A comparative examination of environmental literacy in different countries' science curriculum

Environment is an area where living and non-living things are together, and there is a balance between them. Environmental problems occur when the balance is distributed because of human activities like unconscious consumption. All world countries are responsible for prevention of problems because environmental problems are global. To prevent these problems environmental education is needed. Analysis of curriculum is useful to show the value of environmental education in those countries. The purpose of this study is to examine the objectives in the science curriculum of Turkey, Canada (Ontario), Australia, USA (Massachusetts) and England in terms of environmental education and compare them analyzing according to environmental literacy components. In this study, qualitative research was used, and data were collected with document analysis. Data were analyzed with content analysis. After codes and categories are formed, objectives were grouped according to environmental literacy components. Frequency and percentage were calculated, then they were shown on tables. At the end of the study, when the curricula were compared for country in terms of their level of inclusion of components, it was seen that they were concentrated in different grade levels and learning areas. Also, it was observed all components of environmental literacy which are knowledge, cognitive skills, affect and behavior were included in all curricula except the England Science Curriculum, but not all components were included equally in the curricula. The common result is while more attention was given to cognitive skills, less attention was given to affect and behavior components in all curricula.