Sustainability in Popular Science Magazines: The Case Study of 'Bilim Çocuk' Magazine

This study aims to determine the frequency and nature of the environmental sustainability themes addressed in the children's science magazine "Bilim Çocuk" by examining the content of 60 issues published between 2020 and 2024. Conducted using the document analysis method, the research investigated the occurrence frequency of 26 different environmental sustainability themes -determined by referencing relevant literature- and the frequencies and annual changes of the activity types (informational text, "ne var ne yok" [what's new/what's missing], science comics, etc.) used to present these themes. The analysis revealed that the environmental sustainability themes most frequently covered in the examined issues of the magazine were the utilization of natural resources (f=91), affordable and clean energy (f=73), and climate change (f=69). In contrast, the theme of environmental racism/inequality (f=0) was found to be entirely absent from the magazine's agenda. An examination of the annual distribution of environmental sustainability themes showed that the year 2021 exhibited a sharp frequency peak in themes like global warming and climate change, indicating a strong response to the global climate agenda. Furthermore, the year 2024 displayed a notable trend of change by focusing on new areas such as healthy nutrition and textile waste. In the distribution of activity types, the informational text and "ne var ne yok" formats maintained their dominance (over 80%). Considering the role of popular science magazines for children in raising environmental awareness, the findings of this study are expected to make significant contributions to publishing policies and the environmental education literature by presenting concrete data.