I used to teach high school science in Oklahoma, and one day I brought in a stalk from a cotton plant with bolls of cotton still attached. Students asked me why I glued cotton balls to a stick.
My students and I lived in a rural town surrounded by pastures of cattle and goats and fields of wheat, soybeans and cotton. I was amazed to learn how little my students understood agriculture. After a few related incidents, I started incorporating agriculture into my science classes.
When the United States was formed, about 80% of the population lived and worked on farms. Within a century the number had fallen to 40%. Today, less than 2% of the population lives on farms.
When most Americans lived on farms, agriculture was part of daily life. Most kids did farm chores, and planting and harvest seasons dictated the schedule of the school year. Today, most Americans are several generations removed from agriculture, and agriculture is seen as a career instead of a part of daily life.
As an agricultural extension specialist focused on horticulture, I’ve found that gardens can be an excellent teaching tool. By integrating gardens into schools, students can grow up learning about agriculture and the food systems that shape their daily lives.
Many researchers have cataloged the benefits of school gardens, and they go far beyond seeing how food grows.
Gardening for education
As people increasingly left the farms in the early 1900s and became disengaged from agriculture, a gap began to emerge between the public’s perception of farming and the nuts and bolts of the practice. In 1981, the U.S. Department of Agriculture created a task force to address agriculture illiteracy. This task force resulted in the formation of the National Agriculture in the Classroom program, which provides educators with lessons and tools to improve students’ understanding of raising farm animals and crops, including gardening.
Gardening also has benefits beyond agricultural literacy. For very young children, gardening increases hand-eye coordination, which is linked to success in handwriting, math and reading. Gardening, instead of sitting in a classroom, increases students’ physical activity during the school day.
School gardening club members practice planting seedlings.
Ross Dettman/AP Images for Seeds of Change
During a typical indoor class, children sit about 84% of the time. While in the garden, children sit only about 15% of the time.
Getting outside and doing hands-on learning is more engaging than sitting in a classroom passively learning by lecture, because active learning engages more regions of the brain, resulting in better understanding and retention of concepts. Active learning also allows students to follow their own curiosity, which motivates them to learn and remember concepts.
A study showed that allowing more individual freedom in gardens led to an increase in positive attitudes toward school….
