Exploring Sustainability Literacy through Nature Journaling in School Gardens

Julia K. Colbert

School of Sustainability, Arizona State University

Supervisory Committee:
Eileen Merritt, Co-Chair
Daniel Fischer, Co-Chair
Sallie Marston, Member

April 2, 2020

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Acknowledgements
Thank you to my supervisory committee, Dr. Eileen Merritt, Dr. Daniel Fischer, and Dr.
Sallie Marston, for your guidance and mentorship throughout the past few years. Thank you to
our school partner for welcoming us into your gardens, classrooms, and lives. Thank you to my
family and friends for your love and support; and a special thank you to Rosie for keeping me
company during many hours of reading and writing.

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Abstract
Nature journaling in school gardens is a unique way to engage students in the natural world,
providing time to notice, wonder, and observe through writing and drawing while engaging in
environmental and sustainability learning. With the number of school gardens increasing in the
United States, educators can benefit from understanding what students experience while
participating in garden-based learning activities so they can adapt their teaching to fit the
educational needs of their participants. School garden studies typically focus on measuring
academic and health outcomes and nature journaling studies typically focus on educator
experiences with one classroom. We facilitated a nature journaling study with four elementary
classrooms in a public, Title I school in the desert southwest to explore student experiences
while nature journaling in their school garden. Our findings show that nature journaling provides
opportunities for students to engage in sustainability literacy by helping them to develop a sense
of place in their school garden, inspire environmental stewardship, and practice systems
thinking right outside their classrooms.
Keywords: school gardens, nature journaling, sustainability literacy, sense of place, systems
thinking

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Background
Children are becoming increasingly disconnected from the natural world. With a rise in
urbanization and technology use, children today are spending less time outdoors (Louv 2012).
Louv (2012) calls this “nature deficit disorder” because this missing connection to nature
negatively impacts children in a variety of ways. They are less focused and less healthy; Louv
(2012) predicts they may be one of the first generations whose parents will outlive their children.
In addition to the individual negative mental and physical effects of being disconnected from
nature, this disconnect will likely be detrimental to the long-term sustainability of our planet.
According to Richardson et al. (2019, p. 5) “connectedness to nature has been shown to be a
much stronger predictor of environmental behavior than other factors, including environmental
knowledge.” This is something we must keep in mind during this time when we have far
surpassed our planet’s natural resources and are barely meeting the social and economic
needs of society (Leach, Raworth, & Rockström 2013). We need our next generation of leaders
to be both connected to nature and sustainability literate, and K-12 schools can play an
important role in this type of education. Through a qualitative study conducted at an elementary
school in Scottsdale, Arizona we explore how student’s experiences while nature journaling in
school gardens may be a way to deepen children’s connections with nature and engage in
sustainability literacy.
Theoretical Framework
Deepening children’s connections with nature through school garden nature journaling to
increase sustainability literacy requires a variety of practices and pedagogies. Though there are
many frameworks that conceptualize these practices and pedagogies—e.g. sustainability
education, education for sustainability, education for sustainable development, ecological
literacy, environmental literacy—Victor Nolet’s definition is often used a framework for outlining
goals in K-12 and teacher education (Sterling 2004; United Nations Educational, Scientific and

5
Cultural Organization 2005; Corcoran, Weaklan, & Wals 2017; Nolet 2009). For Nolet,
sustainability literacy is “the ability and disposition to engage in thinking, problem solving,
decision making, and actions associated with achieving sustainability,” and “would involve
knowledge, skills, and values that inform an individual’s mental models and day-to-day
behaviors,” (2009, p. 421). He describes nine themes that may contribute to sustainability
literacy: stewardship, respect for limits, systems thinking and interdependence; economic
restructuring, social justice and fair distribution, intergenerational perspective, nature as model
and teacher, global citizenship, and importance of place (Nolet 2009). These themes are
derived from existing theories and empirical work in sustainability and environmental education.
This study will focus on stewardship, systems thinking and interdependence, and importance of
local place since these themes will likely be most salient to nature journaling in school gardens
with elementary-aged students. The other six themes may become more relevant to our study
during our data analysis. The three themes are most directly related to nature journaling in
school gardens based on our experiences during student interviews and a first glance at several
student nature journals.
For Nolet, stewardship as a theme of sustainability literacy “emphasizes a human
connection to the natural and physical world, and the importance of establishing an ecological
ethic for managing, restoring, and preserving the biological integrity of ecosystems. It implies
caring about, and therefore caring for, the environment,” (2009, p. 422). Nature journaling in
school gardens is one way to engage students in stewardship because students are spending
time in the natural world while participating in an activity that encourages them to reflect on
nature spaces. They learn about the environment in their garden through their observations and
guidance from their teachers, which likely inspires them to think beyond just their school garden
and consider the environment more broadly. Fien (1997) discusses how teachers can help their
students develop an “ethic of care” to more deeply engage in advancing sustainability
transitions. He cites Noddings (1984, 1992) to describe the caring process, which involves: “(1)

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conceptual and emotive understanding, (2) positive regard and respect for the feeling and
intrinsic value of other persons, animals, plants and non-living things, recognition of
her/his/its/their rights, and (3) the motivation, willingness, and skills to act to protect and
enhance these feelings, values, and rights,” (p. 439). This caring process seems to align closely
with Nolet’s (2009) version of stewardship—connecting to nature and both caring about and
caring for the environment. Nature journaling, especially with elementary-aged students, can be
a first step to developing lifelong environmental stewards.
The systems thinking and interdependence theme of sustainability literacy is about
understanding relationships in nature, connections between environmental, economic, and
social systems, and how these systems change over time (Nolet 2009, p. 423). Elementaryaged students in the United States may not always have the opportunity to engage in systems
thinking as conceptualized by Forrester (1968) and Meadows (2008), but recent curricular
frameworks such as Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) suggest the importance of
systems thinking through Crosscutting Concept 4: Systems and System Models (2013). Within
the NGSS Framework, this concept includes “defining the system under study—specifying its
boundaries and making explicit a model of that system—provides tools for understanding and
testing ideas that are applicable throughout science and engineering” (NGSS 2013, p. 1). Below
is a learning progression for systems and system models across K-12 grade levels. We focus
on progressions for grades 3-5 and 6-8 in Figure 1.

