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Environmental risk perception has a long-time travel in the public participation in environmental fields. This perception involves individually socially constructed physical and mental experiences that involve many factors just for knowledge, attitudes, and the culture that develops in society. An individual's understanding of environmental risk provides an overview of an individual's preparedness for appropriate environmental risk strategies and measures. This cross-sectional survey study aims to collect data on the environmental risk perception of Indonesian students. The survey data instrument used in this study is the environmental risk perception scale (ERPS) questionnaire, transformed into Google Forms in the Indonesian language. The target respondents were 1,267 students from 1,300 undergraduate population size of educational study programs in the field of biology who came from various institutions in Indonesia. Sexual category, grade point average (GPA), and university status to explore the perception of the active student environment of prospective biology teachers with various parameters. The results showed several interesting findings: the female sex is more sensitive to environmental risks, academic abilities play a more logical role in environmental risk analysis, and respondents who have taken environmental courses have a higher sensitivity to environmental risk.

In recent years, environmental problems have been increasing rapidly around the world and affecting a wide range of environments. Many campaigns are carried out to raise awareness about environmental problems. This study aims to determine the ideas of students at different education levels about environmental problems and to compare these ideas with each other according to their fields. The survey model was used as the research method. The study group of the research consists of a total of 298 students: 75 at the 4th grade level of primary school, 90 at the 7th grade level of secondary school, 56 at the 11th grade level of high school, and 68 at the 3rd and 4th grade level of the university. The "Environmental Problems Opinion Survey", consisting of four open-ended questions, for which validity studies were conducted, was applied to the study group. The descriptive analysis method was used to analyze the data. Environmental pollution is seen as the most important environmental problem at all levels of education. While the answer to the most important cause of environmental problems is littering at the primary school level, it is shown that people act unconsciously on environmental issues at other levels of education. While the answer to the question about your most frequent behavior to prevent environmental problems was "I throw away the garbage" at the primary school, high school and university levels, the answer to the question "I throw the garbage away" was encountered at the secondary school level. Finally, it was suggested that awareness-raising activities be held at all education levels regarding the solution of environmental problems. Based on all these results, it has been observed that similar answers are encountered at all levels of education regarding environmental problems. Conducting more studies to increase students' awareness of environmental problems is among the recommendations of this study.

The needs of the digital revolution and the knowledge-based economy impose a transformation of traditional education to improve technical and scientific knowledge and include alternative abilities. This work presents a service-learning initiative with multiple goals: to improve scientific, technical, engineering, and mathematic (STEM) knowledge at school, to enhance students' engagement, and to make people aware of the repercussions of poor indoor air quality. The initiative involves four actors: the administration which steers the initiative, students who are the receivers of the knowledge, teachers as facilitators of the activity and research centers as expert references. Within this service-learning initiative, a real-life project has been proposed, focusing on measuring carbon dioxide (CO[subscript 2]) levels in classrooms and correlating them with indoor airborne infection transmission. Reference experts have developed two systems provided to teachers and students for project implementation. The project involves an engineering step where students set up the systems, and a scientific step where students hypothesize, develop experiments, analyse data, and communicate results gaining experience with the scientific method. Through the combined efforts and appropriate allocation of responsibilities, this experience has yielded excellent results in STEM knowledge transmission and has proven effective in fostering student commitment to their learning process.

In the Cirebon region, there are several environmental issues exists, one of the problems is pollution. In the context of modern information technology, there's a growing preference for electronic-based educational materials. This study aims to evaluate the environmental pollution levels in Cirebon and develop a e-pocket book as a biology learning resource for high school students. The research follows the ADDIE model (Analysis, Design, Development, Implementation, Evaluation) and utilizes observations, questionnaires, and documentation for data collection. The environmental assessment was conducted in Cirebon city and regency, and the learning media developed at MAN 2 Cirebon City. Results from the Environmental Quality Index (IKLH) indicate moderate pollution levels in Kejaksan District and mild-moderate levels in Talun District. The e-book was created using the Canva application and finalized into a link format compatible with laptops and Android smartphones. It underwent validation by material experts, media experts, biology educators, and student users, receiving favorable feedback with an overall rating of 87.24% deemed very satisfactory. It can be concluded that the development of this e-book on environmental pollution can be used as a learning media.

