Discovery Field Trips Bring Science to Life for Thousands of School Kids

The 2008-2009 school year was one of the most succesful for Discovery Field Trips in the history of Birmingham Botanical Gardens, continuing the record-setting trends for the year. Last year more than 10,000 school children visited The Gardens on nearly 450 field trips.

Discovery Field Trips, one of the programs at the heart of our education mission, are free to participants thanks to support for transportation from the Junior League of Birmingham and Vulcan Materials Corporation. Birmingham City Schools increased 9% over last year and Bessemer City Schools increased 36%, accounting for a great deal of the success.

We also owe our most sincere thanks to the wonderful volunteers for a successful year. These talented volunteers work as a team to welcome students and teachers; they guide them on educational journeys that bring the kids' classroom studies to life. All six award-winning Discovery Field Trips are science-based programs that correlate with the Alabama State Course of Study and are aligned with the National Science Education Standards.