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Figure 1
Next Generation Science Standards “Systems and System Models” Cross-Cutting Concept Learning
Progression (2013, p.8)

The NGSS (2013) “Systems and System Models” concept is directly aligned with what
students can learn through nature journaling in school gardens. School gardens provide
opportunities for students to learn about ecological systems through direct experiences with
plant and animal life, and during each nature journaling session they are observing and
reflecting upon these experiences just outside of their classrooms. For example, they will learn
that a plant is not just an individual plant, but part of a larger system of their school garden and
local environment.
Importance of local place in sustainability literacy is about knowing about and connecting
to where one lives since our understanding of much of the world is situated in the places we live
(Nolet 2009). This theme can be thought of more specifically as fostering a sense of place, a

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concept explored often in human geography by Relph (1976, 1997), in place-based education
by Sobel (2014), and child development and place-making by Chawla (1992). Kudryavtsev et al.
(2012) describe existing elements of sense of place from key literature—including place
attachment, place dependence, place identity, and place meaning— then propose how
experiential and/or instructional educational approaches can affect sense of place. They
describe place attachment as how strongly people are attracted to places, and place meaning
as the reasons for this attraction (Kudryavtsev et al. 2012, p. 233). They also discuss “ecological
place meaning,” a dimension of place meaning “reflecting natural elements or ecological
features of places,” a potential contributor to pro-environmental behavior (Kudryavtsev et al.
2012, p. 235). Vaske and Korbin (2001) describe place dependence as a functional attachment
to place and place identity as an emotional attachment to place. Kudryavtsev et al.’s experiential
approach is focused on “developing place meaning and strengthening place attachment through
direct, frequent, and positive experiences in places.” Their instructional approach is focused on
“conveying predetermined and developing new place meaning, and strengthening place
attachment using discussion, texts, art, and other indirect means,” (2012, p. 239). The
combination of these elements of fostering a sense of place can be applied to nature journaling
in school gardens. Nature journaling in school gardens is both an experiential and instructional
learning experience as defined by Kudryavtsev et al. (2012). Students spend time outdoors
actively experiencing nature in their school garden while capturing their experience through
writing, drawing, and discussion.
Literature Review
Nature Journaling
Nature journaling is an activity that is appropriate for a variety of ages and disciplines. It
is usually structured with a prompt and time for participants to observe, write, and draw.
Naturalists like Rachel Carson, John Muir, Aldo Leopold, and Henry David Thoreau kept nature

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journals to document and reflect upon the natural world. When used in school settings, nature
journaling is a way to practice observation skills in nature, or perhaps a school garden which is
a form of structured nature, while improving literacy skills in the classroom. It requires few
materials and can take as much or as little time as needed. A few books exist on best practices
for nature journaling and drawing such as Leslie and Roth’s (2003) Keeping a Nature Journal:
Discover a Whole New Way of Seeing the World Around You and John Muir Laws (2012)
Opening the World through Journaling: Integrating art, science, and language arts. Leslie and
Roth’s practitioner-oriented book defines nature journaling as “the regular recording of
observations, perceptions, and feelings about the natural world around you,” (2003, p. 5). They
encourage nature journaling to be done in whatever format works best for the individual. Leslie
and Roth (2003) have a very broad definition of nature, so nature journaling can take place
anywhere from a densely wooded area without a person in sight to a busy city street. They
believe that “the purpose of nature journaling is to study where you live and how you relate to it,”
a direct connection to Nolet’s (2009) themes of systems thinking and interdependence and
importance of local place. The John Muir Laws (2012) book introduces field journaling, a stricter
approach to nature journaling than Leslie and Roth (2003). Journaling for him is about taking
notes, making observations, and developing questions to aid in the scientific inquiry process
(Laws 2013). He provides straightforward guidelines for how to engage students in journaling,
including how to give feedback on writing and drawing and a variety of lesson plans and
activities to inspire educators to bring nature journaling to their students.
A few educators have described their experiences using nature journaling in their
classrooms (Cormell & Ivy 2012; Johnson 2014; McMillan & Wilhelm 2007). Cormell & Ivy
(2012) explain their action research project to pilot nature journaling as a way to engage
students in science learning outdoors instead of only in the classroom. Their students used
nature journals for nature observations, drawings and personal reflections. Cormell & Ivy (2012)
described how they used Mosesley, Dsjean-Perrotta, and Utley’s (2010) Draw-an-Environment

10
Test Rubric to assess student drawings for change in environmental knowledge. They found
that overall, the quality of student journal entries and student knowledge about the environment
increased throughout their action research project. Johnson (2014) advocated for broader use
of nature journaling in early childhood education. She explained that “the addition of a journal
practice to regular outdoor environment exploration allows the child to assimilate their
observations and experiences while laying a foundation for literacy education,” (Johnson 2014,
p126). However, she did differentiate between early childhood and elementary-aged nature
journals, stating that young children have nature journals to document inspiration and wonder
while older children have field journals to record observations (Johnson 2014). This explicit
differentiation was not present in any of the other articles, though Warkentin (2011, p. 229) did
state in their Central Park-based study with university students that “the nature journal is NOT a
personal diary of private feelings. It IS your observations, responses and reflections upon the
world around you. It is meant to be seen by others,” a nature journaling norm suggested in
Leslie and Roth’s (2003) book that Warkentin used to guide the study with her students.
Johnson (2014) created guidelines for nature journaling and discussed how support is key for
adding outdoor experiences, like nature journaling, to classrooms. McMillan & Wilhelm
conducted a study with 67 seventh-grade students to “explore how integrating nature studies
with language arts instruction can equip students to engage in skillful readings of literature, their
changing selves, nature phenomena, and the world around them” (2007, p. 371). After
facilitating a moon observation project with the students over a five-week period, they used
ethnographic and reader response theories to analyze student moon scrapbooks, moon
journals, along with eight student interviews. McMillan and Wilhelm (2007, p. 375) provided few
examples of poetry assignments from the students’ science course that demonstrated that the
students were developing “a broader, more authentic, perspective of language usage,” a
change that may also be seen through nature journaling.

