Development and application of activities based on near environment related to the living and environmental education for secondary school students

The main purpose of this research is to reveal the awareness of secondary school students living in Kastamonu province and participating in the research towards their close environment. In this study, the changes in students' awareness towards the environment were examined as a result of the implementation of activities developed on the basis of events and assets in the vicinity. When the textbooks and achievements are examined at secondary school level, it is seen that the examples of the environment in which the students live are insufficient. As the deficiencies seen at this point and thought to increase productivity in educational activities in this field, the tests and activities applied in this study were designed based on the close environment in which our students live. In the research, screening model which is one of the quantitative research types was used. The study consists of two parts. In the first part of the study, the awareness of 720 secondary school students living in Kastamonu province and districts in the near environment was examined in terms of different variables. In the second part of the study, activities developed for the near environment with 30 students at 5th grade level of Kastamonu Central Ceritoğlu Secondary School were carried out using a single group quasi-experimental design. After the implementation of the activities, it was analyzed by using SPSS program to see if there is any change in the awareness of the students. When the findings were analyzed, it was concluded that the students' awareness of the environment and living things was low. According to the data obtained as a result of the implementation of the developed activities, it was found that there was a significant positive difference in the awareness of the students towards the environment. As a result, an environmental education approach based on the students' immediate environment may provide more permanent learning for the students.