Designing Nature for Learning

School Gardens for Youth and Child Education

Abstract

In this paper, we discuss an ongoing project that provides university interns to K12 schools in Tucson, Arizona to build and maintain school gardens as well as help teachers and students to learn about the environment and sustainability through the gardens. Following current research, we propose that school gardens are a valuable tool for experiential learning for schoolchildren in both the sciences and social sciences. Drawing on our personal experiences in the program, we evaluate the effectiveness of the school gardens at one of our project schools, Manzo Elementary, located in a low-income, mixed-race neighborhood. We describe obstacles the program has faced, and how these have been overcome.