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Of the existing nature journaling literature, McMillan and Wilhelm (2007) is the only study
that captures student experiences of elementary-aged students’ nature journaling. Two other
papers, Arnold (2012) and Warkentin (2011) also capture student experiences from interviews
and student artifacts, but their studies were with university students, not children. Arnold (2012)
did a study of online multimedia nature journaling with students in an introductory environmental
studies course to examine how online journaling can influence time spent outdoors,
environmental awareness, and nature perceptions. Arnold (2012) facilitated data collection via
surveys and found that students who participated in nature journaling spent more time outdoors,
increased awareness of nature, and changed their perceptions of nature, though they did not
always see how nature journaling was explicitly connected to the content of their course.
Warkentin (2011) used in-person nature journaling with senior undergraduate and graduate
geography students in a course called Environmental and Sustainability Education. She
integrated nature journaling into the course as a weekly activity so her students could engage in
experiential learning as a pedagogical approach, as well as demonstrate place-based learning
as a tool for environmental and geographic education. She based her nature journaling norms
on Leslie and Roth’s Keeping a Nature Journal book and Payne and Wattchow’s (2009) article
about “slow pedagogy of place”. She took her students to Central Park once a week where they
visited the same place for a significant period of time to record their observations, experiences,
and knowledge. Over the course of the semester she wanted her students to experience “quality
of time” and “continuity in place,” part of the slow pedagogy, which many of them did as evident
through their shared work and reflections (Warkentin 2011, p234). These aims align with her
teaching objectives, as these students are aspiring environmental and geographic educators
who must be attuned to ideas of “place” to most effectively engage their future students.
Although McMillan and Wilhelm (2007), Arnold (2012) and Warkentin (2011) share meaningful
student experiences, the papers are still primarily focused on teacher experiences and
reflections from facilitating nature journaling with their class, not direct student experiences

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while journaling. More studies are needed to explore what students are thinking, feeling,
observing, and learning while nature journaling.
School Gardens
Nature journaling can be done in a variety of places, from backyards to city streets to
national parks. School gardens are a unique place for nature journaling because students can
spend time exploring ecosystems while also learning how to care for plant and animal life at
their school. These gardens connect students to nature and engage them in science learning in
many meaningful, hands-on ways. School gardens have been growing in popularity for the past
few decades, as of 2015 there are over 7,000 school gardens in the United States according to
the USDA (2015) Farm to School Census. There is no blueprint for how a school garden should
be designed and implemented, garden design depends on the local landscape and the
students, faculty, staff, administrators, and families that contribute to the school community. This
type of learning space provides a combination of experiential learning and outdoor education for
students and teachers to incorporate into their classrooms and schools. In a recent issue of
Green Schools Catalyst Quarterly, authors Elmer-Dewitt and Coleman (2019) discuss how
school grounds are used to teach sustainability at a charter school in Chicago. The students
study topics like weathering and erosion, fractions, pollinators, biomimicry, and conservation,
engaging in NGSS standards while using their school garden (Elmer-Dewitt & Coleman 2019).
School gardens are a place to engage students in learning outside of their classroom while
addressing academic goals and standards.
There have been a growing number of studies published over the past few decades as
the popularity of school gardens has increased. Many of these studies are focused on academic
achievement and nutrition (Ozer 2007; Williams and Dixson 2013; Berezowitz et al. 2015) and
some suggest that school gardens can be used to teach about systems thinking,
interdependence, and sense of place (Cutter-Mackenzie, 2009). Ozer (2007), Williams and

13
Dixon (2013), and Berezowitz et al. (2015) have synthesized school garden research from the
past few decades. Ozer (2007) developed a conceptual framework for the potential effects of
school gardens based on her review, including but not limited to nutrition and exercise, school
bonding and attachment, academic performance, and conservation and ecological commitment.
She found that there are major gaps between research and practice in school gardens, which is
concerning because they are gaining so much popularity at such a fast pace. Williams and
Dixon (2013) were interested in examining how school gardens achieve academic outcomes to
ensure legitimacy in schools. Their review found “overwhelmingly that garden-based learning
had a positive impact on students’ grades, knowledge, attitudes, and behavior,” across all grade
levels (Williams & Dixon 2013, p. 225). Berezowitz et al. (2015) were interested in health,
specifically fruit and vegetable (FV) consumption, and academic achievement. Their review
found that garden interventions may favorably impact both academic performance and FV
consumption.
Across the three literature reviews of school gardens, few of the many papers
referenced by the authors explored topics like systems thinking, interdependence, and sense of
place. Though academic and health effects of school gardens are important to note, gardens
are special places in schools that can mean more to students than test scores and trying new
foods. They occupy a space between the classroom and the outside world that not all students
have access to despite the thousands of school gardens that exist in the United States. CutterMackenzie (2009) describes a very different study than any captured in the three reviews.
During the time of her study the Australian government funded a program called Multicultural
School Gardens to implement school gardens in low-income schools. The gardens were to be
used for growing food and implementing culturally-focused environmental education programs.
While the majority, if not all, of the studies from Ozer (2007), Williams and Dixon (2013), and
Berezowitz et al. (2015) used methods such as pre-post surveys and traditional experimental
design, Cutter-Mackenzie (2009) asked the children to be researchers in addition to conducting

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pre-post surveys and performing her own ethnographic field work at the school. The children
kept journals, took photographs, and facilitated peer reviews about the Multicultural Garden
Program. Through this mixed-methods approach she found that many of the students were able
to practice English through the garden, the gardens gave the students time for “slowing down,”
and they became spaces for everyday conversations between students, families, and teachers
that helped to form a sense of community at the school. This paper’s rich description and study
of the garden program as a whole still provides information about health and academic success
while building a case for why gardens are so important beyond outcomes that are quantitatively
measured. More qualitative, student-centered studies may be helpful in understanding the
perspective of students in their involvement with school gardens so educators and practitioners
can develop meaningful learning experiences in these spaces.
Research Questions
We address the following research questions in our study:
1. What do students experience while nature journaling in school gardens?
2. What elements of sustainability literacy are evident in students’ nature journals?
Methods
Study Context
Our study was facilitated at an elementary school in the desert Southwest. The school is
a public, Title I school with five gardens and a variety of green spaces on their campus. Our
research team developed a relationship with educators at the school through another research
project on a cooking program hosted at the school by local chefs each week. The gardens are
maintained by a volunteer master gardener and his partner. Our team wanted to find a way to
engage the students more actively in the garden space and co-developed the idea of a nature
journaling program through one of our research team members. The volunteer master gardener
and partner donated nature journals to four classes, two third-grade and two sixth-grade,

