Treesearch

Gardening produces not only vegetables and flowers, but also social and behavioral benefits. In low-income housing sites in New York, Philadelphia, and Chicago, gardening programs have resulted in reduced vandalism, new neighborliness, cleaned and painted buildings and streets, and other improvements. The human response to plants, and the qualities of plants that encourage this response, are valuable in the production of humanly satisfying environments.

Environmental requirements for adolescents are rarely met in urban settings. There are few opportunities and facilities for legitimate adventure. Public amenities and public places for private moments are inadequate. Programs and facilities that would enhance the "personhood" of the urban adolescent and increase the comfort and dignity adolescents experience in public places are needed.

Many children's books give the impression that we must leave the city to be "in nature.'' This is a review of children's books about nature found within city limits. The books include a natural history of New York City; a guide to city wildflowers and other weeds; a book about city trees; a delightful inquiry into the true nature of the roach; a book of experiments and collecting methods for amateur naturalists; and a story about a family of ducks in Boston. Readers of these books may not only learn to identify many urban forms of nature, but may also see some of the ways these join in our...

Urban people encounter wildlife in various ways. One of the most important is the vicarious encounter with animals in children's stories. The surprising number of children's animal stories can be divided into three categories, each of which affects children's beliefs, attitudes, and preferences for wildlife. Because children's stories may have such a lasting effect, we need to consider the ways in which animals are portrayed in them.

A modified semantic differential was developed to measure environmental attitudes of sixth-graders. Classes were selected to represent different socioeconomic and residence backgrounds and degrees of previous exposure to structured environmental programs. Results indicate that: exposure to environmental education fosters favorable environmental attitudes; socioeconomic background and exposure to environmental education do not influence attitudes toward familiar, nonwater natural elements; urban students from low socioeconomic neighborhoods are unfamiliar with natural processes involving...

This paper reports the preliminary findings of an extensive bibliographic search that identified studies or urban children in camp and outdoor education programs. These studies were systematically abstracted and classified qualitative or quantitative. Twenty-five percent of the abstracted studies were quantitative. The major findings, techniques of study, and policy suggestions of the studies are summarized. In general, the qualitative studies report considerable positive influence for urban children involved in camp and outdoor education experiences. The quantitative studies find only...

The study tests the hypothesis that the recreational preferences of urban teenagers differ with age, sex, ethnicity, and measurable attributes of activity and environment. Photos of activities are used to measure preferences, and the photos are scaled for content by a detailed appraisal. The results show that sex and ethnicity modify the preference process, and that choices are sensitive to attributes of the activity and of the environment in which the activity takes place. Several additional propositions are suggested by the data.

An appreciation of the positive attributes of the inner city environment, where most of the population of the country lives and works, can lead to its use as a learning environment. Through proper training we can help the teacher reach out into the community and to bring the community into the classroom. A positive attitude toward the values of the urban environment can increase the self-esteem of the inner-city child and make his education more relevant. Rural and suburban environments should not be presented as utopian, for the stimuli they provide are different but not necessarily...

With neighborhood organization, program flexibility, and child participation in the planning and implementation of activities, the Girl Scout program is designed to be highly responsive to the varying needs of individual groups of girls. There is no fixed agenda or focus on a single aspect of environmental education. Instead, the Girl Scout concept of total environment encourages activities that place equal emphasis on projects fostering development of self, community involvement, and a variety of outdoor experiences. The Girl Scout movement has both strengths and weaknesses as a vehicle...

Modern life fosters confusion and encourages passivity, and youth suffer most from this pattern. The Outdoor Challenge Program enables young people to experience the active roles and the clarity of purpose called forth by a wilderness opportunity. The experience appears to enhance their mental health during and after the program.