This study aimed to determine the difference in environmental literacy skills between the Project-Based Learning (PjBL) learning model and STEM-based PjBL. This research is quantitative research with a quasi-experimental method. The research design used is a non-equivalent pretest-posttest control group design. The dependent variable in this study is environmental literacy skills. The population in this study were all grade X students of State Senior High School (SHS) 7 of Surakarta in the 2023/2024 academic year. The sampling technique used was cluster random, tenth grade (X) A and B. A class consists of 36 students, as a control, using the PjBL model whereas as many as 35 students in B class is an experimental group was learned using the STEM-PjBL model. The data collection technique was carried out using pretest and posttest on the research sample. Data analysis technique using ANCOVA test. Instrument validation techniques using validity tests and reliability tests. The test results using ANCOVA have a significance value of <0.05, indicating differences in students' environmental literacy skills between the implementation of PjBL and STEM-PjBL. These results show that implementing the STEM-PjBL model was superior compared to PjBL only. It can be seen from the difference in learning outcomes of the control class, within the pretest and posttest, which showed an increase of 10.16%. In comparison, the experimental class results showed an increase of 16.94%. STEM-PjBL also helps students to be able to improve their environmental literacy skills in terms of knowledge, cognitive skills, attitudes, and behavior toward environmental problems.

Waste, a byproduct of human activity, can cause environmental pollution if released without proper processing. It can accumulate in piles, disturbing natural beauty and emitting unpleasant odors. The aim of this research is to from the students to care about the environment by learning with the Bubble Wrap Recycling Project, Used Plastic and Patchwork. The method of this project is a structured experiment. Common waste includes bubble wrap, plastic, and rags from the convection industry. A student project in an environmental science course involved recycling these materials into sitting pillows. Three variants were tested: 10% bubble wrap, 10% plastic waste, 80% patchwork, 15% bubble wrap, 15% plastic waste, 70% rags, and 20% bubble wrap, 20% plastic waste, 60% rags. The pillow's comfort was measured using a Linkert scale of 1-5. The results showed that the pillow measures 40cm. Recycling is a way to promote environmental care and awareness. Cooperation from educational agents, such as supervisors, leaders, and lecturers, is needed to increase students' environmental awareness. This includes examples of good environmental actions in daily routines, such as disposing of waste and implementing 3R practices.

In light of the increasing frequency of misleading information in social media regarding environmental issues, this study aimed to identify misleading information spread through TikTok videos and to discuss why such content is considered misleading, drawing on relevant literature. Hashtags with large numbers of views, such as #climatechange, #sustainability, #pollution, #biodiversity, #environmentalprotection, #environmentalissues, #energysource, and #environmentalproblems, were used for data collection through web scrapper called Apify (https://apify.com/). A total of 29 misleading videos were found. Content analysis was applied to identify and classify the topics and misleading claims. The topics of misleading videos, according to the most frequent mentions, were energy sources, followed by climate change, pollution, biodiversity, and environmental degradation. Among the misleading claims, videos related to pyramids as nonpollutant power plants and conspiracy related to pollution exhibited the highest frequency. The results show various misleading claims in videos related to environmental topics. Also, emphasized the importance of science education in addressing misleading information. In addition, the importance of an interdisciplinary approach for addressing environmental issues was reinforced.

