Articles
CULTIVATING YOUNG MINDS: USING A PLANT SCIENCE WORKBOOK TO INTEREST GRADE SCHOOL STUDENTS IN HORTICULTURE AS A CAREER
Article number
672_22
Pages
191 – 196
Language
English
Abstract
Recruitment activities for colleges and universities commonly focus on high school and community college students who may lack knowledge of the field and potential careers.
Early exposure to hands-on activities in Plant Science during grades K-12 can encourage students to explore Horticulture as an educational and career option.
However, as it is difficult for college staff to provide these experiences, it falls upon grade-school teachers to integrate Plant Science into the curriculum.
A needs assessment survey of all 3rd-5th grade teachers in St.
Lucie County, Florida, indicated that 75% of respondents already included Plant Science materials in their science, math, social studies and language arts curricula, but there was a strong (80%) perceived need for additional activities and information.
Eighty-five percent indicated a lack of basic experimentation skills or background resources as limiting their ability to introduce Plant Science concepts to their classes.
Therefore, a workbook of Plant Science based activities was devised to aid grade-school teachers in integrating Plant Science and Horticulture into their classrooms.
The objective of this paper is to discuss how a Plant Science workbook can be developed, demonstrate the workbook devised for the Florida school system and propose its use to encourage interest by students in Horticulture as a career.
Early exposure to hands-on activities in Plant Science during grades K-12 can encourage students to explore Horticulture as an educational and career option.
However, as it is difficult for college staff to provide these experiences, it falls upon grade-school teachers to integrate Plant Science into the curriculum.
A needs assessment survey of all 3rd-5th grade teachers in St.
Lucie County, Florida, indicated that 75% of respondents already included Plant Science materials in their science, math, social studies and language arts curricula, but there was a strong (80%) perceived need for additional activities and information.
Eighty-five percent indicated a lack of basic experimentation skills or background resources as limiting their ability to introduce Plant Science concepts to their classes.
Therefore, a workbook of Plant Science based activities was devised to aid grade-school teachers in integrating Plant Science and Horticulture into their classrooms.
The objective of this paper is to discuss how a Plant Science workbook can be developed, demonstrate the workbook devised for the Florida school system and propose its use to encourage interest by students in Horticulture as a career.
Authors
E. Lamb, A. Neal
Keywords
K-12 curriculum
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