The authors describe the benefits of elementary school gardening experiences and offer suggestions on how to nurture positive environmental attitudes among children through garden-based learning activities.

This project centered Indigenous history, culture, and sovereignty while also teaching about scientific principles connected to plants, agriculture, and gardening--key ideas the authors and professors hoped their preservice teachers (PSTs) would be able to use with the young learners in their future classrooms. The purpose of this work is for PSTs…

Awareness and appreciation of nature and environmental sustainability have become global issues. Egypt and Saudi Arabia have contributed to several serious initiatives to participate in the development of feasible solutions to these vital issues. The current research attempted to study the dimensions developed by those initiatives. The research…

Background/purpose: Despite progress in inclusive education policies, research has largely neglected the analysis of learning environments that are adjustable for all students. School gardens are learning environments that emphasize the broader view of participation on current perspectives of inclusion. This article discusses the possibilities and…

The much-needed interest in promoting a healthy lifestyle among school-age students has found a context for development: school gardens. There are numerous studies where using gardens as a teaching-learning context also improves students' performance in the experimental sciences. In this study, we proposed another interest that sets it apart and…

Purpose: This paper examines the views of Australian primary school parents regarding the food and nutrition education (FNE) curriculum. Associations with personal values (Universalism and Hedonism) and demographic measures were also explored. Design/methodology/approach: An online survey was conducted among 787 parents in March 2021. Parents…

Background/Context: This study seeks insights into teachers' experiences implementing Garden-Based Learning (GBL) in an elementary school. The breadth of studies supporting the use of GBL in K-8 schools in the United States alongside the paucity of studies specific to teachers' experiences implementing GBL highlights the importance of this work.…

Up to 250 children of different ages can be seen when entering Sekolahku-MySchool (SMS) in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, integrated and happily engaged, indoors or outdoors, in sustainable activities as part of their everyday learning. With ages ranging from 16 months to 13 years, the children engage in learning typical academic skills and techniques…

In recent years, many schools have taken up food gardening. This is a welcome trend, but it has had to be conducted as an extracurricular activity, often with the help of, or run by, parents and grandparents. Growing vegetables and fruit, if it is to be done well, is a complex activity. The potential good outcomes for health, learning, and…

Kelly Johnson introduces a series of lessons that incorporate literacy, observation, botany, history, place studies, writing, and art, with a long-term eco-literacy goal of connectedness and a conservation ethic. Johnson's initial idea to use Beatrix Potter as a model in the Lower Elementary classroom came after extensively researching…

A team of science teacher educators working in collaboration with local elementary schools explored opportunities for science and engineering "learning by doing" in the particular context of urban elementary school communities. In this article, the authors present design task that helps students identify and find solutions to a…

Current research suggests that nature experience and the cultivation of environmental literacy among students contributes to creative thinking, improved academic performance, and positive relationships with the natural world (Children and Nature Network, retrieved June 2013). Author Kelley Johnson saw this in her own childhood, which was blessed…

"Ripe for Change: Garden-Based Learning in Schools" takes a big-picture view of the school garden movement and the state of garden-based learning in public K--8 education. The book frames the garden movement for educators and shows how school gardens have the potential to be a significant resource for teaching and learning. In this…

Gerard Leonard and Kathleen Allen describe a variety of nature experiences as a part of the Montessori elementary tradition, beginning with a warning about the way contemporary life constrains children's experience of nature. Through a lyrical rendering of the nature-based expressions of children, Leonard and Allen look at a variety of approaches…

This article is a special blend of research, theory, and practice, with clear insight into the origins of Cosmic Education and cosmic task, while recalling memories of student explorations in botany, in particular, episodes from Mr. Leonard's teaching. Mr. Leonard speaks of a storytelling curriculum that eloquently puts perspective into dimensions…