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selected by the principal to pilot the program. The principal chose the four classes because
each of the four teachers was interested in testing this new initiative and each had very different
backgrounds, teaching styles, and level of teaching experience. Prior to collecting data, the lead
investigator met with the teachers a few times to provide them with nature journaling resources
and guidance, then we both attended nature journaling sessions to support the teachers as they
nature journaled with their students. During the study the teachers were encouraged to take
their students outside to the gardens once a week for ten weeks to journal for 20-30 minutes
with a prompt that fit the needs of their class at that time. We purposefully encouraged teachers
to be very open and flexible with their prompts and classroom nature journaling norms since
using their own knowledge of their students to determine the best framework. If asked, we
provided them with ideas or guidance, but otherwise tried to attend all nature journaling
sessions as support for the students and teachers rather than directors. Each class journaled
10-15 times throughout the study.
This study was embedded within a design-based research approach on nature
journaling. The initial study focused on teacher experiences enacting nature journaling. Designbased research is situated between traditional qualitative research and action research
(Anderson & Shattuck 2012). We were interested in making a positive change in a community
through an intervention while also building theory. We consistently adapted our research
process to teacher and student needs. For example, we met with the teachers monthly to check
in on how they were doing, how they thought their students were doing, and to provide time and
space to reflect on and discuss their experiences.
This study used qualitative methods to assess the students’ experiences while nature
journaling. New knowledge about the student experience can help to inform educators about
best practices for nature journaling and finding ways to connect their students more deeply to
nature.
Data Collection

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We interviewed 25 students using semi-structured interviews, collected 52 nature
journals, and took photos of each class participating in journaling activities to capture the
students interacting with the space. Figure 2 includes questions we used during our semistructured student interviews.
Figure 2
Interview Protocol Questions
Main Question

Follow-Up Question(s)

1

Tell me about your school.

2

Tell me about your school garden.

What do you like to do in the garden?
Do you visit the garden often?
What do you do there?
How do you feel about the garden?

3

Ask if you can see their nature
journal. Tell me about your nature
journal.

How do you feel about your nature journal?
What is your favorite part about nature journaling?
What have you learned from nature journaling?

4

What is the difference between nature
journaling in the garden and nature
journaling in your classroom?

5

How does nature journaling make you
feel about your school garden?

6

How does nature journaling make you
feel?

How does it make you feel about the garden?
How does it make you feel about your school?
How does it make you feel about yourself?
school?

We obtained parental consent and child assent from each of the students who were
interested in participating in the study. Forms were translated into Spanish for students whose
primary language spoken at home is Spanish. Parents and students were made aware that
nature journaling would be a part of class activities regardless of study participation and if a
student (or parent) did not wish (their child) to participate in the study it would not affect their
grades. We obtained consent from 29/35 (82.86%) third-grade students and 27/43 (62.79%)
sixth-grade students in the four classes that participated in our study. The remaining students
did not return their signed parental consent and/or personal assent forms.

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We conducted student interviews during nature journaling sessions. After nature
journaling sessions we asked the students again if they were comfortable with us looking at their
nature journals, then took photos of the journals. Students were told that if there was a certain
page they did not want us to see that they could fold it over and we would not look at it. This
was done in addition to the initial consent and assent to ensure students felt comfortable
sharing their journals as part of a research study.
Data Analysis
We analyzed interview data to answer the first research question, and nature journals to
answer the second research question. Below, we describe our analytic process for each data
source. Though the codebooks were similar they were developed separately, so both the
analysis and findings will be split into two sections.
Interviews
We used thematic analysis to analyze the 25 student interview transcripts (Braun et al.
2018, Nowell et al. 2017). We developed a preliminary codebook of deductive codes and subcodes based on concepts from the theoretical framework, literature review, and teacher
perspective data. For example, codes such as stewardship, systems thinking and
interdependence, and ecological place meaning. We open coded four interview transcripts by
hand, then discussed codes and definitions.
After discussing the preliminary codes, we developed an updated codebook using
deductive codes from the theory and literature and inductive codes that emerged during
preliminary open coding. We removed a few codes including ecological place meaning and
stewardship, developed sub-codes for systems thinking, and added one code, biophilia (Kellert
& Wilson 1993). Ecological place meaning and stewardship were part of the original theory and
literature but were not present in the data. For systems thinking, we reviewed several papers on
systems thinking and ecology learning progressions (Keynan et al. 2014; Assaraf & Orion

18
2005). From these papers the sub-codes a) components and processes, b) relationships, and c)
patterns were developed, based on eight emergent characteristics of systems thinking,
otherwise known as the Systems Thinking Hierarchy (STH), developed by Assaraf & Orion
(2005). We developed the STH when exploring how students conceptualize earth systems using
systems thinking. These three sub-codes also aligned with NGSS standards discussed in the
theoretical framework so the authors agreed to the addition of these sub-codes. I used the
updated codebook to code the remaining interview transcripts by hand, then we discussed
emerging trends.
We established a finalized codebook with the codes: sense of place, systems thinking,
biophilia, emotions, noticing, sensory experiences, benefits, and barriers. The sense of place,
systems thinking, and emotions codes have additional sub-codes. Based on the literature and
our discussions, the systems thinking sub-codes were finalized as a) organisms, b)
relationships, and c) stability and change. Using the finalized codebook, I coded the interview
transcripts using the online coding software Dedoose. Once the transcripts were coded online,
we evaluated the code occurrence and co-occurrences across the 25 interviews. I exported all
coded excerpts to a Google Sheet and developed a code summary for each code and subcode, then used the code summaries and code occurrence and co-occurrences to guide the
writing of the interview findings.
Nature Journals
How the students described, drew, and engaged with sustainability literacy was often
reflective of the prompts provided by their teachers. Prior to beginning thematic analysis for the
nature journals, the authors determined what entries to code in each nature journal. Since the
teachers were given resources and guidance for journaling, but no required prompts developed
by the researchers, some prompts seemed to align with traditional definitions of nature
journaling while others were about related topics, such as cooking or sustainability. While these

19
topics were interesting and engaging for the students and teachers, they did not seem to align
to nature journaling as conceptualized in the literature. We developed a definition of nature
journaling based on Leslie & Roth’s (2003) book and experiences while nature journaling with
the students:
Nature journaling is capturing what you notice, observe, think, and feel about the
world around you through writing and drawing while spending time in nature. The
world around you is what you experience with your senses and emotions, and nature is
an outdoor space or place that is full of life.
We emphasize that nature journaling should be about capturing the world around you
while spending time in nature. I reviewed each journal and collected the prompts provided by
the four different teachers (Figure 3). If a prompt was not explicitly stated, I wrote a prompt that
fit what the students wrote based on their experiences participating in journaling on that day or
discussions with the teachers. Next, we determined which prompts fit the nature journaling
definition and which did not to ensure we were completing analysis on relevant parts of the data.
Due to the design-based research nature of the larger study, some of the prompts were codesigned between the research team and the participants. If a co-designed prompt fit the nature
journaling definition it was kept as part of the data to analyze. Students participated in 10-15
prompts total per class throughout the study and 5-8 prompts per class were included in this
analysis.

