Trees that ease learning: when students open their school books this autumn, here's why you'll want greenery nearby - Perspectives

American Forests, Autumn, 2002 by Charles Enloe

When the weather gets warm, students take to the outdoors for class. It's one reason the students in Lynn Speed's class at Wisconsin's Cedarburg High School raised an unprecedented $700 for AMERICAN FORESTS' "A Tree for Every Child" program. In addition to having their money plant trees in forest restoration projects nationwide, the students earned seven seedlings to plant on campus.

"A lot of the classes go outside during the summer, and we'll sit outside and we'll read books," says 12th-grader Brittney Haskey. "It's really nice having that space, it really breaks the day up nicely."

Turns out that in addition to helping the environment, the students may be improving the environment in which they learn.

A series of studies done by the University of Illinois' Human-Environment Research Laboratory has found that trees provide a number of direct benefits to children. The studies add to a growing body of research that shows that, in addition to being aesthetically pleasing and environmentally essential, trees have a significant impact on the physical well-being and mental health of their human neighbors.

NATURAL BENEFITS

The positive effects of nature extend into a myriad of different areas. A famous 1984 study conducted by University of Delaware professor Roger Ulrich found that hospital patients who could view trees and natural scenes out their windows recovered more quickly from surgery than patients with views of a brick wall. Other studies have found that prisoners whose cells face natural scenes have fewer health problems than those who can see only the prison yard, and that workers are more productive if their commutes pass by greenery-filled parks. Officials at the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta are looking at nature as a way to promote exercise and fight childhood obesity.

Founded in 1984, the Human-Environment Research Laboratory at Illinois has been at the forefront of research showing trees are more than just beautiful. Led by Frances Kuo and William Sullivan, the lab has conducted 18 studies on a broad range of the effects nature has on humans and the communities they call home.

The results show that the presence of vegetation and green-spaces can strengthen social ties in a neighborhood, reduce levels of aggression and violence, and help people cope with everyday stress. In one of the more startling findings, researchers found that crime rates actually go down in neighborhoods with more vegetation--the opposite of what many poilcymakers had in mind when they ordered bushes cleared and trees cut down to decrease crime.

Some of the lab's most noteworthy research has shown that raising and teaching children in a green environment can put them on the path to success early in their lives. One study showed that interaction with nature significantly curtailed the symptoms of Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD). Another showed that girls who can see nature out their home windows are more capable of concentration, impulse inhibition, and self-discipline.

TREES, KIDS, AND A.D.D.

For the ADD experiment, the results of which were announced last year by Kuo, Sullivan, and their colleague Andrea Faber Taylor, questionnaires were completed by parents and guardians of children aged 7 to 12 who had been diagnosed with ADD. Parents were asked to name activities that either helped or worsened their children's symptoms.

"When you ask parents just to knock off the top of their heads things their children do that seem to be helpful, activities in green settings... show up disproportionately," Kuo says. "They show up disproportionately rarely when you ask parents, 'Now tell me what seems to exacerbate your kid's symptoms.'"

Researchers then asked parents to systematically rate how particular activities such as soccer, rollerblading, reading, and playing video games affected their children's symptoms--again, "green activities" came out on top. Finally, parents described how much greenery grew around their houses. Children with more trees and nature around where they lived had milder symptoms--just looking at a green view made a difference.

"Time is better spent if they go into the backyard or go down to the park for 30 minutes than if they go down into the basement with no windows and no views and focus on an attentionally demanding video game," Faber Taylor says.

The team explains these benefits using the theory of attention restoration first developed by University of Michigan researcher Steve Kaplan. As people live their lives, they frequently have to use "directed attention," the effortful task of paying attention. This tool becomes fatigued after much use and has to be restored. While sleep has some restorative value, researchers have found that being exposed to "fascinating" situations where attention is involuntary--such as a waterfall, crying baby, or fire--is the best way to restore attention. Natural scenes are a perfect fit for this category.

Reaction to the study has been very enthusiastic, especially from parents and overworked teachers who are desperate for help, Kuo says. Faber Taylor added that hearing the results of the study is often the last push parents need to realize the benefits of nature.