Humber Arboretum

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The Humber Arboretum offers a variety of curriculum-connected outdoor education programs in both English and French at two locations in the City of Toronto. Bring your students for a memorable learning experience as they explore meadows, woods, rivers, or ponds within an outstanding urban greenspace.

Locations

Our home base for outdoor education is the Humber Arboretum, which is located behind Humber College's North Campus.The Humber Arboretum consists of botanical gardens and natural areas covering approximately 250 acres (101 ha) of the West Humber River Valley. This unique site is part of the Carolinian bioregion, one of the most diverse ecosystem in Canada, and boasts over 1,700 species of plants and animals. Programs at this location are run out of the Centre for Urban Ecology, Ontario's only Platinum Certified EcoCentre. This facility, which achieved LEED® (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Gold Certification, is a real-world example of how we can work towards creating a sustainable environment in our own urban spaces.

During May and June only, the Humber Arboretum also offers outdoor education programs at Humber College's Lakeshore Campus. (Lake Shore Blvd W. and Kipling Ave.). At this location students will have a chance to experience the diversity of life at Colonel Samuel Smith Park, a truly unique, human-created waterfront park that has only been around since 1993.

Ontario Curriculum Connections

All programs offered at the Humber Arboretum are designed to meet specific curriculum expectations; as well they have the option of being fully customizable to suit the needs of your class. Program listings below identify the grades for which direct connections are available, however all programs are adaptable to other grades.

Program Options

All bookings at Lakeshore must be for a full day; Arboretum bookings may be for a full-day or a half-day. For full-day bookings you may select one full-day program or pair two half-day programs. The list below gives you an idea of the topics available; for full program descriptions and more information visit https://humber.ca/arboretum/learn/school-programs.html

PROGRAM	CURRICULUM CONNECTIONS	AVAILABILITY	LOCATION
Nature Walk	All grades	All year / May & June	Arboretum / Lakeshore
The Wonders of Wandering	All grades	All year / May & June	Arboretum / Lakeshore
Art & Ecology	All grades, visual art	All year / May & June	Arboretum / Lakeshore
Sensational Senses	Pre-K, Science	All year / May & June	Arboretum / Lakeshore
Nature Time	K, Belonging & Contributing	All year / May & June	Arboretum / Lakeshore
Pond Life	K-4, Science	April-October	Arboretum
Ecology Games	K-4, Science	All year / May & June	Arboretum / Lakeshore
Healthy Planet, Healthy Lives	K-8, Social Studies	All year / May & June	Arboretum / Lakeshore
Life's Cycles	Grade 1, Science	All year / May & June	Arboretum / Lakeshore
Mastering Maps	1-3, Social Studies	All year	Arboretum
Snowshoeing	All grades	Jan to Feb, weather permitting	Arboretum
Maple Syrup Harvesting	All grades	Feb to March	Arboretum
Growth & Changes in Animals	Grade 2, Science	All year	Arboretum
Air & Water in the Environment	Grade 2, Science	All year / May & June	Arboretum / Lakeshore
People and the Humber	Grades 2-8, Social Studies	All year	Arboretum
Soils in the Environment	Grade 3, Science	April to Oct / May & June	Arboretum / Lakeshore
Growth and Changes in Plants	Grade 3, Science	April to Oct / May & June	Arboretum / Lakeshore
Rocks and Minerals	Grade 4, Science	All year	Arboretum
Habitats and Communities	Grade 4, Science	All year / May & June	Arboretum / Lakeshore
River Study	Grades 4+, Science	April to Oct	Arboretum
Survival Game	Grades 4+, Science	All year	Arboretum
Energy/Resource Conservation	Grade 5, Science	All year	Arboretum
Biodiversity	Grade 6, Science	All year	Arboretum
Eco Team Building	Grade 6+	All year	Arboretum
Interactions in the Environment	Grade 7, Science	All year	Arboretum
Water Systems	Grade 8, Science	All year / May & June	Arboretum / Lakeshore
Sustainable Ecosystems	Grade 9, Biology	All year	Arboretum
Climate Change	Grade 10, Earth & Space Science	All year	Arboretum
Plant Evolution	Grade 11, Biology	All year	Arboretum
Population Dynamics	Grade 12	May to Oct	Arboretum

The Humber Arboretum also offers summer camps, community workshops, and public events. Visit our website and social media channels to see what's new at The Arb.

Address

205 Humber College Blvd Etobicoke. Toronto

City

Toronto

Province

Ontario

Grade

Program Type

Field Trip

Cost

Fee

Offering

Camps

Classes | Workshops

Guided Tours

Interpretive Program

Self-Guided Tours

Professional Development

Facebook Link

Twitter Link

YouTube Video

Video2

Video3

Language

English

French

Bilingual

Contact Provider

On School Programs

"... an exciting and engaging day for our students. (The nature educator) did an exceptional job. She connected easily with students and was able to motivate them to get their hands dirty and even wade into the river. This can be a difficult feat for inner city kids. It was very refreshing to watch our students interact with someone who is passionate about her work."

On Summer Camp

"My daughter has attended at least five summers. The camp is very well run, enthusiastically led by young leaders who genuinely like the kids and make it fun and educational for them, and the campers experience nature in a very urban environment. Not a cell phone or game player in sight. A gem of a day camp.”

"Our experience with the summer camp at the Humber Arboretum was outstanding. The programming successfully kept my rambunctious son engaged and little did he realize how much he learned. My son is a regular participant of summer camps of all kinds, and months later he still talks about how great this camp was. Unlike the usual 'nothing' response I’m acwlt_fielded to getting from him when I would ask him what he did that day, he would greet me at the end of each camp day full of excitement and eager to recount his experience."

”I have to say how impressed I am with your camp...“My nephew, son & son's friend said it was the best camp ever. In fact, my nephew, ….who lives in Ottawa said he enjoyed it so much that he wants to come back next summer to go to that same camp.”

On Community Programs and Professional Development

“We all remarked how wonderful [Jimmy] was in showing us the beautiful grounds, the many types of gardens - both mature and those being developed. His knowledge and enthusiasm made our tour especially interesting.”

"On behalf of the Rotary Club of Etobicoke, we would like to take this opportunity to thank you all for taking part in (the Enhancing the Self-esteem of Our Youth through Green Spaces project) and for supporting it during the planning phase. I also would like to extend a special thank you to the students, their instructor, and the Arboretum team for their hard work and for designing and building the beautiful flowerbeds... This initiative is a good testament of cooperation among public and private sectors, charitable organizations, not-for-profit and academia to give back to the community. When we are united, we do make a difference in the community!” - Maati Lahroussi, Chair, Youth Service, Rotary Club of Etobicoke

“Alix and Jimmy, Just a quick THANK YOU to you for the amazing job you did at our first (Early Childhood Education School of Health Sciences) Arboretum orientation! It feels so wonderful that we have introduced so many SHS students to this jewel, they can revisit throughout the year. ...in the words of 'many'..."you're simply the best!" - Julie Valerio, RECE, M.Ed. (ECE)

In the Press

Homeless youth learn wilderness survival skills at Humber Arboretum - Inside Toronto
"Donning rubber boots and plenty of bug spray, a group of Youth Without Shelter (YWS) residents headed to Humber Arboretum this week to learn some wilderness survival tips – everything from how to make a survival shelter in the woods, to how to hunt crayfish in the Humber River..."

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