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Figure 3
Selected Prompts
Class 01

1. Describe and draw what you observe in the garden outside of your classroom.
2. Describe and draw what you observe in the garden outside of the sixth-grade
classrooms.
3. Reflect on your experience visiting the butterfly garden.
4. Describe a plant in the garden. How does it make you feel? What does it remind you
of?
5. Reflect on your experience visiting the desert tortoise habitat.
6. Write and draw what you see while spending time in the garden.
7. Compare and contrast the two types of milkweed plants we have in the garden.
8. Describe connections between plants and animals in the garden.

Class 02

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

Class 03

1. When you go outside, which of your five senses are you most thankful for?
2. Think back to all your experiences with nature. Make a list if you’d like. Choose your
favorite experience and write a detailed narrative.
3. Where is your favorite place to sit in the garden and why?
4. Spend 5 minutes observing the world around you. Write about what you notice the
most.
5. Do you consider yourself a nature lover? Why or why not?

Class 04

1. What types of clouds do you see outside?
2. How are you doing today? Pick a plant that describes how you are feeling or that
you connect with.
3. What do you notice, observe, and wonder about in the garden?
4. Draw a picture of something in the garden that matters to you, then write about why
it matters to you.
5. Name and draw a picture of you and your ladybug. Describe where you are
releasing your ladybug and why.

Write about how you have seen the garden change over the past few months.
Write about how the fig tree has changed over the past few months.
Write about what you notice in the garden today.
Based on the quote from The Littles: find a tiny masterpiece in the garden.
Write about the rain today.
Compare and contrast two plants in the garden. How are they the same? How are
they different?
7. Describe what you notice in the tortoise habitat.
8. Describe how you feel when you are in the garden.

Thematic analysis was used to analyze the 52 student nature journals (Braun et al.
2018, Nowell et al. 2017). We took photos of each page of consented nature journals and
combined the photos into PDF documents that were printed for the analysis. Written text and

21
drawings were included in the analysis. We open-coded four journals, one per class by hand. I
open-coded four additional journals, two per class. I chose the journals that had a response for
each prompt since some journals were more complete than others. We coded using finalized
codes from the interview data, deductive codes from the theoretical framework and literature
review, and any codes that emerged during this stage of the analysis. For example, we kept
codes and sub-codes such as sense of place, systems thinking, and stewardship because they
align with Nolet’s (2009) sustainability literacy, then added an emergent code called ecological
knowledge. Ecological knowledge included two sub-codes, learning content and sensory
experiences. We were interested in capturing how the students were learning about the garden
and thought it may be a cycle of learning content in class then experiencing ecological
processes in the garden. After open coding four journals, we discussed our coding results. I
coded all journals using the initial codebook by hand because we did not have any edits to the
codebook.
After coding all journals by hand, we met to develop an updated codebook using
deductive codes from the theory and literature and inductive codes that emerged during open
and initial coding. We expanded on codes such as ecological knowledge because all students
were encouraged to notice, observe, and wonder using their five senses in the garden. This is
an integral part of nature journaling. We were most interested in what specifically the students
were noticing, observing, wondering, and sensing, which seemed to fit best under the existing
code systems thinking and its sub-codes. For example, if a student drew a picture of a leaf, it
would be coded as systems thinking and organism, as well as whatever elements the student
specifically noticed about the leaf. Some sub-codes of the organism code included color, shape,
texture, and veins. Additionally, segments initially coded with the systems thinking sub-code
stability and change were re-coded with the systems thinking sub-code organisms. Many of the
instances of stability and change were focused on students describing or drawing plant life

22
cycles, which more closely related to organisms than the NGSS (2013) framework. Using the
updated codebook, I re-coded all journals by hand.
After coding the data using the updated codebook, we met to discuss any further edits to
the codebook. We agreed to finalize the updated codebook and were ready to add the codes to
Dedoose. The finalized codes were sense of place, systems thinking, writing style, stewardship,
emotions, and biophilia. However, while Dedoose was useful for the interviews, it was not useful
for the nature journals. Researchers can code segments as photos on Dedoose but cannot
export the text from the segments saved as photos, so after entering some of the nature journal
codes online, we decided to transfer the codes to a Google Sheet so the data would be easier
to transfer and understand. I reviewed all the nature journals again while inputting coded
segments and photo descriptions into a Google Sheet. I then developed code summaries for
each class since the prompts varied greatly per class. The code summaries were used to guide
the writing of the nature journaling findings.
Findings
Students’ Experiences: Developing a Sense of Place
To address our first research question—what are students experiencing while nature
journaling in their school garden—we found that students’ experiences were situated in
developing a sense of place. Sense of place includes place attachment, feeling connected to
place, and place meaning, creating meaning that facilitates that connection (Kudryavtsev et al.
2012). For the students, place attachment was described through their feelings of biophilia, the
students’ innate connection and affiliation to nature, the positive and negative experiences they
had while nature journaling in their school garden, and through the emotions they shared about
the garden during their interviews. Place meaning was described through what they noticed,
their sensory experiences, and their engagement in elements of systems thinking.
Place Attachment

