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Natural Science Days: Powered by the Passion of our Docents
Our incredible volunteers make learning interesting, interactive…and fun!
Natural Science Days at Gilroy Gardens
The popular Natural Science Days (NSD) field trip program at Gilroy Gardens is held on select dates every spring and provides a unique chance for elementary school-aged kids to learn more about nature and the environment while having fun in our beautiful park.
Working in groups, kids move through six interactive learning stations that spark curiosity and creativity. Every station is designed for kids to have fun while learning something new!
- Plants with Funny Shapes
- The Food We Grow and Eat
- Food Chains
- Clean Energy
- Flower Anatomy
- You Rock!
This event is a great experience for kids, teachers, and parent chaperones—but it requires a LOT of hard work to host each year. Our volunteer docents are the ones who donate their time, energy, and enthusiasm all year long to make the magic happen in April and May!
Docents Do a LOT!
Each year, about 75 volunteer docents put in more than 1,000 hours of time preparing, planning, and hosting Natural Science Days, which features high-quality curriculum and immersive, hands-on learning stations.
During the event, some docents serve as greeters. They welcome classes to the park and help everyone find their way to all the different learning stations. With hundreds of kids visiting each day, that is a very important job!
Other docents serve as teachers, educating the students (and grownups!) about various topics that include renewable energy, the food chain, and flowers and plants. Many docents are retired educators or horticulture experts, and others are just passionate about science and learning. All of them know how to make each topic interesting and engaging, providing hands-on experiences that make kids excited to explore.
Making Education Exciting and Fun
Docent Diana Wright says kids are always “wowed” by the live animals at the Food Chains station. Those include not just cute and cuddly mammals, but also reptiles, birds, insects, and arachnids.
While working this station one year, a wide-eyed kid told Diana, ‘I’m going to always remember Gilroy Gardens, because it’s where I touched a snake for the very first time.” And then the girl’s friend chimed in that “It felt soft and smooth…like cold bunny fur!”
Another volunteer docent, Patty Porter, often leads the Clean Energy station, where she shows students how solar panels collect and provide energy. She loves seeing the “light bulb” (no pun intended) go off—like when one student said to her, “Now I understand how light from the sun is used to create energy!”
One of Patty’s favorite memories is when a young girl came up to her and said she was so excited about clean energy that she was going to go home and learn more about it. She hoped that she would someday become a scientist who discovers a new way to harvest resources that create clean energy.
Fueling that kind of passion for learning and nature is exactly what our docents love to do!
Lifelong Learning…at Any Age
All our docents agree that they end up learning just as much as the kids do during Natural Science Days! The experience serves as a reminder for all ages of how important it is to appreciate the benefits and beauty of nature—and to protect it for future generations.
Volunteers also learn that there are many kids who have little, if any, contact with the natural world in their daily lives. Without experiences like NSD and beautiful spaces like Gilroy Gardens, they simply cannot appreciate the value of nature. NSD offers a safe, fun environment to introduce their minds to natural science and develop a reverence for the resources that nature provides for us all.
Patty Porter adds that one other important lesson she has learned (from working at the Food Chains station) is that “it is very difficult to catch a chicken!”
Want to Become a Volunteer Docent?
We’re always looking for more volunteers to help during Natural Science Days (and all year round) at Gilroy Gardens Family Theme Park!
All of our 100+ docents contribute their unique talents, perspectives, and a shared passion for creating fun educational experiences. They enrich the lives of our guests and embody the heart and soul of Gilroy Gardens.
If you are interested in volunteering for Natural Science Days, please fill out the interest form on our website at GilroyGardens.org/docents/. Once submitted, someone from our Docent Program will be in touch with you to discuss next steps.
Sign Up Now for Natural Science Days!
Natural Science Days at Gilroy Gardens are field trip experiences full of hands-on learning, smiles, and moments that kids remember for years. Each station helps students see how everything in nature connects, from the food they eat to the rocks beneath their feet.
K-5 teachers and home school families are encouraged to sign up now, as dates do fill up fast for this popular event that combines fun and learning in our beautifully landscaped gardens.
Natural Science Days provide a unique partnership between Gilroy Gardens and all schools in the Gilroy Unified School District. Many other California schools find our Natural Science Days program worth a longer trip to give their students the unique learning opportunity that only Gilroy Gardens provides.
The Natural Science Days program meets Next Generation Science Standards for California Schools (2015) as well as California Common Core State Standards in ELA/Literacy and Mathematics and Visual and Performing Arts: Visual Arts Content Standards.
Learn more and book your learning adventure today:
Sustaining our Educational Mission
Gilroy Gardens is a registered 501(c) (3) nonprofit organization and a 36-acre botanical garden that provides learning experiences for thousands of children and families every year. The park is home to more than 10,000 trees, eight distinct gardens, and 19 of the last remaining “Circus Trees,” found nowhere else on earth.
Although we are known for our beloved theme park rides and attractions, we continually strive to serve our education-based mission: “To educate and inspire families, especially children, to appreciate horticulture and the importance of trees in our lives, by providing fun and memories in a beautiful garden setting.”
Sustaining our world-class educational programming—and the extraordinary “living laboratory” that makes it possible—requires year-round fundraising and a dedicated team of volunteers. If you’re interested in helping support our mission, please visit our website to learn more.