Metaphors of 8th grade students regarding the concept of sustainable

The aim of this study is to explore 8th grade students' perceptions of the concept of sustainability through metaphors. The study group consists of 266 students attending a middle school located in Southeastern Anatolia. For data collection, a two-item "Sustainability Metaphor Form" was developed. Students were asked to complete the sentence "Sustainability is like … because …" and to draw a picture or cartoon reflecting their views about sustainability. This study adopted a qualitative research design, specifically the phenomenology pattern. Data were analyzed through content analysis. During the analysis process, the metaphors produced by the students were coded, categorized according to their similarities, and their frequencies were calculated. As a result, a total of 266 metaphors were obtained under 24 categories.The findings revealed that the most frequently emphasized metaphors were related to renewable energy, recycling, and the conscious use of natural resources. Other notable categories included environment, nature, water, saving, animals, life, and protection of future generations. Students predominantly associated the concept of sustainability with environmental elements, and their drawings supported these associations.These results indicate that middle school students tend to perceive sustainability in an environment-oriented manner. This highlights the central role of environmental awareness in sustainability education. The study makes students' perceptions visible through metaphors and provides data that can contribute to the development of environmental education practices.