Details

• Open Monday–Friday
• Teacher-led programs available for PK-6th Grade, up to 30 students per session
• All Arboretum teacher-led field trips cost $12 per student with access to the Children’s Adventure Garden included at no additional cost.
• Self-guided programs available for PK-8th Grade $12 per student (with a $3 add-on for admission to the Children’s Adventure Garden)
• $15 per additional chaperone
• Also includes access to Main Garden

Reserve a Field Trip Now

Habitats

Here you will see how plants and animals live and thrive together in a woodland ecosystem. Walk the woodland trails and you will see that habitats provide shelter, space, food and water to the plants and animals that live there. As you pass the signs for habitat needs, look around at all the models and exhibits that show how people, plants and animals interact and how they adapt to changing environments.

Explore Habitats

Living Cycles

1st-3rd Grade

Explore the growth and change of a diverse set of organisms. Students first compare the physical appearance of adults and offspring to assess how plants and animals change over time and then investigate pollinators and their role in life cycles. In the gallery, students identify and observe the roles of decomposers, methods of seed dispersal, organisms in different stages of their life cycle and the process of pollination.

TEKS
Science and Engineering Practices: 1E, 2B, 3A, 3B, 3C 
Recurring Themes and Concepts: 5A, 5F, 5G 
Science Content: 1.13A, 1.13B, 1.13C | 2.12C, 2.13A, 2.13B, 2.13D | 3.13A, 3.13B 

Little Sprouts

The Glade contains a puppet theater that invites guests to enjoy fun songs, dramatic characters and educational tales inspired by happenings in nature. The Glade is a natural space where visitors can take a seat and become part of the stories presented by our educators and puppeteers. After the show the stories come to life in the plants, animals, and insects found throughout the garden.

Moody Oasis

While it’s a great place to sit and rest, this rooftop garden also provides several important functions. It insulates the building below which reduces our overall energy consumption and provides a vital habitat for pollinators. In fact, this garden is a certified Monarch Waystation and the entire Children’s Adventure Garden is a National Wildlife Federation certified Wildlife Habitat. Enjoy the panoramic view of White Rock Lake from Moody Oasis.

Explore Moody Oasis

Plants Are Alive

You know people are alive, but did you know that plants are alive and have parts that must work together to keep the plant well? Plants have different body parts just like you. Every part does something special to help the plant survive. Enter a world of giant plants to see how all the parts work. You may build a big flower puzzle, make your own growing plant pictures, or see how water moves through a healthy plant. Real plant parts somethings look different, but they all work much the same way.

Texas Native Wetlands

3rd–6th Grade

How healthy is our habitat? In this program, students explore our Texas Native Wetlands as they collect data on our outdoor, island classroom. Students make connections between the living and nonliving parts of the ecosystem to determine the health of our waterway using cutting edge scientific tools.

Explore Wetlands

TEKS
Recurring Themes and Concepts: 5B, 5C, 5D, 5G 
Science Content:  3.12A, 3.13A, 3.13B | 4.11B | 5.12A, 5.12C, 5.13A | 6.12A 

Earth Cycles

Learn about the forces that affect our ever-changing planet. Some of these changes are found all over Earth in regular and repeating patterns, while others can cause rapid change with great impact on human activities. Explore erosion, cave formation, earthquakes, the weather cycle, the interaction of our planet with the sun and moon and so much more in this astounding Earth science learning gallery.

Explore Earth Cycles

Kaleidoscope

2nd-6th Grade

Explore how science is the study of natural patterns and how humans make use of these patterns. Students first identify patterns regularly found in nature and then investigate how patterns can be analyzed with math by looking at the Fibonacci sequence. Students then explore the gallery and quantify the most commonly observed shapes in plants. They then discuss how shapes are adaptations and how humans have used natural shapes as inspiration for our designed world.

Explore Kaleidoscope

TEKS
Science and Engineering Practices: 1E, 2B, 3A, 3B, 3C, 4A 
Recurring Themes and Concepts: 5A, 5C, 5F 
Science Content: 2.13A, 2.13B | 3.13A | 4.13A | 5.13A 

Pure Energy

4th-6th Grade
In this program students develop a new understanding of alternative energy sources and the transfer of energy. Students first discuss forms and sources of energy and work together to create a living circuit. Then, small teams explore the water, solar and wind islands to record data on these three sources of renewable energy

Explore Pure Energy

TEKS
Science and Engineering Practices: 1D, 1E, 1F, 2B, 3A, 3B, 3C 
Recurring Themes and Concepts: 5B, 5E, 5G 
Science Content: 3.8A, 3.11B | 4.8A, 4.8C, 4.11A | 5.8A, 5.8B | 6.8B 

OmniGlobe

Located in the Exploration Center’s Globe Theatre, the five-foot-tall OmniGlobe provides an interactive model of the planets. Digital images projected onto the sphere provide a view of everything from the plants in our solar system to up-to-date weather events and population density here on Earth.

Explore OmniGlobe