國小學童對香草香味偏好之研究

Fragrance Preference of Herbs for the Elementary School Children

近年來台灣各地推動綠校園、永續校園計畫，除校園需要綠美化外，教室內及其周邊亦可擺設盆栽，不僅讓教室綠意盎然，亦可增進學童之學習效益與穩定情緒。香草植物（Herb）具有情緒放鬆及鎮定的作用，因此教室內若擺放香草盆栽，不僅提升教室景觀，還可能穩定學童情緒以及舒緩學習壓力。本研究將針對國小學童探討其對常見之7種香草植物香味之偏好，採真實植物實地聞味測試方法，瞭解學童對於香草植物的香味之喜好狀況，以及不同年段與性別學童對香味偏好是否具差異。研究發現國小學童對香草植物香味的偏好，會因個人屬性（年段、性別）不同而有所差異，但不論何年段學童，均明顯喜愛綠薄荷之香味，因此建議各年段教室內與走廊可多擺放綠薄荷盆栽；至於不建議擺放之香草植物，低年段為迷迭香，中年段為防蚊草，高年段則為蘄艾與艾草。於研究過程發現學童進行香草香味偏好測試時，聞香之表情多是愉悅的，因此教室內及其周邊擺放香草植物，學童可藉聞香過程增加驚喜與歡愉情緒，本研究結果可作為未來國小選擇適合香草種類時的參考。 The program of sustainable campus in Taiwan has continued for many years. In addtion to campus design, increasing the potted plant in the classrrom not only enrich the variety of the environment but it also helps student to study better and to stablize their emotion. Herbal plant is effective to relax and to stablize our psychological status. Potted herbal plant in the classroom helps decorate the classroom, stablize student's emotion, and release their pressure of learning. The current research focus on the preference of the herbal plant. The methodology of the current research is to ask the students to smell the leaves directly in order to understand the school children's preference for the smell of the herbal plant. We also investigate the difference in the preference among school children of different grades and gender. The results show that school children's preference for herbal fragrent vary by their grades and gender. However, the fragrent of mints is the most popular among school children of all grades. It is therefore suggested that Mentha spicata should be increased in the classroom and corridores. As for the plants that are not suitable for the classroom, it is suggested that Romarinus officinalis is for the lower grades, Pelargonium graveolens is for middle grades, and Crossostephium chinense and Artemisia indica are for the higher grads. During the research process, it is found that when the school children were asked to smell the plants, their facial expression reflecteded their pleasant feeling. Therefore, planting herbal plants in the classroom and in the surrounding help increase the variety and the pleasant emotion. The results of the current research can be the future reference for schools considering putting herbal plant in the classroom.