Reykjavík Botanic Garden

Days to enjoy!

Valmynd

Projects and exhibitions

Climate Walk

Did you know the oldest plant at the Botanic Garden has sequestered carbon equivalent to the emissions of an average car over three months and 24 days?

The Climate Walk is an exhibit and guided tour through the Botanic Garden, discussing climate matters through the lens of the Garden's collection—its plants—and their habitats and roles in reducing climate threats.

This exhibit is sponsored by the Climate Fund and will continue until September 30, 2024.

Workshops and projects for schools

ABCDE+ workshops and projects for schools about water, soil and biodiversity

Artists and Botanic Gradens: Creating and Developing Educational Innovation (ABCDE+) er tól þar sem námsaðferðir sameina kennslu í náttúrufræði og listum.

The page features workshops and projects themed around water, biodiversity and soil. The workshops are the result of courses in three countries led by artists and scientists from Iceland, Lithuania and Ireland. ABCDE+ received funding from Erasmus+ and was directed by Ásthildur Jónsdóttir and Reykjavík's Department of Education and Youth in collaboration with Reykjavík Botanic Garden, Laugarnesskóli, Iceland Academy of the Arts, and botanic gardens and schools in Dublin and Vilnius, along with INSEA, the International Society for Education through Art.

The website offers the workshop projects in four languages: Icelandic, English, Irish and Lithuanian.

Biodiversity scavenger hunt for children and families

In the summer, visitors to the Botanic Garden can take part in a biodiversity scavenger hunt within Laugardalur’s ecosystem.

All kinds of organisms—animals, plants, and fungi—have made Laugardalur their home. This refers to organisms that exist naturally there, not the plants cultivated in the Botanic Garden. These include thrushes in the trees, earthworms in the soil, honeybees buzzing in the flower beds, dandelions pushing through the pavement, and so on. A whole world opens up when you look closely. Life finds a place everywhere.

To join the biodiversity scavenger hunt, information cards are available in the display greenhouse lobby. Ask staff if you can't find the cards. The cards have simple tasks/topics encouraging participants to search for certain types of organisms and consider some interesting questions.

See, sow and taste - food and biodiversity project for preschools and primary schools

Grow plants and learn more about food and biodiversity in the "See, sow and taste" project.

Want to learn more about plant cultivation through hands-on exercises with your students? Are biodiversity and local food important to you? If so, you and your students should participate in the "See, sow and taste" project by the Nordic Genetic Resource Center (NordGen) in collaboration with Reykjavík Botanic Garden.

The "See, sow and taste" partners welcome you to this fun project focusing on preserving diverse food plants in the Nordic countries. Children learn where food comes from, how plant-based food is produced, and the variety of food plants that can be grown in our part of the world. Topics like food heritage, sustainability and self-sufficiency in food production will also be in focus. The project is for primary school teachers and those with the oldest preschool groups (4-5 year old children).

Teachers receive an educational package with seeds, plant instructions, and discussion topics and activity examples related to cultivation. The seeds come from the shared Nordic seed bank run by NordGen.

There are four educational packages designed for different education levels, with one for preschools. Some packages require outdoor cultivation on school grounds, such as those with planting boxes needing care throughout the growing season, while others are for designed for indoor cultivation with plants ready for consumption/results after a month of growing. Teachers can choose one or more packages that best suit them and their school.

The project also includes possible educational visits to Reykjavík Botanic Garden where the same plants will be growing and groups can do tasks related to the educational packages and learn more about vegetable cultivation and growing conditions in Iceland.

The project starts spring 2024, once educational packages have been delivered to participating schools. Participation is free but for some packages, schools will need certain basic materials for cultivation. One package is generally intended for one class/student group.

About NordGen and the Nordic Council of Ministers

The Nordic Genetic Resource Center (NordGen) is an institution under the Nordic Council of Ministers, the official body for Nordic governmental cooperation. NordGen's main role is to preserve cultivated genetic resources and promote their sustainable use. NordGen also works on conservation plans, organizes conferences and meetings on the topic, and leads and participates in projects on genetic diversity of domestic animals, forests and cultivated plants. NordGen also manages the Nordic seed bank containing over 30,000 seed samples. The seed bank is crucial for developing and maintaining agriculture and food production in times of climate change and other environmental threats. NordGen is also one of the managers of the Svalbard Global Seed Vault.

See, sow and taste - educational package contents for primary schools and preschools

1: What is a seed?

Suitable for oldest preschool groups (4-5 years) and lower/mid-level primary school.

Plant species:

  • Peas
  • Wheat
  • White cabbage
  • Cucumbers
  • Clover
  • Thyme

Educational package goals:

  • Gain knowledge about seeds and germination

Discussion basis:

  • How do seeds look? Inside and out?
  • What does a seed need to germinate?
  • How fast do different species grow?
  • What do the sprouts look like?
  • What's on the sprout and roots?
  • Can you eat seeds?
  • What seeds do we usually eat?

