Louisiana is losing nearly 34 square miles of coastal land each year. Scientists predict by 2050 one-third of Louisianas coast land will disappear (LaCoast, 2004). Many restoration projects have begun to counteract the severe land loss. Scientists use restoration methods such as vegetative plantings, sedimentary and freshwater diversions, and hydrologic projects to prevent land loss. Coastal Roots, a school-based nursery stewardship project for upper elementary to high school students coordinated by Louisiana Sea Grant College Program and LSU AgCenter, helps students understand the land loss crisis and gives them a constructive way to help restore the damaged coastal habitats by providing student-grown plants for vegetative plantings. Because of the critical role that horticulture practices play in raising seedlings into mature transplants, eight standards-based horticulture lessons were created and taught in middle school classrooms at four schools over a period of two years. Ultimately, these eight lessons will (1) provide the science content and skills students need in order to be able to grow healthy seedlings, and (2) increase students awareness and concern about coastal land loss issues facing the citizens of Louisiana. The eight middle school science lesson plans were created to meet specific Louisiana Grade-Level Expectations for 463 students in 4 schools. Pre and Post-tests were given to each participating class (six grade through nine) in addition to the Childrens Attitude Towards the Environment Scale (CATES). Additional pre- and post-tests were given to selected classes not participating in the program. The evaluations tested both short and long-term memory on material contained in the lesson plans. The data was analyzed by school, gender, treatment, and grade level. Results for both 2003 And 2004 general science knowledge increased an average of greater than 20%. Long and short-term memory test indicated individual higher scores for the students who were instructed in this program compared to the control students. The Childrens Attitude Towards the Environment Scale or CATES indicated a significant increase in environmental awareness in participating students.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LSU/oai:etd.lsu.edu:etd-03282005-124326 |
| Date | 01 April 2005 |
| Creators | Karsh, Kathryn Lauren |
| Contributors | Pamela Blanchard, Edward Bush, Janice Hinson |
| Publisher | LSU |
| Source Sets | Louisiana State University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://etd.lsu.edu/docs/available/etd-03282005-124326/ |
| Rights | unrestricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached herein a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to LSU or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below and in appropriate University policies, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
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