The PlantingScience program is a Student-Teacher-Scientist Partnership (STSP) program created by the Botanical Society of America, the purpose of which is to facilitate student learning in plant sciences and to provide them with an opportunity to work with a scientist mentor as they design and carry out a plant-based exploration in their classroom. 

This program was created in 2005 and has been in continuous operation since. In addition to continued support from the Botanical Society of America, PlantingScience's activities have been funded by the National Science Foundation and other professional plant science societies.

Participating students will log into the PlantingScience platform and communicate with their scientist mentor via a message board. At their teachers' discretion, remote meetings via Zoom or another online platform may take place as well. In all cases, measures will be taken to safeguard students' privacy and safety and to comply with COPPA and FERPA regulations throughout their interactions.  These include:

• Students under the age of 13 will not be permitted to log in until consent has been granted by their legal guardian.
• Students will use an anonymous login that is not connected to their school e-mail address.  
• Only the students' first name or nickname will be used.  No other identifying information will be entered into the online platform.
• Any submitted media (including student work, photos, documents, videos, and audio recordings) will not identify students beyond their first names or nicknames.  Submitting media to the platform is optional.
• All communications that take place between students and their mentors will be visible to and monitored by their teacher.

If your teacher has reached out to you to request consent for your child to participate, you can submit your consent online here: 

Parent/Guardian Consent Form

More information about the steps PlantingScience takes to protect participating students' privacy and other legal matters, please consult our Terms of Use.  You can also reach out to the PlantingScience team at psteam@plantingscience.org with any questions.