Developing Environmental Awareness in Preschool Students Through Indoor Activities1

Conducted as action research, the study aimed to develop environmental awareness among preschool students through indoor activities. The research was conducted with a class of 11 preschool students from a low socio-economic background over a total of 23 class hours. Considering the interests and needs of the learners, among the environmental issues that should be explored during the preschool period, 'soil ' was selected as the research topic. The instruments employed in the research were card-matching activities, mind maps, semi-structured interviews, and an exhibition evaluation form. Content analysis was applied in the examination of the collected data. As a result, it was concluded that students developed awareness about the structure of the soil, soil types, the usage areas of soil, soil pollution, and soil protection and that they could practice what they had learnt outside of the school environment. The research has two important implications: first, it shows that environmental awareness can be improved through indoor activities conducted in schools within low socio-economic areas, where natural environmental conditions are not considered ideal. Second, thanks to being conducted as action research, teachers may create better opportunities for problems related to environmental awareness to be more visible in the classroom, thereby enabling them to resolve such issues.