We are always updating our resources. Please check for updates.

Digital Resources Bundles now available

Be sure to check out our Digital Resources bundles, available for $25 each, on our Shop Page. Resources are available for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grade as well as middle- and high-school. Other offerings are forthcoming, so check back for updates.

Announcement: Title I School Assistance for field trips, visits, and digital resources

Aloha! We may be able to provide financial assistance to subsidize the cost of our education programming for Title I Schools. This includes field trips, school visits, and our digital bundles. If you would like to learn more, please reach out to us at LyonEdu@hawaii.edu. Mahalo!

General Resources

New! Check out these quick and fun observation challenges from our own Arboretum!

Check out SchoolVirtually, a website that provides resources to support all learners, including students with disabilities and English language learners. It was created by a UH College of Education professor.

Website: Celebrate Earth Month Online

Virtual Arboretum Tours

Doing some gardening at home? Check out our collection of Resources for Home and School Gardens

We have a virtual trekker tour hosted on Google. It resembles a Google Streetview of the Arboretum. It is from several years ago–some areas of the trail look considerably different now–but it is a fun way to visualize the Arboretum.

Keep an eye on our virtual tours page too, as we are looking for a new host for virtual tours by own own staff

Outdoor Circle has a collection of similar trekker tours.

Grade-specific resources

Children peer into a lab filled with plant in test tubes

Kindergarten Resources (Parts of a plant and what plants need to survive)

1st Grade Resources (Similarities and differences)

2nd Grade Resources (Seed dispersal and pollination)

3rd Grade Resources (Amazing adaptations and rainforest tour)

4th Grade Resources (Ka Wai Ola: Watersheds, native and invasive species)

Other topics

“Some Useful Botanical Definitions” from the Tennessee Arboretum.

Article: “Cliff-dwelling Cabbages,” by Shannon Wianecki. An article about a native Hawaiian plant that has lost its pollinator but is being successfully propagated by humans.

Scientific articles for students

Show scientific articles for students

Frontiers for Young Minds

Science Journal for Kids

Science News for Students

Houseplants can help clean the air in your home
Common plant could help fight zika and dengue
Investigating a plant that can ward off mosquitoes
Cactus goo for cleaning water
Article: “Bright blooms that glow” on Science News for Students. Topic: some flowers are florescent!
Biomimicry: a new design for a lab tool, inspired by plants

Careers with plants: What does a botanist do? Link

Video: “How Do Trees Transport Water from Roots to Leaves?” Visualize how water moves from roots to leaves.

Show water movement video

Projects and activities to do at home

Show projects and activities

Sock seeds – collect seeds around your home or school on an old sock… then plant it. Sock seeds link!

Explore the outdoors… like a Field Scientist!

Make a terrarium!

Grow your own plants… a do-it-at-home experiment into what plants need to survive!

Plant Identification

Video: “My Interest in Plant Identification.” A short video about how one woman got into plant ID. As she is based on the mainland, the plants she talks about as being prevalent in her neighborhood may not be the same as those found in our state. She has a series about getting into plant ID.

Show Plant ID video