Term

Summer 2024

Capstone

Capstone Project

Degree Name

<-- Please Select One -->

Facilitator(s)

Jana Lo Bello Miller

Content Expert

Patrick Meisch

Abstract

The purpose of this capstone is to understand how making community connections through the creation of a community garden will emphasize environmental education and action from students. The guiding question of this project is: How can creating a community garden enhance environmental education and action for 10th-12th grade boys in a science elective? Throughout this project, I explore how 10th-12th grade boys' perceptions and feelings on environmental education and action develop and change through the process of creating, designing, and maintaining a community garden and making community connections through their school. Throughout this project, a multitude of major learnings occurred for me and the students participating. Three takeaways stood out to me the most; giving students the lead on the project created deeper enthusiasm and engagement throughout the community garden, students found greater enjoyment working outside than being inside of the classroom, students interacted more and created deeper relationships through the creation and design of the community garden. Each of these major learnings shaped the whole experience and taught the entire student as a person for an enriching learning experience. Completing this capstone project has given me new insights into the field of environmental education and action with teenage boys, something I hope to share with others in similar professions. I believe this project can benefit others by encouraging more instances of outdoor education and experiential learning. The learnings from this capstone can not only benefit science educators but anyone who works with teenage boys and anyone willing to bring the learning outdoors.

Project Type

Website Creation

Keywords

Community Building, Curriculum, Environmental Studies, Gender

dc_type

text

dc_publisher

DigitalCommons@Hamline

dc_format

application/pdf

dc_source

School of Education Student Capstone Projects

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Education Commons

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