RESEARCH NOTES ON SCHOOL GARDENING
| The Horticulture Department at Texas A&M University is actively researching school gardens. Existing studies have shown that gardening significantly improves the environmental attitudes of younger students. |
| Three garden curriculum guides have been developed for teachers as part of this research: Project GREEN, Project GREEN II and Nutrition in the Garden, Learning Healthy Living Through Horticulture. A website on children's gardens called KinderGarden was created by the writer of Project GREEN to compliment her research on school gardens. This site was written by the author of Nutrition in the Garden.In addition to work with school gardens, research is also being conducted involving gardening with special populations. |
| For more
information about school gardens research at Texas A&M
University contact: Dr. Jayne Zajicek, Sarah Lineberger or Cynthia Davis Klemmer Mailing Address:
|
THE EFFECT OF PROJECT GREEN, AN INTERDISCIPLINARY GARDEN PROGRAM, ON THE ENVIRONMENTAL ATTITUDES OF STUDENTS
Sonya Skelly
Abstract:
Project GREEN, Garden Resources for Environmental Education Now, is a garden program designed to help teachers integrate environmental education into their classroom using a hands-on tool, "the garden." The objectives of this research project were to: 1) develop an interdisciplinary garden activity guide to help teachers integrate environmental education into their curricula; and 2) evaluate whether children developed positive environmental attitudes by participating in the activities. Students participating in the Project GREEN garden program had more positive environmental attitude scores than those students who did not participate. Second grade students, in both the experimental and control groups, had more positive environmental attitudes than fourth grade students. In addition, this research found a significant correlation between the number of outdoor related activities students had experienced and their environmental attitudes.
Research summary courtesy of Sonya Skelly
