Dec/Jan Roger William Botanical Center Trips

Woonsocket Middle Schools and Curtis Corner Middle School(SK) went on an exciting field trip the Roger Williams Botanical Center. Woonsocket Middle visited on December 8th, and Curtis Corner visited on January 19th. At the Botanical Center, students were able to learn about a wide variety of plants (and other organisms) from different biomes around the world – including some very different from our own native Rhode Island. Many of our students have never seen or experienced giant 12-meter-tall palms, desert succulents like Agave, or exotic carnivorous plants – it was an eye-opening experience for many of them! But this was more than just a sight-seeing trip; students learned about the lifecycles of different plants, the adaptions they have developed to survive in harsh unforgiving environments and how they interact with animals. Students also learned how the Roger Williams Botanical Center supports local agriculture by running community gardens and providing information on more sustainable farming and gardening techniques. Woonsocket Middle School is looking forward to revisiting in the spring when a whole different set of plants will be growing! There are photos and quotes from students below.

“I love it here, it smells so fresh.”
The guide explained how the plant saves energy living in low light; it gets rid of parts of the leaf that it doesn’t need. 
“Ohhh! Weird. It doesn’t want to waste energy I get it!” -Student A.
“It looks like it’s covered in eyes.” -Student B.
“Where does all this water come from? The water bill must be high.” -Student C.
“I think they might use a well.” -Teacher.
“How did it get here then?” -Student C.
“Like, did it come on a boat or a plant? It’s pretty big.” -Student A.
“No, it was smaller when we got it, and it was probably grown from a seed in a US nursery.” -Guide.
“But how did it get here?!” -Student C persists.
“Oh, on a truck.” -Guide.
“Ohhhh!” -Student C.