The comparasion of primary school students' awareness levels for daily science concepts living in rural and urban areas

In this study it is aimed to find out to what extent 2nd grade students in primary schools are aware of the facts and events they always face in their social environment. In the scope of the study 2nd grade students were selected because they haven?t met scientific process and scientific knowledge directly in their courses yet, and the reason why 1st grade students were not selected is that they just focus on learning reading and writing in their first year at school. Children try to detect their surroindings from the moment they are born. Initially this perception embody the image of child?s environment such as touch, taste, hearing and visual senses and then in the other periods asking question and ability to make observation. In this context, the resaon why this study coverages the different socio-economic areas is that; it is thought that at rural areas people can meet with natural events more simple. Rural area is a living space which provides student with comparing scientific knowledge and events easily and learning by doing and experiencing. Children living in such an environment has the chance to observe the phases of the whole life of plants and animals. In the same way it is thought that the lack of light and noise pollution, increase the opportunity to make further observations of vitality and the sky . In the study, 28 open-ended questions selected after literature scanning were asked students to obtain data. The study is applied to 175 students in 2011-2012 Academic Year in Kırşehir city center and Çiçekdağı and the data obtained from the study is eveluated with individual survey model. While the students who live at rural area and have more chance for observation, were expected to have higher levels of awareness of science concepts they encounter in their daily lives than the students living in urban areas, according to the results of the study; it was found out that the students living in urban areas are more aware of scientific facts and events about science than the students living in rural areas. Key Words: Science teaching, daily science, awareness