North Carolina Botanical Garden

Why do carnivorous plants trap bugs? How does a tiny seed travel hundreds of miles to find a new home? Why would a tree release toxic chemicals to attack other trees? Let’s figure it out! Campers will investigate the wild and wonderful ways that plants meet the challenges of their environment through hands-on outdoor exploration, experiments, and games, and then create their very own super plant. Camp features a blend of indoor and outdoor learning, camper to staff ratio of 4:1, experienced environmental educators and naturalists, and loads of fun!

North Carolina hosts a large number of insects and plants that depend on each other, sometimes benignly, beneficially, or as a pest. This class will look into the life history, morphology, and dependency between Sarracenic flava and Papaipema appassionata (Green pitcher plant and Pitcher Plant Borer moth). Students will work in drybrush watercolor. The instructor will provide images to paint from.

Create a botanical study page depicting the longleaf pine in pencil. Discover through drawing the identifying features of the cone, scales, and seeds. Learn how to tackle the complex pinecones' spiraling structure on day one. Day two will be spent creating a tonal monochromatic study of the seeds and scales in a drawing medium of your choice.

For ages 3-5 with a participating caregiver. What's inside a seed? How do they grow? Where can we find them? Little ones will get their hands dirty learning all about seeds through hands-on discovery, play, stories, and planting their own seeds to take home.