Environmental education is an important component of the educational process in schools and kindergartens. Teachers organize their work in this direction both in the process of educational activities and in extracurricular activities. Forms, means and methods of environmental education are selected in accordance with the age of the children, the degree of their interest, and the natural environment.
Methods, forms and means of environmental education depend on the age of the children. The leading form of organizing work on environmental education is a lesson (class in a preschool educational institution). Experiences, experiments, observations, projects, the use of literature, conversations - those are the methods that the teacher uses in direct educational activities. In addition, in extracurricular activities. Extracurricular activities include excursions, holidays, themed leisure, and work with parents. All forms and methods can be used both in combination and separately.
Forms of environmental education
- Lesson . The most basic and most common form of work on environmental education of children is the lesson. He also classes (GCD) in kindergartens. In support of environmental education, such a subject as the surrounding world was created, which introduces children to living and inanimate nature, its laws, and the basics of environmental protection.
Lessons (activities) allow the teacher to develop children's knowledge about nature, taking into account their age characteristics. There are several types of classes:
- Initial informational. Such lessons (lessons) have an introductory function, that is, they introduce children to certain species (animals, birds, fish, etc.), their living conditions, natural phenomena, and basic concepts about the environment. The necessary material for such activities (lessons, conversations) are visual materials (demonstration aids, posters, films);
- Generalizing. Allows children to form general concepts about certain types and natural phenomena, the ability to identify their common features (senior preschool and primary school age);
- In-depth cognitive. Classes (lessons) that are based on previously acquired knowledge. Deepening what has already been learned, applying it in practice - such lessons are conducted in the form of a conversation, a quiz, or watching a video in class.
- Ecological holidays. Activities that are classified as extracurricular activities. They can be either timed to coincide with calendar holidays (Earth Day), or independent, invented by teachers. The purpose of such leisure is to evoke a positive emotional response in children, which in turn awakens interest in environmental problems. When drawing up an entertainment script, material that is already familiar to children is used.
- Excursions . Starting from the middle group of a preschool educational institution and ending with the middle classes of a comprehensive school, an excursion is one of the most effective forms of work on environmental education of children. And this is understandable. No matter how much we talk, no matter how many conversations we have, nature is an environment that can only be experienced by coming into direct contact with it, in a natural setting. The teacher conducts excursions in accordance with the requirements of the state educational program, previously indicating goals and objectives in the calendar plans.
- Labor It would be strange not to indicate this form of direct combination of human activity with environmental protection. In kindergartens, this is caring for living corners, flower beds, small vegetable gardens, organized by educators for the purpose of environmental education of children. At school, this means cleaning the area, watering, caring for plants, and working on the school site (especially common in rural schools).
- Participation in school city competitions and olympiads. Such competitions are often held both by the schools themselves to strengthen motivation among students, and by the city administration. Site reviews, quizzes, olympiads - all this awakens the spirit of competition, and, as a result, provides significant motivation for environmentally oriented detail among children of primary and senior school age.
- Working with parents. A full educational effect is achieved when school and family act in the same direction. Therefore, working with parents is one of the most important forms of environmental education. Consultations for parents, participation in school events, experiments conducted by children together with their parents (at home, in the country, in the village), participation of parents in shows and exhibitions are techniques that are necessary for fruitful work.
Short-term environmental projects in older groups of kindergartens
Organization of work on environmental education in preschool educational institutions; consultation on the surrounding world on the topic
Organization of work on environmental education in preschool educational institutions
The role of nature in environmental education of preschool children
The basis of the content of children’s activities is the knowledge and skills that they develop in the process of getting to know the environment, in particular nature. Familiarization with nature is one of the main means of comprehensive development of preschool children. It is carried out in the process of formation in their minds of specific knowledge about the phenomena of inanimate and living nature.
Environmental education is a category that is directly related to the science of ecology and its various branches.
For the development of a child’s thinking and speech, a rich sensory experience is necessary, which he receives from the perception of various objects, the natural world, and social life.
Nature surrounds a child from an early age. I believe that this is a source of new knowledge of various natural phenomena.
The special role of nature in the development of logical thinking and coherent speech was emphasized by K.D. Ushinsky. He considered the logic of nature to be the most accessible, visual and useful for a child. It is the direct observation of the surrounding nature that “...will constitute those initial logical exercises of thought on which the logicality, the truth of the word itself depends, and from which logical speech and understanding of grammatical laws will then follow naturally.”
