EDUCATION — CENTER FOR TEACHING AND LEARNING

Club CBG at the Chicago Botanic Garden

Club CBG at the Chicago Botanic Garden welcomes school-age children to come once a week for fun, hands-on, educational opportunities outside of school. Three six-week program sessions allow children in grades 2 to 5 to discover the Garden in winter, spring, and fall. They will use scientific tools, plan and plant a garden, explore native habitats, and more!

Registration is open for Club CBG. For questions or more information regarding schedule, registration, or programming, please call (847) 835-8239. Mail in a registration form, or sign up online through the links below.

	Ages:	Children in grades 2–5
	Times:	Tuesdays or Thursdays, 3:45 – 5:15 p.m. on a six-week basis. New sessions will be available each spring, fall, and winter.
	Fees:	$105 for Garden Plus members $115 for nonmembers, per six-week session

WINTER CLUB
January 26 – March 4, 2010

The winter session begins with soil science and botany basics. We'll investigate adaptations to different climates by looking at the plants in our greenhouses and by taking hikes to explore Illinois' winter weather and wildlife.

PHOTO: flower dissection

Week 1 – Starting with Soil. Discover how worms help plants and us, explore worm compost bins, and make one to take home.

Week 2 – Plant Basics. Learn the basics of plants and botany through flower and seed dissections, and set up experiments to observe throughout the program.

Week 3 – Tropical Plants. Discover plant adaptations in the tropics and take home a terrarium of plants fed with worm tea.

Week 4 – Desert Dwellers. Discover how cacti and succulents adapt to the desert and create an ideal habitat for a desert plant that you will take home.

Week 5 – Winter Wildlife. Hiking outside, learn which animals stay in Chicago during cold months, and explore ways to track animals in winter.

Week 6 – Snowflake Science. Discover the science behind all the snow we get in Illinois. Find out how snow is formed and what it looks like under a microscope, and take home a tool to study snow.

SPRING CLUB
April 20 – May 27, 2010

Kids participating in the spring session will plan, plant, weed, and water their own plot at the Garden. While our plants are growing, we'll explore different areas of the Garden, learning about culture, art, and history.

PHOTO: science sleuth

Week 1 – Garden Planning. Students will research what plants they want to put in their plot in the Outdoor Classroom. As a group, we will decide on specific plants and the overall design of the garden bed.

Week 2 – World of Japan. In our Japanese garden, Sansho-En, students will experience how geography, climate, and culture influence how plants are used in Japanese garden design.

Week 3 – Garden Planting. Plant our Club CBG garden, which we will weed, water, and mulch throughout the session.

Week 4 – Model Railroad. Learn about the historical relevance of the railroad as it shaped American history and tour the Model Railroad Garden with an engineer.

Week 5 – Plant Scavenger Hunt. Learn how plants are designed to survive different environments through adaptation, and hunt for some of those adaptations as well as unusual plants growing in the Garden.

Week 6 – Final Garden Visit. Work on our garden plot one last time, then tour the prairie and its wildlife, looking at the differences between our garden plants and Illinois' native plants.

FALL CLUB
September 14 – October 21, 2010

In the fall session, we will discover the bountiful harvest using all our senses. We'll help harvest plants, explore the falling leaves, wander through tall prairie grasses, and examine fleeting insects.

PHOTO: taking notes in the prairie

Week 1 – Fall Harvest. Dig in the Outdoor Classroom, harvesting and learning how our food grows.

Week 2 – Insect Hunt. After discovering how to use scientific tools and finding out what to look for in our area, we'll see if we can find some Illinois insects and learn about their adaptations to different habitats.

Week 3 – Tall, Tall Prairie. Learning about native plants, we'll walk in the tallgrass prairie to see some of the amazing plants, animals, and insects that live there.

Week 4 – Aquatic Habitats. Get an up-close look at aquatic invertebrates and plants, and discover how they survive in the water.

Week 5 – Sensory Discovery. Using all our senses, we'll scour the Garden for cool things we might not be able to experience at home.

Week 6 – Woodland Wildlife. Our nature detectives will learn about the native woods of Illinois as we walk through McDonald Woods and identify trees and wildlife.