The perceptions of students who study environmental science related to pollution are certainly different because they are influenced by various circumstances. These circumstances, among others, depend on what they observe around them and their prior knowledge. This study aimed to determine the concept of pollution according to the cognitive structure of prospective biology teachers. The research was designed as a case study and the selected participants were 29 first-year biology education students who took environmental science courses. Data were collected by giving word association tests, open-ended questions, and drawings. The results showed that students' thinking process and prior knowledge influenced their ability to express ideas or answers. Cognitive perceptions of prospective biology teachers from the word association test brought up 30 words related to the pollution which were grouped into four categories, namely types of pollution, causes of pollution, consequences of pollution, and solutions to overcome pollution. Cognitive perceptions of prospective teachers based on open-ended questions, most of them wrote the definition of pollution as stated in the environmental management law, and cognitive perceptions of prospective teachers outlined in the form of drawing related to efforts to overcome pollution are throwing garbage in its place, doing reforestation, and go green action. [Note: The publication year (2023) shown in the citation on the PDF is incorrect. The correct publication year is 2024.]

This study aims to investigate environmentally responsible and sustainable development of 56 pre-service teachers which relevant to framework of sustainable development goals. The qualitative data were collected and analyzed by summarizing general perspectives. The 9 concepts were found and reported. The ways to sustain environments and education students to reach sustainable development can be done by reduce, reuse, recycle; conserve water; save energy; sustainable transportation; grow trees and keep open areas green; waste management; support eco-friendly products; reduce carbon footprint; and conserve biodiversity. These frameworks and perspectives should be incorporated in education and classroom in action.

Given the severe pollution caused by traditional plastics, biodegradable plastic products (BPPs) have received great attention and are appearing in people's lives in the form of packaging bags, tableware, etc. Whether a wide variety of BPPs can truly degrade depends on the environment. Aerobic composting is the arbitration method to evaluate the degradability of BPPs in a premarket review, so only the aerobic degradability of BPPs can be guaranteed. Anaerobic digestion has become an irreplaceable part of the global carbon cycle and a mainstream technique to dispose of organic wastes. However, little attention has been given to the anaerobic degradation of BPPs, which may cause environmental pollution if BPPs are not degraded within a short time period. Students are not aware of these issues. Therefore, the teacher carried out teaching reforms in biochemistry course by designing anaerobic degradation of commercially available BPPs as a laboratory exercise for undergraduate students to form a correct understanding of the actual anaerobic degradation performance of BPPs, establish a more comprehensive theoretical knowledge framework of catabolism in biochemistry course, and train their hands-on ability and operation skills. This paper provides an introduction to the experimental design and teaching process of the anaerobic degradation of BPPs, and the results show that the degradation degree and rate are closely related to the components of BPPs. The results of the quizzes and questionnaires show that teaching reform is not only beneficial for deepening students' impression and understanding of anaerobic catabolism from ubiquitous BPPs in everyday life but also helpful for promoting their environmental awareness by selecting and using BPPs with better degradability. This teaching reform offers references and guidance for the teaching practice in courses like biochemistry, environmental microbiology, environmental chemistry, and waste treatment.

This study aims to equip students with conceptual modeling skills to address compelling 21st-century challenges in chemistry and chemical engineering education. System-based concept mapping is a critical competence for analyzing global, often complex, problems. We examined how conceptual modeling could scaffold practical experimental design, transitioning from problem identification to testable hypotheses. We set up a project in which first-year undergraduates in chemical engineering work in groups of 5-6 students. Their task was to develop concrete hypotheses for assignments that center on finding sustainable solutions for polluted environments. A set of educational roles (i.e., lecturers, tutors, learning assistants, educational specialist, and project coordinator) were implemented to ensure that students could accomplish their main learning outcome; that is, to become familiar with the academic way of thinking and apply critical thinking skills as a team. Interviews were conducted after the project was finished and revealed that, while conceptual modeling helped students to structure their ideas (i.e., to learn how to design research questions, incorporate interventions, and test models), developing hypotheses remains a challenging task. Our findings brought us to the recommendations for teaching conceptual modeling in the curriculum rather than at the project level, allowing students to progressively transition from understanding and applying concept mapping in their first year into creating solutions within the context of solving complex real-world problems in the final year of their bachelor's degree. The collaborative learning environment and project format employed in this work could spark new ways to teach science that facilitates systems thinking in chemistry.