The ability to observe, developed in the process of learning about nature, gives rise to the habit of drawing conclusions, fosters the logic of thought, clarity and beauty of speech - the development of thinking and speech occurs as a single process.
Every acquaintance with nature is a lesson in the development of a child’s mind, creativity, and feelings.
The diversity, brightness, beauty of nature, the clarity of its connections and dependencies ensure that children can understand them and have a significant impact on the improvement of their mental activity. The child learns to find and correctly define in words causal and temporal dependence, sequence, interconnection of objects and natural phenomena, and learns to simply explain what is observed. Children’s ability to compare, compare, and draw conclusions is improved. This creates the prerequisites for the formation of such valuable qualities of coherent speech as reliability, evidence, consistency, and clarity. The child learns to reason, tell, describe.
In order for the development of a child’s thinking when becoming acquainted with nature to reach the highest possible level, the teacher’s purposeful guidance of this process is necessary.
The teacher must be able to correctly select educational material and think through the methods and techniques with which he can best convey its content.
The beauty and diversity of nature at any time of the year, the changes within each of them directly affect the emotional state of children, make them want to observe, ask, reason, and tell. Observing bright, colorful phenomena (leaf fall, snowfall, blizzard, thunderstorm), children want to understand them, ask questions and gradually come to understand them, they can explain why birds fly away in the fall, why puddles are frozen today, why the snow is melting, etc. . This creates favorable conditions for the development of logical thinking and speech.
During his stay in kindergarten, the child must learn to notice and highlight the characteristic features of the season, establish the simplest connections and dependencies between objects and phenomena, acquire fairly systematic knowledge about the life of animals and plants, then general tasks that are specified depending on the age of the children: gradually expand and become more complicated.
In the middle group, children should know what phenomena are characteristic of each season, highlight some signs of the season, for example: fruits ripen in the fall, birds fly away, leaves fall. At the same age, children can already establish the simplest connections, for example: between the appearance of vegetables and fruits and their degree of ripeness, between the properties of snow and the state of the weather, between people’s work and the time of year.
The teacher leads the children to understand the dependence of animal life on the season and the need to create certain conditions for plant growth.
Children in the older group should know and independently identify several characteristic signs of the season, the features of its beginning and end, and know the sequence of seasons; establish a relationship between the state of inanimate nature, flora, labor and life of people.
In the school preparatory group, children can already explain some causal, sequential and temporal relationships; compare not only sharply different, but also initially similar “adjacent” seasons, finding distinctive, similar and common features; when characterizing the season, they can identify signs of inanimate nature, flora and fauna, labor and life of people.
Thus, when cultivating an aesthetic attitude towards nature in a variety of activities, the teacher faces a twofold task. On the one hand, it is necessary to organize specific activities that directly expose preschoolers to the beauty of nature. On the other hand, one must be able to combine any activity with knowledge of the aesthetic properties of the environment, including those that, due to their specificity, form other than aesthetic attitudes towards the outside world. For example, to develop the ability to perceive the beauty of nature, it is important that cognitive tasks are posed quite often. Pedagogical situations that stimulate the aesthetic perception of nature must be created regularly.
Familiarizing children with the nature of their native land in the pedagogical process of preschool educational institutions
Nurturing children's correct attitude towards nature and the ability to carefully handle living beings can be fully implemented in the preschool period only if the system of work in kindergarten is combined with the impact on children in the family.
To create and improve a developmental environment in the family and ensure adequate interaction between adults and children, you can work with parents.
Establish contact, mutual understanding and identify the needs of parents in matters of raising children. First of all, in order to establish contact and mutual understanding with parents, it is necessary for each teacher to assess what capabilities he has to help parents in raising their children. In addition, it is important to think about what kind of help parents would like to receive from the kindergarten. This way, teachers can identify a preliminary “picture” of interaction and compare it with their capabilities.
It is necessary to take into account that parents may not know all the capabilities of teachers in solving the problems of raising children; therefore, they will need to be disclosed to parents. In this regard, teachers can offer parents a questionnaire or conduct a conversation with them. This is possible when holding parent meetings, organizing messages or lectures.
Having provided parents with information about the relevance of environmental education for the development of the child and his future life, teachers need to introduce parents to the system of work of the preschool institution in this direction. Parents should know how the child’s life and activities are organized during the day.