Growing materials:

  • Germination paper or similar
  • tweezers
  • water
  • spray bottle
  • plastic bags

Growing method:

Indoors. Growing time: 1 month

What can be done:

  • Germination contest: Which species germinate fastest?
  • Which species grow slowly?
  • Experiments with different conditions. Moisture/dryness, darkness/light, nutrition etc.
  • Document with daily photos
  • Draw different species, first seeds then sprouts
  • Visit a grocery store, buy different edible seeds and taste them. For instance sunflower seeds, flax seeds, hazelnuts, walnuts, wheat grains, beans, peas, corn and more
  • Seeds are often very nutritious. Why might that be?

2: Grow your own microgreens/sprouts

Suitable for grades 1-6 in primary school.

Species in educational package:

  • Lettuce
  • Spinach
  • White cabbage
  • Peas

Educational package goals:

  • Gain knowledge about vegetable cultivation and raise awareness of where and how such foods are produced.

Discussion basis:

  • Where does our vegetable food come from?
  • How is it produced?
  • What vegetables are grown in the Nordic and Baltic countries?
  • Why is it important to grow food in the Nordic and Baltic countries?
  • Are vegetables good? Why?
  • What's your favorite vegetable?

Growing materials:

  • Plant lights, plant trays or plastic boxes with holes for sowing
  • Soil
  • Perforated plastic cover for protection
  • Watering can and water

Growing method:

  • Indoors. Growing time: 1-2 months. Can be harvested in portions.
  • Also possible to grow outdoors, sow seeds in planting boxes in late spring.

What can be done:

  • How long do seeds take to germinate? Document with photos over the growing period or draw pictures.
  • Measure height and size of plants during growth.
  • Examine, taste, smell and touch plants at harvest.
  • What's best? Is anything worse than something else?
  • Harvest plants in portions. Do new leaves grow after first harvest?
  • Make a salad or put on a sandwich.

3: Four different grain types

Suitable for grades 1-6 in primary school.

Species in educational package:

  • Wheat
  • Barley
  • Rye
  • Oats

Educational package goals:

  • Learn about the four grain types grown in Nordic and Baltic countries, why they're important and what they're used for.

Discussion basis:

  • History of grain. Why is it so important?
  • What is and was grain used for? Differences in cultivation between countries.
  • Why diversity is so important in grain cultivation. How could climate change affect grain cultivation?
  • Why is grain cultivation so important for food security?

Growing materials:

  • Outdoor planting boxes
  • Soil
  • Watering can and water.

Growing method:

  • Can start indoors or in greenhouse for transplanting outdoors in late spring. Also possible to sow directly in growing boxes in late spring.
  • Growing time: Spring to fall.

What can be done:

  • Visit the Botanic Garden and see the same species growing there
  • At harvest time: How many seeds does each plant produce? "Seed contest": Which plant or species produces most or least seed?
  • Grind flour from seed kernels, maybe even bake something
  • Buy various processed products from the species. Different breads, biscuits, muesli, oatmeal, non-alcoholic beer, pasta, bulgur, cakes and rolls. Taste and discuss
  • Document with photos, for example once a week. Measure plant heights.

4: What is diversity in plants?

Suitable for grades 4-10 in primary school.

Species in educational package: (each species contains 3-5 seed packets collected from different locations so color, shape, size and other aspects vary).

  • Turnips
  • Carrots
  • Radishes

Educational package goals:

  • Learn why genetic diversity is important and gain insight into the NordGen’s work

Discussion basis:

  • What does the term genetic diversity mean?
  • Why is it important?
  • What genetic traits of crops are important in Nordic and Baltic countries?
  • What traits are "visible" and which are "invisible"? For example, resistance to diseases and pests, and also things like nutritional value.
  • Discuss different practical examples like where, how and whether genetic diversity has been important throughout history. What might happen if there was no genetic diversity and we only grew a few plant species/varieties?

Growing materials:

  • Pre-cultivation in greenhouse or indoors. Also possible to sow outdoors in growing boxes in late spring. Soil, watering can and water.

Growing method:

  • Outdoor cultivation
  • Growing time: Spring to fall

What can be done:

  • Visit the Botanic Garden and see the same species growing there.
  • Measure height and size of plants during growth.
  • Examine the plants. Compare color, shape and size of leaves and roots. This is morphological difference but what "invisible traits" might be present?
  • At harvest time: Taste raw and cooked and compare flavor differences after cooking. Is there a difference in taste? If so, which tastes better? Is anything worse?
  • For younger participants: Blind taste test different varieties. Taste and guess which is which. If you can't grow the vegetables fully, buy them in a store for taste testing.

Wild genetic resources of cultivated crops

Crop wild relatives are wild plant species that are ancestors or close relatives to cultivated crops. Unlike their domesticated relatives, they must survive wild in nature without human intervention. Climate change progression is putting increased pressure on agriculture. The changing environment requires new properties in modern crops to adapt them making the genetic diversity of crop wild relatives a crucial resource. Modern and future plant breeders can look to these wild varieties to find useful properties to breed new crop varieties.

In Iceland, the diversity of forage and berry plant species is particularly high, and you can find wheat relatives here along with meadow foxtail grass, blueberries, strawberries, and cumin.