Grow your love of the natural world with ways to learn, relax and connect with the human and beyond-human members of our community.
Resource Highlights
Black in Nature
There are many wonderful Black environmental educators and researchers sharing their knowledge and experiences online. Here are a few of the people we like to learn from.
Indigenous Relationships With This Land
Indigenous people hold the knowledge that their ancestors have known for millennia. This includes an intimate and respectful understanding of the natural world.
Children & Family Activities
Explore connections between nature, art and people together. We’ve highlighted a few of our favorite activities for children of all ages, guaranteed to spark your curiosity.
Nature Meditations
We know that making time to de-stress is important. So we have teamed up with Duke alumnae to bring you some meditations to help you regain your focus and serenity.
Home Gardening Resources
If you’re inspired to hone your gardening skills after a visit to Duke Gardens, we’re here to help. Enjoy this selection of helpful resources and how-to highlights.
Garden Talk Articles
Garden Talk digs into the world of plants with horticultural highlights written by Duke Gardens staff members. We can’t wait to tell you more about some of our favorite flora found throughout the Gardens.
Collaborative Science
Collaborative science (also called citizen science or community science) is when people who aren’t professional scientists help collect and analyze information used to answer research questions that can’t be studied without a large group of people. Learn how you can participate.
Identification Tools
Many of the plants in our collection have labels, but the animals or fungi that live here don’t. If you want to figure out what that thing is, try using these helpful identification tools.
Comprehensive Resource Library
Search for resources based on interests, audiences and more.
Sé músico y científico con esta actividad.
Un video con instrucciones (video solo en inglés)
How do animals stay warm in winter?
Plant a garden at home.
Explore the seasons from out in the solar system.
In The Meherrin Creation Story, Stands Among Elk (Meherrin Nation) tells the fascinating tale of how the world was created according to the Meherrin people. This breathtaking story provides the explanation for many religious traditions and natural phenomena.
The Meherrin Creation Story follows the saga of a celestial being who fell from the Above World named Grandmother Mature Flowers. With the help of some creatures who already lived in the Below World, Grandmother Mature Flowers and her grandson, Sapling, begin to create everything we know today. However, Sapling’s evil twin brother, Flint, tries to undo their hard work by causing chaos at every opportunity. In order to proceed with creation, Sapling must vanquish Flint and restore peace among “Turtle Island.”
This story is full of sound effects for a truly immersive experience!
Triangle Native American Society (TNAS) was founded in 1984 to provide assistance and support for Native Americans in the Triangle and surrounding area, and was incorporated as a non-profit tax-exempt organization in 1985. Since its inception, TNAS has endeavored to promote and protect the Native American identity in the Triangle area by increasing the public’s awareness of the cultural and economic contributions made by Native Americans and enhancing the public recognition of the needs of Native Americans.
Vegetable gardening is becoming more popular—both as a pastime and a food source. We experience satisfaction in planting a seed or transplant, watching it grow to maturity, and harvesting the fruits of our labors. In addition, vegetable gardening offers a good source of exercise, with the added benefits of healthy snacks and food for the table.
Todos los días, el Museo de Vida y Ciencias compartirán contenido digital para proporcionarle formas interactivas de aprender, hacer preguntas y descubrir la vida y la ciencia de maneras nuevas y emocionantes.
Duke Gardens strives to be water-conscious at every turn, from our recirculating water features to rainwater collection and plant care. As water becomes an increasingly overused and ever-dwindling resource on a local and global scale, it is vital that substantial measures be taken to ensure its conservation. Here are some ways that Duke Gardens practices responsible water use.
The USGS maintains a variety of webcams across the U.S. These webcams provide valuable research information and data to the USGS scientists, the National Weather Service, emergency managers, and area residents to evaluate near, real-time conditions during natural hazard events (most webcams refresh every 5 – 20 minutes).
Live view from the webcams at the Duke Marine Lab Pilkey Center and Algae Ponds.
All plants need space to grow, the right temperature, light, water, air, nutrients, and time. Most also need soil.
Be a musician and a scientist with this activity.
Sé músico y científico con esta actividad.
Bring beautiful plants into your home in winter.
Find out about the shortest day of the year – winter solstice!
Explore trees in winter.
Look closely and see two small features that can help you identify trees in the winter: leaf buds, where new leaves will emerge; and leaf scars, where last year’s leaves fell off.
Not all trees lose their leaves in the winter. Learn about the special leaves of evergreen trees and explore some of the many different kinds at Duke Gardens. What evergreens live near you?
Make soup out of winter vegetables.
Questions?
Please contact us at 919-668-1707 or GardensEducation@duke.edu.