The entire objective and social environment at home and in the family influences the development of the child.
These include TV shows for children, keeping indoor plants and pets.
The ability to see and understand the state of another living being is a subtle respect for the child’s soul, depending on interest in a plant or animal, on the degree of development of observation and moral feelings. This is where responsibility for all living things begins.
By nurturing children's interest in the mysterious world of plants, children get acquainted with specific types of indoor plants, learn their names and characteristic features. They learn that they are living beings and they have needs for certain living conditions: that all plants need nutritious soil (earth), water, light, heat, air. The child, with the help of an adult, learns that without these conditions they cannot remain alive. A person creates these conditions for them: he plants them in a pot with soil, waters them regularly, sometimes feeds them with fertilizers, puts them in a bright place, and does not allow them to cool.
Houseplants have a certain structure: they have a root, a stem, leaves, and sometimes flowers. The root (and in some cases the stem) is in the ground; the root absorbs water and nutrients from it, breathes air, and keeps the plant from falling. The stem carries nutrients and moisture to the leaves and flowers. Children will learn that leaves are most often green, there are many of them, the plant absorbs light with them, breathes, cleaning their leaves from dust, first together with an adult, and then independently, the preschooler will be able to provide effective help to green friends, the child will learn that plants need all organs, Therefore, they must not be damaged and must be cared for carefully. People specifically breed indoor plants for aesthetic pleasure, to make the room beautiful. Each of them is beautiful in its own way: leaves, stems, flowers. All plants are beautiful if they are in good condition, grow and bloom. The beauty of indoor plants is achieved by creating good conditions for them. Indoor plants may not feel well (in this case, they look bad) if their needs are not met: pale color of the leaves, elongated stems occur with a lack of light; dry out when there is a lack of moisture; wither and die due to frostbite; do not grow (do not produce new leaves or shoots), do not bloom if there is a lack of nutrients in the soil.
Indoor plants have different needs, their structure is adapted to different living conditions. Moisture-loving plants have thin leaves and should be watered frequently. Drought-resistant plants have fleshy leaves and thick stems that store moisture and should be watered rarely. Light-loving plants are bright green in color and have a bright pattern; they should be placed on a window, closer to the light. Shade-tolerant plants most often have dark-colored leaves; they can be placed near a window, not far from it.
Children develop cognitive interest - they independently examine plants, willingly participate in observations, make sketches, and ask questions. Children develop aesthetic senses, the ability to notice and appreciate the attractive qualities of indoor plants: the beauty of the shape and color of leaves, climbing stems, the beauty of a flowering plant. Children willingly participate in replanting plants, notice and react emotionally to the sprouts, buds, and flowers that appear. The perception of indoor plants as living beings also develops: children may notice their unfavorable condition (withered leaves, pale color, elongated stems, etc.); detect insufficient conditions for their life (dry soil, low light). Children sympathize with the plant: they inform adults about noticed problems, willingly carry out instructions for caring for the plants, and help with their replanting.
If there is a dog or a cat in the family, then children get an idea about the cat, dog, features of appearance and behavior. They learn more about the life of these animals, they understand that the life of these animals is closely connected with humans. Children should know the appearance features of some wild animals, their movement, habits, what and how they eat, where they live, whether they bring benefit or harm to humans; gain an understanding of keeping and feeding domestic animals.
It’s good if the child is taught to take the animal’s rest into account. Your four-legged friend is sleeping, and you don’t need to disturb him; when he wakes up, you can play with him. Observing sleeping animals is also interesting: the cat takes the most unusual poses, dogs often have dreams, and they squeal, grumble, and move their paws.
Since the child is constantly in the world of play and knows how to handle animals well, he nevertheless includes them in his games as partners, not always taking into account that they are alive.
Of course, the correct treatment of a child with an animal in itself will not solve all the problems of upbringing. But there is no doubt that communication with living nature plays an important role in the development of a little person’s personality.
Children show interest in the life of pets, willingly observe them, their behavior, ask questions, listen to stories and fairy tales. They understand their desires and needs, show a willingness to care for them, know how to treat them correctly (stroke, play, talk affectionately), and reflect these impressions in games and activities.
Having analyzed the experience of teachers in environmental education of preschool children, we consider it possible to present the following methodology of environmental education in preschool educational institutions:
— Creation of conditions for environmental education in kindergarten: a developmental environment, a fund of methodological, visual and illustrative materials.
