature exploration and artmaking to build on students’ creativity, visual literacy, and observational skills. For more information, click here.