An Action Research on Improving Environmental Sensitivity of Fourth Grade Primary School Students: What Happens in the School Garden?

School gardens, which play an important role in environmental education, provide an opportunity for students to develop environmental awareness and gain environmental responsibility. In this study, which draws attention to this, it is aimed to reveal the applicability of the workshops prepared in the school garden in order to improve the environmental sensitivity of the students. The research was carried out with 10 female and 10 male 4th grade students in a public primary school in the city center of Bartin in the 2021-2022 academic year. The research was carried out with the action research design, one of the qualitative research methods. The data of the research were obtained through a scale developed by Peker (2020) and a semi-structured interview form prepared by the researchers. Quantitative data obtained using descriptive statistics and dependent group t-test statistical procedures; qualitative data were analyzed with content analysis technique. As a result of the research, it has been determined that environmental education workshops are effective in increasing students’ environmental awareness. Students stated that environmental education activities are fun, useful and instructive. As a result, it is seen that the workshops applied in the school garden increase the environmental awareness of the 4th grade students and the process has a positive effect on them. As a result of the research, it can be suggested that environmental awareness should be brought to students through school gardens and reflected in educational environments by organizing various activities that encourage positive attitudes

A Sustainable Life: A Study on the Recycling Attitudes of Secondary School Students

The aim of the study is to examine and determine the thoughts of recycling of the situations (gender, grade level, educational status of parents) that affect the recycling attitudes of secondary school students. Explanatory design has been preferred among the mixed method research designs in which both quantitative and qualitative approaches are used together in the research. The study group of the quantitative part of the research consists of 700 students studying in secondary schools and the study group of the qualitative part consists of 30 students identified as selected. The data of the research were obtained with the “Recycling Scale” and “Image Form”. In order to compare the scale scores related to gender variable, Whitney U Test was used; in order to compare the scale scores related to grade level, maternal education and paternal education status variables, Kruskal Wallis Test was used. The qualitative data obtained from the students’ drawings were analyzed by content analysis. According to the results obtained from the research, students’ attitudes towards recycling are high in a positive way; it has been determined that there is no difference according to gender and education level of their mothers. It has been determined that there is a difference in the attitudes of the students towards recycling according to the grade level and educational status of their fathers. It is seen that students include elements such as people, trees, garbage, factory, cloud and garbage boxes in the paintings related to recycling. In this context, it can be said that student perceptions about recycling include recycling components

Determining the Size of the Carbon Footprints of Secondary School Students

A large part of the environmental problem, which is defined as the ecological footprint, is the carbon footprint. As a matter of fact, the consumption activities of the individual have many destructive and permanent effects on nature. In this research, it is aimed to determine the size of the carbon footprint, which is an important component of the ecological footprint of secondary school students, and to evaluate their views on the carbon footprint. The research is carried out with mixed method in accordance with its purpose and content. The quantitative sample group of the research consists of 750 students in total, studying at secondary schools in the Western Black Sea Region in the 2022-2023 academic year, with the maximum diversity sampling. The qualitative study group consists of 20 secondary school students randomly selected from the students participating in the quantitative part. In the research, “Carbon footprint calculation questionnaire” developed by Ertekin (2012) and “Semi-structured interview form” developed by researchers were used as data collection tools. As a result of the research, it is seen that the carbon footprints of the students are moderate. In addition, it was determined that the class level and family income status were effective on the carbon footprint size of the students. It is seen that the results obtained from the qualitative data support the quantitative results