Science in the Learning Gardens: a Study of Students’ Motivation, Achievement, and Science Identity in Low-Income Middle Schools

Motivation and achievement are important factors in the development of children and influence how they self-identify and which careers they end up choosing later in life. Yet often neither curriculum nor pedagogy are able to sufficiently address students’ cultural and motivational needs. A program in Portland tries to change that and battle the under-representation in science of students from racial and ethnic minorities by engaging children from low-income middle schools in outdoor, after-school science activities.