Sections:
Gardening
Doing some gardening at home? Check out our collection of Resources for Home and School Gardens
Grade-specific resources
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)
Botany for Kids
Careers with plants: What does a botanist do? Link
“Some Useful Botanical Definitions” from the Tennessee Arboretum.
Video: “How Do Trees Transport Water from Roots to Leaves?” Visualize how water moves from roots to leaves.
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
Links to Articles
Show scientific articles 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
Conservation
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.
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!
Virtual Tours
Interactive E-Book
Story time! Follow a visiting ʻIʻiwi bird who is touring the Arboretum with a friend, the Oʻahu ʻamakihi, who can be found at Lyon in this online virtual book. This resource was created by Shamila Janakiraman, an assistant professor in the UH Mānoa College of Education’s Learning Design and Technology (LTEC) with her students. More information can be found here: Immersive Service Learning with OER.
Here is the link to the resource itself, which has multiple versions for different audiences.
Google Trekker
We have a virtual trekker tour hosted on Google. It resembles a Google Street View 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.
Outdoor Circle has a collection of similar trekker tours.
Just for fun
New! Check out these quick and fun observation challenges from our own Arboretum!
Check out the “Symphony of the Hawaiian Birds” Ensemble YouTube playlist
Video: The Hidden Beauty of Pollination