Microplastics have been detected in most ecosystems around the world. They affect the environment and organisms in it, including humans and possibly their health. Hence, the analysis of microplastic occurrence in the environment is highly relevant. However, there are only a few practical and easy-to-implement methods published for school use, and therefore, microplastics still receive little attention in the classroom. This review presents an approach for separation and detection of microplastic particles in sediment with secondary school students based on methods used in current research. After sieving and density separation, the fluorescence marker Nile Red is used to selectively stain microplastic particles. Subsequently, the particles can be detected using a DIY low-cost fluorescence photobox. It offers an opportunity to address the problems associated with microplastics in a school context and can be used as an example for further discussion.

Individual characteristics of neighborhood context, like concentrated socioeconomic disadvantage, are associated with children's cognitive development, including their academic skill development and executive functions. However, questions remain regarding how neighborhood structural, process, and physical features uniquely predict children's cognitive skills when measuring neighborhoods more holistically. Exploiting within-child changes in neighborhood conditions over time in a nationally representative sample of children followed from kindergarten through fifth grade (N ˜ 13,550), this study examined unique associations between structural (i.e., concentrated disadvantage), process (i.e., violent crime, learning resources, and aspects of school quality), and physical (i.e., green space and pollution) characteristics of neighborhoods and children's achievement skills and executive functions. Fixed-effects models demonstrated that increases in neighborhood violent crime and pollution predicted decreases in children's reading and math skills, while increases in neighborhood school quality, learning resources, and green space predicted increases in reading and math. Children's executive functions were better when neighborhood pollution was lower and when school quality was better. Our results suggest that improving neighborhood structure, processes, and physical conditions may foster children's cognitive skill development, especially academic achievement.

The prevalence and pervasive nature of emerging chemicals of concern have created widespread environmental injustice apprehensions in vulnerable communities. To alleviate and address these concerns, identifying, engaging, and training a diverse environmental health research workforce will be critical and necessary steps to combat and prevent the consequences of environmental injustice. While there is an obvious need to enhance diversity in environmental health research, this process is hampered by facets of systemic racism that reduce access to educational resources needed to build interest and knowledge in students and teachers. We present here a historical perspective to offer a guide for building programs and relationships with underserved schools to help overcome limiting factors that have plagued certain public school systems. With the proper training and mentorship, the untapped workforce present within these schools will be empowered to understand and address current and emerging environmental health and safety threats. Through this transformative 8-week high school research program, we will develop well-prepared, ethical researchers committed to scientific inquiry, intensive fieldwork, and collaborative problem solving to address environmental health challenges. Following the four-step risk assessment process, students, teachers, and faculty mentors will work collaboratively to identify toxicants, potential hazards and risks, and environmental disparities in urban neighborhoods, which provides the necessary training to formulate critical thinking skills for use in academic or nonacademic careers.

Addressing human-made environmental problems such as deforestation is an ongoing educational challenge. Promising educational approaches include cooperative decision-making and attempt via a high level of motivation to promote pro-environmental behaviors. Knowledge about the forest ecosystem, including its threats, is supposed to strengthen responsibilities and individual behavioral preferences. The "Save the Forests!" module engages students in hands-on learning activities under the frame of an educational Escape Game (Edu Breakout). Based on nine workstations, it includes various cooperative activities focusing on the forest ecosystem, its ecosystem services, and common tree species. Students realize advantages of recycling, gain insight into paper production and associated resource consumption, compare eco-labels for sustainable paper products, and reflect on consumer decisions. Additionally, the students learn about habitat situations after clear-cutting, forest fires, or storm damages (succession), including strategies for dealing with deadwood based on scientific data. Besides experiments and challenging tasks, students learn about the ecological footprint and greenwashing by clarifying often-used terms in sustainability contexts. In an accompanied quantitative study approach, students participating in the learning module significantly increased their knowledge scores in a pre-post comparison (n = 135, p < 0.001, d = 0.58).