— Organization of “ecological spaces” in the kindergarten premises: group nature corners, winter garden, mini-greenhouse, nature room (salon). Selection and placement of plants in accordance with their biological characteristics.
— Organization and equipment of “ecological spaces” on the kindergarten site: nature playgrounds, “corners of untouched nature” (forests, meadows, wastelands). Ecological trail in the kindergarten area: equipment, use in the pedagogical process.
— Human labor as an environment-forming factor in the life of plants and animals. Creating working conditions for children and adults in the natural area of the kindergarten. Growing and harvesting vegetables.
— Observation is the leading method of environmental education.
— The essence of observation as a sensory method of understanding nature. Leading role, ecological nature of the content of observations. Knowledge in the process of observations of the morphofunctional characteristics of living beings, their relationship with the environment, the diversity of species, the processes of growth and development of plants and animals.
Psychological and pedagogical justification for the ecological content approach to observation.
— Observations in everyday life are the leading form of introducing children to the surrounding nature. Requirements for conducting observations. Cycles of observations of natural objects: determining the content of individual observations, constructing their sequence, planning. Development of cycles of observations of seasonal phenomena, growth and development of plants in the green zone of the kindergarten.
— Organizing and conducting experimental work with natural objects of the Native Land, modernizing activities with them. Observing changes in natural objects, tracing and discussing their relationships with the environment.
— Nature calendars and their role in environmental education. A week-long method of introducing preschoolers to seasonal natural phenomena; working with the calendar in different age groups of kindergarten. Recording the growth and development of a plant in a calendar. Winter feeding of birds, its environmental significance. Calendar for observing wintering birds and working with them in different age groups.
— Environmental education in classes, during excursions, and holidays.
— Various types of classes to familiarize children with the nature of their native land: primary educational, in-depth cognitive generalizing, complex. The leading role of verbal methods in teaching in the classroom. Formation of generalized ideas about nature. Types of visualization, its role and place in natural history classes. Children's natural history literature, its use for environmental education.
— Children's holidays with environmental content, development of scenarios, holding. Participation of preschool children in environmental activities.
Methods and techniques of environmental education
Environmental education within the framework of the state educational program is an important part of the overall pedagogical process. As in any process, teachers try to use all the methods and techniques of education available to them.
Visual methods
As they say, it’s better to show once than to tell a hundred times, especially when it comes to children and their relationship with nature. In environmental education, visual methods are:
- Observation. It is always planned and purposeful. Observation has an object, a goal, and a time frame. The purpose of observation may be the causes of animal behavior, changes, development of living and inanimate objects, establishing and changing the properties, qualities, structure and appearance of the observed object or phenomenon. Observations can be carried out in small groups or the whole class at the same time, within and outside of educational activities. S.N. Nikolaeva, the author and developer of the system of environmental education in preschool educational institutions, pays great attention to observation as one of the most effective methods in this area of education.
- Illustrative and visual material. Books, illustrations, flashcards, films, videos, photographs and paintings - all this is illustrative material with which the teacher has the opportunity to introduce children to those natural phenomena (objects) that are not available for observation in natural conditions.
Practical methods
Practical methods are necessary to fully integrate children into environmental culture.
- Modeling. The modeling method is well suited for children in primary and secondary school. It represents the replacement of real objects (phenomena) with the help of diagrams, signs, figures or images. Modeling helps children create a general understanding of the object being studied.
- Experiences and experiments. Experience in environmental education is observation of the object being studied in conditions specially created for this. The experience must have a purpose and purpose. The course of the experiment must be thought out, as well as technologies and means. The experience itself is logically completed verbally or in writing.
- Ecological games. Didactic, mobile, board or verbal - a game is an introduction, cognition and consolidation of material. Play, as a method of environmental education, is widely used by kindergarten teachers, since in preschool age play is the leading activity .
Conducting didactic games on the topic of ecology in middle groups
Verbal methods
By verbal methods we mean conversations, stories, analysis of what we read or saw. Verbal methods are almost always supported by visual ones. A conversation always precedes any game, experiment, or observation. Conversation accompanies any other method.
One of the verbal methods is reading fiction. This can be either special environmental literature recommended by the curriculum, or works of classical writers. Many authors paid attention to the problems of nature, wildlife, and environmental protection.
