Integrating Horticulture Biology and Environmental Coastal Issues into the Middle School Science Curriculum

Abstract

<jats:p>Encouraging students to become better stewards of the environment and to be more educated in science content knowledge is an important goal of today's educational leaders. Eight lessons were created to aid an established stewardship program (Coastal Roots) in introducing hands-on activities to middle school children in southern Louisiana. Students were tested on science content in the lessons using a pre-test, eight multiple choice quizzes (each focusing on a particular lesson), and a post-test. The “children's attitudes toward the environment scale” test was administered to evaluate environmental awareness changes in the treatment and control group students. Students who received the horticulture lessons improved their post-test scores by 11.4 points (<jats:italic>P</jats:italic> ≤ 0.05) in the first year and 25.07 points (<jats:italic>P</jats:italic> ≤ 0.0001) in the second year of the study. Significant increases in individual lessons were found both years. In the second year, students who received the lessons were more aware of their role in the environment than those who did not receive the additional lessons (<jats:italic>P</jats:italic> ≤ 0.01). The addition of horticulture lessons to the middle school curriculum enhanced student knowledge and stewardship of the environment.</jats:p>

Environmental, Institutional, and Demographic Predictors of Environmental Literacy among Middle School Children

“…Skelly and Zajicek [16] also found time outdoors was a key predictor of pro-environmental attitudes in their evaluation of a gardening program. In Louisiana, horticulture teachers found that students participating in a program with an outdoor component were more aware of their role in the environment than students who did not participate in the program [17].…”

“…Whatever the cause for limited evaluation, research addressing the drivers of EL is critical [22]. Although many studies examine factors contributing to at least one component of EL, [17], [23], [24], few if any address all four components or evaluate a broad suite of drivers. Efforts to standardize the way programs target and measure progress in all four elements include the National Environmental Literacy Assessment (NELA) project [7], [25] and the 2011 Framework for Environmental Literacy Assessment [6].…”

Building of environmental literacy among middle school students: the role of in-school, out of school, and psychological factors

“…also found time outdoors was a key predictor of pro-environmental attitudes in their evaluation of a gardening program. In Louisiana, horticulture teachers found that students participating in a program with an outdoor component were more aware of their role in the environment than students who did not participate in the program (Karsh, Bush, Hinson, & Blanchard, 2009 (Palmer, 1998), and the Environmental Education Act of 1990 in the United States, which reestablished the Office of Environmental Education after its elimination in the 1980s (Palmer, 1998 Given the potential role of EL in addressing global environmental crises and the rapid expansion of EE around the world, there is surprisingly little empirical research addressing how EL is formed . Further, even less research utilizes beforeafter, treatment-control designs.…”

“…Whatever the cause for limited evaluation, research addressing the drivers of EL is critical (Palmer, 1999). Although many studies examine factors contributing to at least one component of EL, (Bradley, Waliczek, & Zajicek, 1999;Karsh et al, 2009;Lisowski & Disinger, 1991), few if any address all four components or evaluate a broad suite of drivers. Efforts to standardize the way programs target and measure progress in all four elements include the National Environmental Literacy Assessment (NELA) project McBeth et al, 2008) and the 2011…”

Lettuce Grow: Universities Collaborating with Nonprofits to Provide Child Care Development Educators with Garden Knowledge and Experience

“…Many university-based horticulture departments explore the relationship between gardening programs and consumer knowledge and preferences. University-based programs in Louisiana and Texas (Karsh et al, 2009;Klemmer et al, 2005;Smith and Motsenbocker, 2005) studied student knowledge, environmental stewardship and confidence in science-based skills. These studies found positive correlations between garden participation and increased science scores and heightened environmental stewardship.…”