Environmental awareness has become an urgent and indispensable necessity to protect the environment from risks and threats. Therefore, this study aimed to reveal the effectiveness of using cartoons in developing awareness of protecting the environment from pollution among students with learning disabilities. The study adopted the true experimental method by taking a simple random sample consisting of 33 students with learning disabilities in the elementary stage in the age group (9-12) years in Najran region in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The researchers prepared an attitude test, consisting of ten multiple-choice questions to measure the study sample's awareness of protecting the environment from pollution. The test was applied before and after the treatment on the control and experimental groups. Also, it was applied as a delayed test on the experimental group only. The results showed statistically significant differences in the post-test of awareness of environmental protection from pollution for the experimental group who studied using cartoons. In addition, there were no statistically significant differences between the post and delayed test of the scores of the experimental group on the environmental protection awareness test from pollution. The study recommended urging teachers of learning disabilities to use cartoons to deepen environmental knowledge among students with learning disabilities. Also, students with learning disabilities should be motivated to contribute and participate individually and collectively in protecting the environment, preserving its resources, and reducing potential environmental risks from environmentally unsound behaviors. Finally, the study suggests conducting more future studies examining the effectiveness of cartoons in developing different environmental education concepts.

Continuous professional development is critical for Extension staff, and many agriculture-focused Extension employees are tasked with outreach related to a wide variety of natural resource topics. The purpose of this study is to help prioritize trainings needed by Kansas Extension agents and specialists based on their current level of knowledge and interest in staying up to date on 18 different natural resource topics. Responses to a statewide survey were analyzed using the Borich model. Results indicate priority professional development needs related to soil health; effects of climate; invasive species, harmful algal blooms; and groundwater, surface water, and air quality.

This project seeks to foster students' critical thinking abilities through the incorporation of Design Thinking with STEAM-PjBL in a chemistry redox process. 41 grade 10 students from a high school in Rangkasbitung, Banten, Indonesia participated in this study. Learning was facilitated by using a variety of online platforms, including Edmodo, Google Jamboard, and Zoom Meetings. Interviews, observations, journal reflection procedures, and researcher notes were used to gather qualitative data. The five steps of Design Thinking: empathize, define, ideate, prototype, and test, were used to facilitate learning (Plattner, 2010). Critical thinking skills were assessed through the indicators of Framing The Problem, Solution Finding, Self-Regulation, and Reflection, developed by Ucson and Rizona (2018). Based on the categories of Information Search, Creative Interpretation and Reasoning, Reflection, and Self-Regulation, the results demonstrate the development of students' critical thinking abilities to the advanced level. Design Thinking provides a way to more easily and actively create project-based solutions in solving contextual problems related to redox reaction of water pollution in the Ciujung River due to the use of detergent waste. Understanding the relationship of chemical concepts to daily life challenges the application of this approach. To challenge students' learning and help them acquire 21st-century abilities, STEAM-PjBL may be integrated with Design Thinking.

To constitute awareness of climate change, hearing the solutions of students in their words and seeing visual products by creating experiences in schools is vital. This case study was limited to sequential implementations of climate change in the natural sciences teaching process in 5th grade. After an education process on using Pixton, 12 students transformed their learning into digital comics. This research aimed to reveal the problems created by students through digital stories about climate change, solutions they suggested for climate problems, and aesthetic subtleties they applied to express themselves. Digital comics created by students, researcher notes, observations, and students' view forms were used as data collection tools. Finally, vital solutions to problems such as global climate change, pollution, destruction of the natural environment, and extinction of living creatures were created by students during this case. Important solutions consisting of preventing global warming, making peace with nature, vital measures and efforts to protect the soil were suggested. Besides, interesting aesthetic subtleties such as storification, positioning of the characters, place preferences, expression of emotions, and time depiction were applied. Teachers can use comics to see students' tendencies, raise awareness, encourage them, and help them develop solutions for current socioscientific problems.