23
Students described their place attachment by talking about experiences that
demonstrated biophilia, student experiences, and student emotions described during semistructured interviews. A majority of the students mentioned feeling a strong connection to
nature and their school garden, which we understood as an expression of biophilia. Students
typically described enjoying time outside around the plants, seeing the different colors in the
garden, and being in awe of the garden’s beauty. When asked about what they have learned
from nature journaling, one sixth-grade student shared:
"You get inspired out here...you see things, you like them and you write about
them...different than your usual surroundings in the classroom, you're used to
everything, you don't usually find anything different...but when you're in nature,
everything is always changing...plants are always growing, the wind is always blowing,
it's just gorgeous and I think that it's really inspiring.”
This student’s strong connection to the natural world exemplifies how many other
students felt while spending time nature journaling in their school garden. Biophilia was often
described alongside positive emotions, and a few times with sensory experiences.
During the interviews, students were asked to describe what they liked and did not like
about the garden and nature journaling. Almost all the students described positive thoughts and
experiences about nature journaling or spending time in the garden. Many of them discussed
how nature journaling is peaceful and inspiring, provided them with more time to be outside,
gave them a relaxing break during the day, and helped them practice writing. When asked about
their thoughts about nature journaling, one sixth-grade student shared:
“I think that every school should do it. Like I said, it helps you get out of the classroom,
helps you learn things, and helps you experience things being able to touch, feel, taste
things outside of your classroom.”

24
Many students felt similarly about their experiences. There were only a few instances of
negative experiences during nature journaling shared by the students. These negative
experiences were related to heat, bugs, space, and time.
Figure 4
Positive Emotions Described by Students
Positive
Emotion

Good

Peaceful

Relaxing

Calm

Happy

Inspired

Appreciative/
Proud

Code
Occurrence

18

9

7

6

19

5

4

Number of
3rd Grade
Participants

6

2

0

3

5

1

2

Number of
6th Grade
Participants

7

7

5

4

7

2

0

There were many examples of positive emotions described by the students when asked
how they feel about their school garden and how they feel about their nature journals. Students
expressed feeling happy, good, peaceful, relaxed, calm, inspired and proud while nature
journaling in their school garden. Figure 4 shows how many times the students used these
words to describe their emotions in their interviews. Third and sixth-grade students voiced
feeling good, calm, happy, and inspired similar numbers of times. Only sixth-grade students
described the garden as relaxing, and only third-grade students described feeling appreciative
or proud. When asked how nature journaling makes them feel, one sixth-grade student shared:
“... it makes me stress free, it makes me feel like I’m a bird, like I can just go anywhere I
want…”
This sentiments of peace and calm were shared by several students. Another student
conveyed how they felt better after writing in their journal because they were able to express
how they feel. In general, students described positive emotions when discussing being around

25
the plants, spending time outside, taking a break, expressing themselves, getting to write, and
having more opportunities compared to other students. There were only a few instances of
negative emotions. These negative emotions ranged from being scared of bees to feeling
“insignificant compared to all the things that are out there.”
Place Meaning
While place attachment is the feeling of connection to a place, place meaning is what
facilitates that feelings of connection. Students described what the garden meant to them in a
variety of ways. During their interviews, they conveyed what they noticed, their sensory
experiences, and their engagement with elements of systems thinking. A third-grade student
shared an example of both place attachment and place meaning when asked to tell us about
their school garden:
“The school garden is...we have three gardens. My favorite one is probably the sixthgrade garden...it's just really beautiful because there's a lot of trees and there's fruits and
vegetables and cabbage. And it has a lot of scent to it.”
The third-grade student says the sixth-grade garden is their favorite, describing place
attachment, and it is their favorite because of the plants and the way it smells, describing place
meaning. Many of the students told us about similar experiences noticing specific parts of the
garden and using their senses to engage with the garden. When explaining what they noticed,
students would often list and describe the different types of plants in the garden. Students would
point out their favorite plants and spaces in the garden, note the colors and textures of plants,
and even describe how they enjoy seeing how the “sun shines over nature.” One student
described a flower as a “face flower” because the flower looks like it has eyes and a mustache.
Another student described liking a specific type of flower because its polka dots look like a
galaxy. Instances of noticing sometimes occurred with instances of biophilia and systems

26
thinking, likely when students began connecting the details of the garden to ecological
processes.
Sensory experiences were described by just over half of the students. These included
instances such as enjoying the different scents of plants, hearing the breeze “rustle through
leaves”, tasting kumquats and other edible plants, feeling the sunshine, and being able to walk
around and observe while nature journaling. The students were able to use all five senses while
nature journaling, though not all students described using all five senses. One student in a thirdgrade class described nature journaling on a foggy day. They shared how it was a “very special
day” because felt like they were “in a cloud,” a rare sensory experience for students in Arizona.
While details noticed through sensory experiences were described by both third and
sixth-grade students, elements of systems thinking were primarily discussed by third-grade
students. Students typically used systems thinking when discussing ecosystems. Instances of
noticing and systems thinking sometimes co-occurred during student interviews. To differentiate
between the two, systems thinking was coded in references to ecosystems while noticing was
coded in reference to students listing parts of the garden. Systems thinking could be
categorized by a) organisms, b) relationships , and/or c) stability and change (Keynan et al.
2014; Assaraf & Orion 2005; NGSS 2013), Though there were three categories of systems
thinking based on the literature, the students often described at least two categories at once.
For example, one student discussed how they enjoyed writing about how plants react to the
weather. The student stated:
“when it’s really hot, some of the plants die, and some of them grow even more.”
In this example, the student used all three categories. They described the plants as
organisms, the relationship between weather and the plants, and how hot weather facilitates
change because some plants die and some grow more. Another student shared:
“I like the garden because there's bees, and I like when the bees are around because
bees spread the pollen and then that's how we get honey.”

