Abstract
Numerous studies in applied pedagogical design have shown that, at all educational levels, direct exposure to the natural environment can enhance learning by improving student attention and behaviors. Implementing green walls—a “vertical garden,” or “living wall” interior wall that typically includes greenery, a growing medium (soil or substrate) and a water delivery system—provides environmental health benefits, but also provides a practical application within classrooms for minimizing directed attention fatigue in students by connecting them to “outdoor nature” within the indoor environment. Hands-on “project-based” learning is another pedagogical strategy that has proved to be effective across the spectrum of educational levels and across subject areas. Green walls have the potential to inspire critical thinking through a combination of project-based learning strategies and environmental education. The authors have outlined a curriculum involving the implementation of an indoor living wall system within a classroom-learning environment, incorporating project-based learning modules that interact with the wall. In conjunction with the passive health benefits of a green wall, project-based curriculum models can connect students interactively with indoor nature and have the potential to inspire real-world thinking related to science, technology, engineering, art, and mathematics fields within the indoor learning environment. Through a combination of these passive and interactive modes, students are connected to nature in the indoor environment regardless of weather conditions outdoors. Future research direction could include post-construction studies of the effectiveness of project-based curricula related to living walls, and the long-term impacts of implementing green walls in classrooms on school achievement and student behaviors.
Highlights
In the United States, students spend an average of 6 to 7 hours per day in the classroom setting for approximately 180 days out of the year (Institute of Education Sciences, 2008)
Young learners are expected to maintain attention for prolonged hours during the school day and are more likely to suffer from directed attention fatigue, or decreased ability to stay focused on classroom activities
Through a series of pilot programs that utilize multiple projectbased learning strategies in combination with a green wall program, we have developed a model curriculum that provides students with passive indoor exposure to nature
Summary
In the United States, students spend an average of 6 to 7 hours per day in the classroom setting for approximately 180 days out of the year (Institute of Education Sciences, 2008). The purpose of this article is to provide a practical application for implementing a nature-based learning curriculum into the classroom setting by utilizing green walls. By implementing green walls in classrooms, students can experience interactive learning through plant design, fabrication, and installation, and gain passive exposure to nature. This can encourage environmental perspectives and minimize directed attention fatigue (Supplementary Figure 1). The objective is for students to understand that each plant have different characteristics, and those elements are used to create a planting design for the living wall (Supplementary Figure 2) During this process, students are encouraged to discuss the following questions, in order to maintain a focus on the purposefulness of their exercise: Why bring plants indoors? Students are encouraged to discuss the following questions, in order to maintain a focus on the purposefulness of their exercise: Why bring plants indoors? How is there a disconnection between inside a classroom and the outdoors? How do you feel when you are playing in a park? Do you feel that way while in the classroom? How do plants provide oxygen? Following the specialist’s presentation, studies of plants, and facilitated discussions, students will better understand how STEAM disciplines are used to bring plants into the built environment
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