Thanks to Allyson for the heads up on this new report, which is available in its entirety here.
More than 80% of children who participated in the study had been previously involved in gardening, either through school programs or informal experiences at home. Test results indicated that children that had any type of experience with gardening had more positive attitudes toward the environment when compared with students that had not gardened. The study showed that hands-on gardening activities are important to the development of environmentally concerned citizens, and that children's involvement in informal gardening experiences has as much impact on their environmental outlook as involvement in formal school-based programs.
Results from the study also found that there were gender and ethnicity differences among children, with girls and Caucasians appearing to benefit more from the gardening curriculum. Researchers suggested that future research should focus on the development of gardening curricula that target the needs and interests of boys and minority children. [emphasis mine]
Thoughts, anyone?
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