Investigation of elementary school students' opinions on the impact of STEM activities related waste recycling on environmental awareness

With the developing technology, the problems that people face today are different. The skills needed to solve these problems encountered in daily life also differ in this direction. It is stated that every individual should have 21st century skills including skills such as critical thinking, problem solving, entrepreneurship, adaptability, creativity, cooperation and leadership, analytical thinking and communication within the framework of literacy. The best way to overcome environmental problems and protect nature is to raise individuals who are aware of these problems and solutions and shape their behaviors in line with this awareness. Environmental studies carried out in cooperation with different branches in science lessons are an important element in the formation of students' theoretical learning on this subject. However, supporting these theoretical learnings with practices can be very effective in forming students' attitudes and behaviors towards the environment. In this context, the aim of this research is to make secondary school students perform activities related to waste recycling with STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) approach and to determine their opinions as a result of these activities.