The curriculum of the environmental education and climate change course, which will be taught as an elective in secondary schools starting next year, has been completed by the Ministry of National Education. The name of the environmental education course applied in primary and secondary schools affiliated to the Ministry; The decisions of the Paris Climate Agreement were changed as "environmental education and climate change", taking into account the Strategic Plan of the Ministry of National Education, the action plans of various institutions and organizations, and the decisions of the council.
The curriculum of the environmental education and climate change course was approved by the Board of Education. Thus, this course will be taught in secondary school 2022th, 2023th or 6th grades as of the 7-8 academic year, for a total of 2 hours, 72 lessons per week.
During the updating process of the environmental education and climate change course, academic studies on education and programs in the country and abroad were scanned.
Documents such as the relevant legislation, development plans, government programs, council decisions, programs of political parties, reports prepared by non-governmental organizations and civil research institutions, especially the Constitution, were analyzed. The opinions of teachers and administrators on the programs and weekly lesson schedules were collected through questionnaires developed by the departments. Opinions on the scope of this course were received from the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources and the Ministry of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change.
All opinions, suggestions, criticisms and expectations; It was evaluated by working groups consisting of expert personnel, teachers and academicians from the relevant units of the Ministry. In line with these findings, the curriculum was developed.
In this context, environmental education and climate change course; It consisted of 6 units: "human and nature", "circular nature", "environmental problems", "global climate change", "climate change and Turkey", "sustainable development and environmentally friendly technologies".
The course will not be taught only in the classroom environment.
Environmental education and climate change course will not only be carried out in the classroom environment, but with the trips and observations to be made to the learning environments outside the school, the student will be able to both be aware of the environment they live in and see the environmental problems closely.
Teachers; will guide students in the processes of discovery, questioning, argument creation, awareness raising, responsibility and product design.
During the course's learning outcomes, relevant dilemmas will be created, and local and global environmental problems and the consequences of climate change will be addressed through case studies.
In this course, which is based on students' interaction with both themselves and all living and non-living things around them, they will also be expected to gain affective gains such as taking pleasure in protecting the environment, showing sensitivity to environmental problems such as disasters, and being willing to help those around them.
In the lessons, the existence of waste will be processed
In the lessons, subjects will be covered to help students realize the importance of the balance between production and consumption in daily life. In this context, the concept of life cycle analysis will be explained and life cycle analyzes of selected consumer goods will be made. The natural resources used in the production stages of products such as paper, plastic bags, computers and jeans used in daily life and the existence of wastes resulting from production will be emphasized.
Greenhouse gases and disasters are also in the curriculum
Topics such as global climate change, greenhouse gases, global warming, acid rain, depletion of the ozone layer, and disasters will also be among the topics of the course. In this context, “increase of greenhouse gases, fossil fuel use, deforestation, excessive use of fertilizers, excrement of animals raised for industrial purposes, stubble fires, burial or burning of wastes, volcanic eruptions, supersonic aircraft, excessive evaporation, exhaust fumes, sprays, air conditioning gases, styrofoam, topics such as “fire extinguishers” will be given as examples.
In the curriculum of the environmental education and climate change course, problems such as the decrease in biodiversity, the melting of glaciers and the rise in sea level, the change of the coastal ecosystem, the drying up of lakes, the change in the chemical structure of aquatic environments, the decrease in clean water resources, the change in the migration and breeding times of animals will be explained through case studies. Disasters such as "flood, overflow, landslide, fire, deforestation, drought, coastal erosion, desertification, hurricane, tornado, global hunger, epidemic diseases" will also be covered in the course, in which the effects of disasters caused directly or indirectly by global climate change will be explained.
The Ministry also included the formation of mucilage (sea saliva) seen in the Marmara Sea since February last year in the curriculum of this course.
Climate change in Turkey, national and international studies, social awareness will also be covered in the course, and the effects of climate change on agriculture and livestock activities in Turkey, biodiversity, tourism and economy will be discussed.
In the course, which will include national and international studies on combating climate change, international agreements such as the Paris Climate Agreement on combating global climate change will be covered.
Students will design a recycling product from waste
Students will design projects that will create social awareness to reduce the effects of climate change in Turkey. Environmental literacy, water literacy, agricultural literacy, food literacy, financial literacy will be discussed in the course, and projects related to zero waste and waste evaluation will be included in the course.
Students will design an upcycle product using waste materials and will learn concepts such as calm cities, ecological villages, sustainable schools that support sustainability.
With the environmental education and climate change course, students will also be provided with a career awareness about the environment and to get to know the relevant professional fields.
Be the first to comment