Mental Models of Aquatic and Terrestrial Ecosystems in Preschool Children
Chapter from the book:
Aydınlı,
B.
&
Altunoğlu,
B.
D.
(eds.)
2024.
Transforming Early Childhood Education: Technology, Sustainability, and Foundational Skills for the 21st Century .
Synopsis
The main purpose of this study is to identify preschool children's awareness of aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems, describe the living and non-living components they recognize within these ecosystems, and evaluate the relationships they establish between these components. The sample consists of 60 children aged 60-72 months attending a public preschool in Van, Turkey, during the 2021-2022 academic year. The study group was formed using a convenience sampling method. The children's drawings related to aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems, created on blank A4 paper, were analyzed using the *Draw An Environment Test-Rubric* (DAET-R, DAME-R) adapted from an Environmental Drawing Test Rubric. Descriptive analysis was conducted to categorize the drawings into themes. Findings revealed that the most frequently depicted elements in aquatic ecosystem drawings were human figures (f=35), octopus (f=47), seaweed (f=27), shark (f=16), sun (f=37), and clouds (f=15), while in terrestrial ecosystem drawings, the most common elements were trees (f=40), grass (f=37), flowers (f=23), and butterflies (f=14). The analysis of both aquatic and terrestrial ecosystem drawings showed that although children included both biotic and abiotic components, they struggled to establish interconnections between components from two or more groups within an ecological system.