WildCare’s Junior Botanist Program introduces students to native trees, ferns, flowers and grasses.

Starting at Kindergarten level, students learn five trees and their cones/seeds/acorns, four ferns, ten flowers and six grasses.

The number increases at each grade level, through Eighth Grade.

At the end of each learning level, the students are awarded a Junior Botanist certificate.

Program Premise

Plants are the basis of the food web, and threats to them impact all animals. When non-native plants replace native plants, many animal species lose a valuable food source. This is especially devastating to the many endangered species of the Bay Area.

How does it work?

The program takes place over the course of a school year. A volunteer comes to your Marin Classroom in the Fall and introduces the program to your students. You do the teaching with the help of materials provided:

Tree Study Kit
Flower Study Kit
Fern Study Kit
Grass Study Kit

(visit the Marin Native Plant Society website for posters and other materials www.marin.edu/cnps/). Volunteers do the testing - Grades K-2 test orally with individual examiners. Grades 3 - 8 take a written test. Students get a certificate for each section of the test they pass, getting recognition for what they have learned, and can be tested on the other sections at a later date.

Fee

Free to teachers with an $85.00 fully refundable deposit.

For more information

Call Wendy Dreskin at 415.457.3949 or email Wendy at bdreskin@comcast.net.