Examination of the environmental awareness primary school students and their attitudes towards the environment

In this study, it is aimed to determine the environmental awareness of primary school students and their attitudes towards the environment. The environmental awareness and attitudes towards the environment of 4th grade primary school students have been examined according to the variables of gender, mother's education level, and father's education level. Relational survey model, one of the quantitative research methods, was used in the research. The study group of the research consists of 90 primary school students (54 girls, 36 boys) studying in a public school in the Central Black Sea Region in the 2020-2021 academic year. The research data has been collected using the "Primary School Environmental Awareness Scale" developed by Yıldız Yılmaz and Mentiş Taş (2017) and the "Primary School Environmental Attitude Scale" developed by Artvinli and Demir (2018). In the environmental awareness scale, there are 4 sub-dimensions: the life in nature, the renewable energy sources and their usage, the environmental responsibility and the continuity of living things, and 3 sub-dimensions: the positive environmental behaviors, the environmental knowledge and awareness, and the negative environmental behaviors in the environmental attitude scale. Pearson Correlation Analysis was used to find the relationship between students' environmental awareness and attitudes towards the environment in the data obtained in the study. In order to determine whether primary school students' environmental awareness and attitudes towards the environment change according to the determined variables, the distribution of the data was examined and Pearson Product-Moment Correlation, Two-Factor ANOVA for Unrelated Samples, Mann-Whitney U Tests from Non-Parametric Test methods were applied. According to the research findings, it was determined that the general averages of the environmental awareness and the environmental responsibility the sub-dimension of primary school students were at a high level, the sub-dimensions of the life in nature and the recyclable energy sources and their usage were at a very high level, and the sub-dimension of the continuity of living things was at a moderate level. It has been find out that the environmental awareness of primary school students has not changed according to the variables of gender, mother's education level, and father's education level. It has been determined that the attitudes and the sub-dimensions of primary school students towards the environment are at a moderate level. There was no statistically significant difference in the attitudes towards the environment and its sub-dimensions according to the educational status of the mother. A significant difference has been found in the positive environmental behaviors sub-dimension, which is one of the environmental attitude sub-dimensions, according to the educational status of the father. There was no statistically significant difference between primary school students' environmental awareness and their attitudes towards the environment. In order to increase students' environmental awareness and attitudes towards the environment, it is recommended to plan theoretical and applied activities by associating them with different courses.