Leafy Plants in Classrooms – A Good Idea (7-09-08)

Adding leafy plants to junior high school classrooms is a good idea. Even when a small number (6) of plants are placed at the back of a conventional classroom (out of the usual field of view of the students), students have “Immediately and significantly stronger feelings of preference [for the design of the classroom space], comfort, and friendliness [toward other students].” Students in the rooms with the plants have “significantly fewer hours of sick leave and punishment records due to misbehavior” than the students in classrooms without plants.

Ke-Tsung Han. 2008. “Influence of Limitedly Visible Leafy Indoor Plants on the Psychology, Behavior, and Health of Students at a Junior High School in Taiwan.” Environment and Behavior, in press.