27
This student used categories a) and b) by describing the bees as the organisms and the
relationships between bees, pollinators, and honey consumed by humans.
Engaging in Sustainability Literacy
To address our second research question — what elements of sustainability literacy are
present in students’ nature journals — we focused on the three elements of Nolet’s (2009)
sustainability literacy: importance of local place, systems thinking and interdependence, and
stewardship. While the experiences the students shared about nature journaling in their school
garden are situated in developing a sense of place, their nature journals provided a space for
the students to write and draw about their interactions with the natural world and reflect on their
emotional experiences over the course of the nature journaling initiative. The elements of
sustainability literacy present in the nature journals often overlapped with the codes that
emerged from the interviews with the students about their experiences.
Sense of Place
Students’ sense of place was evident in the journals of three of the four classes that
participated in our study. Students described their sense of place in terms of attachment, how
they felt while nature journaling, and meaning, what specific parts of the garden meant to them,
related to their school garden. The students in one of the third-grade classes wrote broadly
about how much they liked the colors and plants in the garden, especially flowers. When asked
how they feel while they are in the garden, one third-grade student wrote:
"When I am outside I feel comfortable and happy. When I am outside I feel peaceful
because I like all the colors and shades of green...when I am in class doing my work it
feels good just knowing I have a big and beautiful garden outside my classroom."
Students in one sixth-grade class discussed specific places they liked to sit in the
garden, a prompt provided by their teacher. Many students discussed how they liked being in
the garden because it is peaceful, shady, and they like being around the plants. Students in the

28
other sixth-grade class also discussed specific places they were attached to in the garden, such
as the “pomegranate circle” in the middle of the garden directly outside their classroom.
Figure 5
Ladybug release in pomegranate circle

Sixth-grade students discussed specific plants they felt connected to, a prompt provided
by their teacher (Figure 3, Class 4, Prompt 2). Often, the feeling of connection was related to
their place attachment or place meaning to the garden or their school. One student discussed
how a certain plant smell reminded them of positive memories from school:
"...this plant matters to me because when I think of this school white fluffy rosemary
comes to mind, that delicious maple syrup smell.”
For the three classes that described experiencing a sense of place in the garden, many
of the student’s written responses and drawings included biophilia. When asked to discuss their

29
favorite place in the garden, a sixth-grade student wrote the following about her love of the
plants and animals in the garden:
"I don't really have a favorite place, but I like to sit next to the strawberries, peppers, and
the plants where the caterpillars are and the ladybugs are. I love ladybugs and
caterpillars, they're so cute! I like sitting next to the strawberries because I like how they
turn out, I like seeing how they are doing, I just like strawberries..."
A third-grader shared similar experiences of biophilia related to the fig tree directly
outside of their classroom. When asked to observe how the fig tree has changed over time, the
student wrote:
"This tree is my favorite tree in the whole garden and it is so pretty to look at and fun to
fan yourself with its big leaves."
This student describes her love for the fig tree and associates it with spending time
outside in the school garden, an example of her place meaning in the garden. While students
engaged in sense of place through writing and drawing in their nature journals by describing
what specific places they are attached to and associate meaning with, they also wrote and drew
about specific organisms that captured their attention.
Systems Thinking
Students across all four classes engaged in systems thinking while nature journaling in
their school garden. We conceptualized systems thinking as writing about or drawing organisms
and relationships through their observations of the garden. The majority of students described
only living organisms in the garden, such as leaves, flowers, bees, and birds. The third-grade
students most often described and drew leaves and flowers while the sixth-grade students most
often described fruit trees and birds. These observations reflect the type of gardens directly
outside the classrooms of the different grade levels and the types of prompts provided by their
teachers. Third-grade students included details like color, texture, shape, size, smell, leaf veins,

30
flower petals, and flower reproductive parts in their drawings of leaves and flowers. They often
labeled the plants and flowers with the correct common name.
Figure 6
Plant observation

Sixth-grade students included similar organism-level details in their nature journals as
the third-grade students. They wrote and drew most often about color, texture, and smell. Unlike
the third-grade students, many sixth-grade students wrote about sounds in the garden. Usually
they described the sound of birds chirping in nearby trees. One sixth-grade class spent a nature
journaling session observing clouds. These students drew what they saw in the sky and
identified the type of cloud they saw based on the details from their drawing.

31
Figure 6
Cloud observation

While many students described and drew static organisms in their nature journals,
several students wrote and drew about plant life cycles. Students described leaves changing
color and falling and flowers growing and dying. They connected these observations to seasons
and weather, such as how rain makes plants grow.

32
Figure 7
Rain and Plant Relationship

All students wrote or drew about relationships in the garden. Typically, these
relationships were between plants and animals. Many third-grade students in one class wrote
about the relationship between milkweed and butterflies in response to an outdoor lesson and
prompt provided by their teacher. The students drew double-bubble maps to compare and
contrast two types of milkweed, with many of the similarities centered around butterfly attraction.
Figure 8
Milkweed Comparison

Figure 9
Milkweed Drawing

33
Third-grade students in the other class wrote and drew about bees and insects spending
time around flowers. One third-grade student described their observation of a bee:
"I saw a bee on the flower then the bee went to a different flower with the same trick."
Though the student observed pollination, they did not explicitly describe the relationship
between bees and plants. One of the sixth-grade classes also participated in a combined
outdoor lesson and nature journaling session. Instead of milkweed attracting butterflies, their
lesson was about the benefits of ladybugs. Every year the school releases ladybugs into the
garden. This was the first year the students were asked to nature journal about the experience.
The students were asked to name their ladybug and describe where they wanted to release it
and why they chose that location. Many students identified shady places with plants that would
be watered often so the ladybug would be able to eat and drink safely. A few students described
how ladybugs are natural pesticides, and one student chose a tree in the garden that needed a
“hero” to rescue it from the bugs eating the leaves.
Figure 10
Ladybug Man

34
The students were beginning to identify relationships between plants and animals in the
garden. The most explicit instances of students thinking about relationships occurred during
interactive lessons with their teachers.
Engaging in systems thinking by writing and drawing about organisms and relationships
provided an opportunity for students to learn more, and potentially care more about, their school
garden. Next we will discuss instances of students caring about and caring for nature in their
nature journals.
Stewardship
Stewardship, caring about and for nature, was most often present in two of the four
classes. Stewardship emerged through student responses about caring for nature and
environmental storytelling. The third-grade class with students who often described a sense of
place also described several instances of care for the garden and nature. Specifically, the fig
tree outside their classroom. Many of the students descriptions were in response to Prompt 2
from Class 2 in Figure 3. One student wrote about how they like to care for the fig tree by
watering it and another student wrote about how they thought many other people also cared for
the fig tree:
“I feel like a lot of people don’t want the tree to die they want it to live forever. I think that
most people love the tree even if it does not have no leafs…”
A few students wrote about caring for the garden through environmentally-focused
stories such as “The Garden Tinys” who “always kept it [the garden] pretty and clean,” a story
about saving the fig tree:
“...once there was a tree on a school...there was a strong storm and the wind was pulling
the tree and it was about to break and the next day the tree fell off and did not like it
when it fell so they planted another tree next to a new safe place then another strong
storm came and it didn’t break.”

