Foraging, Diverse Local Food Consumption, and School Connectedness: How Foraging Can Improve Achievement

This year, Upper demonstration teacher Jennifer Williams is employing a curriculum about foraging and learner’s connections with Nature and local food found in Nature. As a result, Michaela Ensweiler (PI) will be documenting and investigating how students learn over time as they learn about foraging. Nature-based education is very important in elementary schools but more information on how it is related to foodways and community is missing. The goal of this study is to help understand changes in students’ attitude, behavior, and knowledge of local edible plants . Data collection will take place during the winter quarter and will include video recordings of classroom activities, journals from students to track their attitudes over time, photographs of students working within Nature, and pre and post assessments about plant identification. Participation in this study is voluntary and will remain confidential. If you have any questions, please contact Michaela Ensweiler, PI at michens@g.ucla.edu, or Chris Jadallah, the faculty sponsor at cjadallah@g.ucla.edu.