The objectives of this paper were to 1) study the learning model of the smart crematorium system, 2) create a learning manual on smart cremation management, and 3) promote the development of learning for undertakers to use the smart crematorium. This was mixed method research with qualitative research and action research as parts of the conduct of quantitative research. The samples were from informants that consisted of 10 monks, 5 community leaders, 5 academicians, 17 seminars, 30 participants, a total of 67 people, and content analysis according to the study issues. The research instruments consisted of 1) an interview form, 2) a focus group meeting, 3) an activity participation form, and 4) an activity assessment form. The data collection was as follows: 1) secondary sources, documents, books, journals, and research reports related to concepts, and theories, 2) workshops, 3) in-depth interviews, 4) specific group discussions, and 5) collecting data from measurement reports and analysis of dioxin/furans compounds to categorize the data and analyzed according to the study issues. The findings revealed that 1. A learning model for using a smart crematorium system for the undertakers: 1) filling the fielder with the reaper into the storage tank 2) turning on the air compressor to fill the tank 3) opening the valve to let air into the system 4) checking the wind pressure and 5) checking the air flowing through the system along the main pipes which would pass the Vimutti substances into the crematorium and smoke furnace room continued to for about 30 minutes continuously. 2. Operations of creating a learning manual on smart cremation management that contained details in the book: 1) the problem of pollution from cremation 2) the smart crematorium with new options 3) the benefits of using the smart crematorium. This would introduce the features of a new smart crematorium, how to use and the benefits of using a smart crematorium. 3. To promote and develop knowledge for undertakers to use smart crematoriums and Vimutti substance sprayers by organizing training to educate about dioxins and furans, organized training and demonstrating how to use the smart crematorium and the Vimutti substance sprayers. This was the development of a learning model to enhance the Buddhist way of temples and urban communities as a cremation model.

Background/purpose: Technology education (TE) offers hands-on activities through a design process to be an environmentally-oriented subject. TE can be used to reduce littering, an environmental problem that also has health implications for modern-day society. This research study sought to explore the challenges that impede TE teachers in delivering lessons to raise students' awareness of littering through the application of the participatory paradigm. Materials/methods: TE teachers of Grade 8 students were selected using purposive sampling in this qualitative participatory action research (PAR) study. The use of PAR was chosen in order to develop relevant action research-based methods of intervention that can be implemented to address gaps in the literature. Chaos theory was used to ground the study. Interviews were used to generate data from the study participants, which were then analyzed using the content/textual analysis method. Results: The study identified issues, challenges, and obstacles that impede TE teachers from delivering lessons that raise students' awareness about littering. Lack of understanding environmental education and subject relevancy were found to be some of the major challenges facing TE teachers in conscientizing students about littering. Conclusion: The author concludes that TE teachers need to be equipped with environmental pedagogies through inservice training in order that they can incorporate littering issues into their lessons.

This study aimed at (i) identifying primary school students' attitudes toward environmental issues based on the perspectives of ecocentrism and anthropocentrism and (ii) inspecting students' attitudes (i.e., ecocentric and anthropocentric) toward environmental issues in relation to gender and grade level. Data were gathered from 40 students through the administration of an interview questionnaire along with pictures concerning questions in the questionnaire. Results demonstrated that most of the participants who held positive attitudes reflected anthropocentric attitudes toward water, paper, and electricity consumption, reusing, and playground preferences whereas ecocentric attitudes toward plants, bugs, and other animals. Besides, half and slightly more than half of the participants with positive attitudes expressed ecocentric attitudes toward residence preferences and environmental pollution, respectively while nearly half of the participants with positive attitudes expressed anthropocentric attitudes toward the mentioned issues. It was also found that with the exception of one environmental issue, participants' attitudes toward environmental issues were not significantly associated with their gender. Additionally, no relation was found between participants' environmental attitudes and their grade level.

