AUBotanic has conducted the below tours, spanning the year of 2018
A total of 200 visitors, with the majority being children attended. Thank you to all of the docents in training who made this possible!
Children's Biodiversity Activity
On November 2, 2018, IC students visited AUB for a special series of activities to learn about Biodiversity in the AUB Botanic Garden.
Three classes of around 81 students joined in this activity, which was hosted by the LDEM instructor Monika Fabian and AUB Botanic Docent André Hammoush. The children were given a brief explanation on biodiversity and how nature falls out of balance if one of its consisiting elements disappear. They were then put into groups and participated in a bingo treasure hunt game of finding different leaves and creatures on campus and were assembled in the lower campus playground to wrap up the activity. The children were given labels with titles of different natural elements; plants, earthworms, birds... etc, and were told to form a bridge as a metaphor of the existing elements in an ecosystem. When one child was instructed to leave the bridge, the rest tumbled down.
Both french and english educated classes were given the same activity successfully. The AUBotanic hopes to maintain children related activities with schools in the future.
Children's Botanic Spring Tour
On May 31 and June 1 2018, AUBotanic performed children tours, with Monika Fabian leading the event in terms of planning and conducting.
The classes were divided into English speaking and French speaking groups. Some docents in training were also present to observe and participate in the touring. AUBotanic would like to express their gratitude to Mrs. André Hamoush (docent-in-training) for giving the tour to the French-educated children and contributing her time to the tour!
Plant labeling with IC students
On May 22, 2018, AUBotanic assisted in installing QR coded labels around IC's campus. Lead by Mrs. Sawsan Kibbi of IC's middle school, AUBotanic's coordinator Ranim Abi Ali, and docents in training, students learned all kinds of facts about the plants being labelled and initiated in an educational back-and-forth with Mrs. Kibbi and Ms. Abi Ali after they accessed the webpages of each plant they come across.
The activity was a success, and a total of 14 plants were labelled during one hour of the educational walk. The activity ended as the childrens' recess came to a close and they all returned to their classes. Mrs. Kibbi and the IC family have expressed their gratitude for the labels provided by AUBotanic and the professional incite given during the plant walk. AUBotanic looks forward to future cooperation with the school and further learning opportunities for children on the fascinating world of plants.