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In a partnership between Teachers College and two New York City school districts, the Growing Food and Farm to Table & Beyond modules of the Linking Food and the Environment curriculum were evaluated in three schools and 24 classrooms (12 intervention classrooms that received LiFE and 12 comparison classrooms that received the standard science curriculum.)

The evaluation data have shown that students significantly increased their understanding of basic concepts in biology such as understanding organisms and environments, the flow of energy in ecosystems, and the cycling of matter through food webs; the need for a system to bring food from where it is grown to the table; and the interactions of science, technology, and society exemplified by the impact of the food system components on the environment.

1. The curriculum has also positively influenced students' abilities to reason their way through scientific problems and processes. Teachers reported that they came to feel comfortable and confident with the LiFE program as an effective and enjoyable way to address not only national science education standards but also state standards and district expectations as well. Furthermore, participating parents enjoyed helping in the classroom and also deepened their own understandings of energy, food, and the environment. More detailed information is available on Students' Conceptual Understandings [PDF] and Student Attitudes [PDF].
• The Choice, Control, & Change module is currently being evaluated in ten New York City middle schools with students in five schools receiving the Choice, Control, & Change curriculum and the students in five other schools receiving the standard science curriculum. Currently preliminary results of this evaluation are available for Students Food and Exercise Behaviors [PDF] and Student Beliefs, Attitudes, and Self Efficacy [PDF].