35
Figure 11
The Garden Tinys Story

Stewardship was present in many of the responses from students in the sixth-grade
class that participated in the ladybug release. When students decided where to release their
ladybugs they chose places with access to shade, water, food, and camouflage. One student
planned to release their ladybug into the strawberry plants because it was also red and another
wanted to release it in the milkweed plants so the ladybugs would eat the aphids that eat the
butterfly eggs. These responses show how the students care about and for the plants and
animals in their school garden.

36
Sense of place, an element of sustainability literacy, was present in the interviews and
nature journals. Biophilia and positive emotions were also themes that were present in both sets
of data. While biophilia and positive emotions were present as place attachment in the interview
data, these codes stood on their own in the nature journaling data. Systems thinking was
evident in both sets of data, though present much more often in the nature journals. During the
interviews students discussed specific plants and animals they noticed, while in nature journals
students were able to draw detailed pictures and write about relationships they observed in the
garden.
Students described developing a sense of place while nature journaling in their school
garden and engaged with three elements of sustainability literacy: importance of local place,
systems thinking, and stewardship through writing and drawing in their nature journals. Next, we
will discuss how our findings contribute to the field of environmental and sustainability
education, relevance to current research, and implications for K-12 educators.
Discussion
Students described developing a sense of place while nature journaling in their school
garden. They described experiencing place attachment to the garden through biophilia,
emotions, and experiences and place meaning through sensory experiences, noticing details,
and systems thinking. Students also engaged in elements of Sustainability Literacy – sense of
place, systems thinking, and stewardship – through writing and drawing in their nature journals.
While other nature journaling studies like Warkentin (2011), McMillan and Wilhelm
(2007), and Arnold (2012) focus on the perspective of educators facilitating nature journaling
with a single class, our study provides the perspective of elementary school students from four
different classes and two different grade levels. This is also one of the only studies where nature
journaling takes place in a school garden. Other nature journaling studies still take place in
natural spaces or on school campuses, but not explicitly in a school garden.

37
Developing a sense of place was a significant part of students’ experiences while nature
journaling in their school garden. The students felt very attached to the garden and found
meaning in a variety of different ways. Some students described biophilia and positive emotions
in how they felt drawn to the beauty of the garden and its bright colors while other students
enjoyed observing different types of plants using their senses and noticing how plants and
flowers grow and change over time. However the students engaged in developing a sense of
place, all students felt a special connection to their school garden that they explored through
writing and drawing in their nature journals.
Providing the students with an opportunity to spend time each week in an outdoor space
right outside their classrooms helped them feel more attached to the garden and reflect on what
it means to them. Nature journaling provided the students time to sit, think, slow down, and
capture their thoughts and emotions while spending time in the natural world. Nature journaling
is an effective way to help students develop a sense of place — if we want them to care about
nature, or even just their school campus, we need to provide time for them to be outside to
wonder, observe, and experience the natural world.
While experiencing the natural world through senses and emotions can help students
develop a sense of place, engaging in systems thinking can help students become stewards by
caring more about and for their garden and nature. NGSS Cross-Cutting Concepts (2013) call
for all students to learn about systems, which is especially important for engaging in
environmental and sustainability content and action. Third-graders learn that systems are made
of component parts that interact with one another and sixth-graders learn that systems are
connected to other systems. When students were prompted to write and draw about nature in
their school garden they were primarily attuned to individual organisms and noted some simple
relationships, but rarely how different parts of the garden system or systems within the garden
are connected. The students were not explicitly instructed to look for systems, but they should
be attuned to systems from learning in their grade-level courses. The idea that nothing in nature

38
exists on its own is an integral part of environmental and sustainability learning. Our world is full
of complex, dynamic systems.
Perhaps what is more important is the focus on individual organisms instead of the
absence of systems thinking in their nature journals. These students spent little time in their
garden before participating in the nature journaling initiative. Nature journaling was likely the first
time many of the students were prompted to sit, observe, wonder, and draw about what they
see, hear, smell, touch, and sometimes taste in the garden. The students were able to notice
and capture intricate details of garden organisms that many adults may miss in their own
backyards today. With this intimate knowledge of the organisms in the garden, now is an
opportune time to build upon their organism-level observations and extend their knowledge to
systems. This knowledge may help them to know more about, and hopefully care more about
the garden space in which they already feel a strong sense of place.
Limitations
This paper is composed of qualitative data due to the exploratory nature of the study.
Mixed-method studies that include student surveys would be a useful next step in understanding
the benefits of nature journaling programs. Additionally, we did not collect demographic data on
the student participants because our research questions did not focus on demographic
characteristics of students. This may limit future questions about student populations that we
could answer using this data.
Implications for Educators
The opportunity provided by nature journaling for students to develop a sense of place
grounded in the natural world and capacity to become systems thinkers who have a deep
understanding of and feelings of connection to the environment should be used by educators to
prepare the next generation of sustainability thinkers and problem-solvers. Educators should
consider integrating nature journaling into their existing curriculum, leveraging outdoor spaces,
and especially school gardens, for engaging with their students in a new way. Nature journaling

39
may look different in every classroom but can provide students with similar positive experiences
of feeling connected to nature in their schoolyard.
Implications for Researchers
Capturing the qualitative experiences of students is a valuable way to understand the
effects of new activities and initiatives facilitated in schools. It may seem more straightforward to
engage with educators and ask their perceptions of what students are thinking and feeling, but
there is no substitute for discussion directly with the students. In future studies on nature
journaling, school gardens, or any type of environmental or sustainability-focused research in
schools, it would be valuable to consider including the student perspective to explore the holistic
impact of the work we are all trying to do to make the world a safer, healthier, and happier
place.
Conclusion
Nature journaling in school gardens is a unique way to engage students in the natural
world while connecting them to nature and engaging them in environmental and sustainability
learning. Through a study with four classes at an elementary school we found that nature
journaling in school gardens can help students develop a sense of place and prepare students
to become systems thinkers. The positive experiences the students had while nature journaling
and how they engaged with sustainability literacy in their nature journals showcase the
importance of providing students opportunities to spend time outdoors writing and drawing right
outside their classrooms.

40
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