Environmental Problem Perception of 6th Grade Students

Abstract

This study aims to examine and compare the 6th grade students’ perceptions of environmental issues through different techniques. For this purpose, we have tried to establish the students' perceptions of environmental issues by studying the pictures they drew and the written texts they wrote. In this study, which we have conducted with 62 students in two different secondary schools in Duzce Central during the 1st semester of the 2014-2015 academic year, we have employed a phenomenological pattern. The obtained data have been analysed using a content analysis method. As a result of the study, the themes of air pollution, water pollution, soil pollution, visual pollution, endangerment of species, noise pollution, natural disasters, biological pollution and radioactive pollution in the students’ perceptions of environmental issues have been identified. When the themes of environmental problems, obtained through two different techniques, have been compared, it has been established that the number of themes expressed in the written texts are higher than the ones in the pictures. Keywords: Environmental problems, students’ drawings, students’ writing