Budding Botanist School Kit
To raise awareness of the vital importance of plants, the Klorane Botanical Foundation is enlisting the help of a group of key allies: teachers! The “Graine de botaniste” (Budding Botanist) school pack provides teachers of Years 4 and 5 classes with fun, educational resources to help them build their lessons around the exploration and protection of plant biodiversity.
The pack that brings biodiversity into the classroom!
Updated in 2021, in line with current school curricula in Science, Education for Sustainable Development and Language, the “Graine de botaniste” school pack is loaded with materials and ideas for teaching activities based on the discovery of plant biodiversity.
Posters, puzzles, card games, mini-mags and seeds to sow – the activities on offer follow a varied approach that stimulates interest and develops curiosity. The materials create interaction and encourage debate over ideas, so that everyone can find their own way of understanding and learning.
To make these often complex subjects and issues accessible, our packs take a holistic approach to plants: their richness, their intelligence, their connections with the living world as a whole, threats to biodiversity, etc. The pack is structured around 9 teaching sequences, and includes a comprehensive guide for teachers to provide step-by-step support in building the sessions.
9 easy-to-run teaching sequences and accompanying support materials
• Time for debate: a poster and an initial discussion to assess knowledge and initiate conversation
• So much diversity: 42 cards to explore plant biodiversity and botanical vocabulary
• Accurately naming plants: a poster to provide familiarity with the major botanical concepts and explain how to observe them
• Understanding ecosystems: mini-mags and a poster to explore the diversity of relationships between living beings in their environment
• Meet two botanists: mini-mags to learn about the botanist’s profession and explore our links with the plant world
• The game that sparks curiosity: 40 maps that change the way we look at plants and provide insights into the intelligence of species, their strategies and their records
• Biodiversity in danger: a jigsaw puzzle that explains the causes of biodiversity loss
• Taking action to protect biodiversity: 12 factsheets to help students discover possible courses of action and examine our own behaviour
• Sowing and cultivating bee-friendly plants: 3 posters and seed packets for taking positive protective action and passing on knowledge in the process
All the packs are eco-designed, with seeds from organic farming and reusable media, printed with vegetable-based inks on recycled paper from eco-managed forests.
New school year 2023: instructions
All our packs are distributed free of charge, but numbers are limited! For the start of the 2023 school year, we are changing how they are obtained to ensure a fairer distribution.
Registrations will be open from 11 to 18 September 2023 on this page. The 700 packs available will then be allocated BY RANDOM DRAW and sent to the selected schools before the end of October.
To take part, simply fill in the application form that will be published on this page. Only primary schools (public or private) in mainland France are eligible for the scheme. There is a limit of just one pack per school (but it can of course be shared between classes!)
A 30-year-old programme that’s now more relevant than ever!
Since its establishment in 1994, the Klorane Botanical Foundation has made raising awareness and education about the plant world one of the pillars of its contribution to the world around us. Giving children an understanding and love of botany from an early age is the best way of passing on values that are essential for reconnecting younger generations with biodiversity and inspiring them to take care of it.
Over the past thirty years, “Graine de botaniste” (Budding Botanist) has given thousands of classes and teachers an insight into the wonder of plants. With their educational, fun and easy-to-use approach, our packs have given teachers the tools they need to take action and tackle these issues and how they change over time.
To celebrate the Foundation’s 30th anniversary in 2024, there are rumours that the “Graine de Botaniste” programme may be planning a number of other surprises during the school year...!
A digital version of the resources from the pack!
Stocks are limited, so for anyone who hasn’t had the chance to receive the 'Graine de Botaniste' school pack, all our materials can now be downloaded free of charge in PDF format!
Botany for everyone!
“Graine de Botaniste” is a collection of educational packs and resources designed for everyone, from the very youngest! Our packs can be used at school or at home: a “School” pack for Year 4 and 5 classes, a “Junior” pack for 5-9 year-olds, and even a “Baby Budding Botanist” version for the very youngest!
