Airlie Gardens

Environmental education programs in a beautiful setting can be found at this public garden in Wilmington, North Carolina.

Preview your trip on the web: Airlie Gardens

Learn more

• Kidsgardening Plan, research, share ideas and stories on this website devoted to gardens, mini-ecosystems, and everything you might grow in or near your home or classroom.
• North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service Find information that pertains to agriculture, nutrition, environment, parenting, health, gardening, 4-H, and much more. Many resources are also available in Spanish!
• North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources Find information, statistic, data, maps and more about environmental topics that concern North Carolina such as ozone, pollution prevention, mining, wetland, vehicle inspections, and soil erosion.
• Educational in Nature A series of environmental education curriculum supplements designed to foster understanding and environmental awareness in the classroom. These activities, games, lesson plans, and information cover such topics as forests, animals, recycling, and energy.
• Lesson plan: StreamWatch This lesson is intended as a long term project to determine the overall health of a stream or wetland. Students identify seasonal changes that occur within the ecosystem, ideally with a minimum of bimonthly or monthly monitoring.
• Lesson plan: The case of the disappearing pitcher plants This lesson addresses the cause and effect relationship between human interaction and a North Carolina endangered plant species. A role-playing scenario allows students to view the situation from a variety of positions and to collectively arrive at a solution to the problem.

Related pages

• Jordan Lake Educational State Forest: Students will learn about the ecosystems which make up a forest and the animals that inhabit it.
• North Carolina Arboretum: A wide variety of classes and workshops are provided to students at the NC Arboretum, ranging from bonsai demonstrations to nature walks.
• South Mountains State Park: One of the state's most rugged parks, South Mountains State Park offers a number of activities. Rangers are available to teach students about the mountain watershed and the importance of water stewardship.

Related topics

• Learn more about New Hanover County, North Carolina, Venus flytraps, Xeriscaping, biology, botanical gardens, composting, conservation, environmental science, estuarine, habitats, ph, photosynthesis, plant adaptation, science, tidal creek ecosystems, vermiculture, water wise gardening, wetland ecology, and wildlife.

Legal

The Airlie Gardens property began as a land grant from King George II and through the years its 640 acres have been privately owned. In 1999, New Hanover County purchased 67 acres for a public garden.

Today students can visit Airlie Gardens and learn about the ecosystems there. Programs for third and eighth grade classes are based on the North Carolina Standard Course of Study and include pre-visit, on-site and post-visit activities. Eighth grades will learn about water quality, estuarine systems, wetland ecology, indicator species and resource conservation. Third grade students will study plant biology, plant adaptations, seed dispersal, soil properties and decomposition and see the Garden’s carnivorous plant collections. If you are a classroom teacher for another grade, the staff will be happy to create a field trip that will meet the needs of your students and curriculum goals.

The Gardens are open 9am to 5pm Tuesday through Sunday. Admission is $5 for adults and $3 for children age 6 to 12 years. To schedule a visit to the Gardens, contact Nicole Mitchell, the Environmental Education Program Coordinator at (910)798-7564 or nmitchell@nhcgov.com.

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