The Kigali Amendment introduced a new family of chemical compounds, which do not contribute to stratospheric ozone depletion but present a high global warming potential, under the watch of the Montreal Protocol in 2016. Earlier this year, a press note from the World Meteorological Organization entitled "Ozone layer recovery is on track, helping avoid global warming by 0.5°C" caught our attention because of the wrong conclusions that can be potentially drawn by laypersons due to an apparent linkage of ozone depletion and global warming problems. Public communication of the Montreal Protocol since the Kigali Amendment should be more careful than ever to avoid lessening the social perception of the threat of climate change, particularly considering that society already has a distorted representation of these problems, assuming causal relations between ozone depletion and climate change, that could lead to unfounded optimism towards the climate crisis.

Purpose: Despite hazardous consequences, the use of fertilizers and pesticides has been exceptionally high, mainly to increase crop yield. Socio-economic factors have been explored to understand the inability to curb its overuse; however, literature on psychological factors affecting farmers' decision-making is very scarce. Psychological factors are important to understand as these factors mediate the effects of external socio-economic factors on one's behaviour. The present study focused on farmers' intentions to convert their farming practices from conventional to organic. Design/methodology/approach: The data was collected from 389 participants, mainly using semi-structured face-to-face interviews. The observations were analysed through regression and structural equation modelling. Findings: A significant association has been observed between attitudes, subjective norms, perceived behavioural control, awareness and farmers' intention to switch to organic farming practices. Practical implications: As the observed factors are significantly associated with conversion intentions and malleable by nature, the study serves as a confirmatory node to proceed with the interventional plan based on the belief system restructuring module to educate farmers about sustainable farming practices. Theoretical implications: The study verified the applicability of the theory of planned behaviour in the Indian context and highlighted the factors to be targeted to convert the intentions of conventional farmers to organic farming. Originality/value: In order to curb the overuse of chemicals in agriculture, policymakers can plan suitable interventions and use the relevant psychological measures to target the factors identified in the present study.

This research explored early ecological-moral sense, by investigating 2.5- and 5-year-old children's evaluations of overt and covert pro-environmental actions using both rewarding and reaching paradigms (N = 96; 100% White). In Experiment 1, the overt pro-environmental action was compared with the action of harming the environment. In Experiment 2, the covert pro-environmental action was compared with the action of harming the environment. The results showed a reaching preference for the agent that performed overt pro-environmental behaviours only in older children, and a tendency to reward it in both age groups (Experiment 1). No preference for the agent that displayed covert pro-environmental behaviours or a tendency to reward it was found in all children (Experiment 2). These findings demonstrate an age-increased environmental morality.

Awareness of the individual's harmful impact on the environment has been rising in recent years. One example of harmful impact is the littering of public spaces -- which is significantly hazardous to ecosystems. A possible solution to the problem is a shift of emphasis. Rather than reinforcing external responsibility embodied in bins, cleaning staff, inspectors and authorities, emphasis should be placed on fostering the personal responsibility of citizens to collect the garbage they produce and transport it for safe, organized disposal. This approach is at the heart of a new initiative -- "Take the Garbage with You." This qualitative study examines how adults and adolescents perceive environmental responsibility -- in general and, more specifically, regarding the littering of public spaces. We interviewed 24 participants divided into four groups: environmentally inclined adults, indifferent adults, environmentally inclined teens, and indifferent teens. Both inclined and indifferent, adults and teens alike, believe that others litter because there is someone in charge of cleaning and that the greater a person's sense of social belonging, the greater the efforts they take to protect the environment. Our findings also show that only environmentally inclined adults believe that Take the Garbage with You stands a good chance to succeed.

This study aims to investigate Kazakhstani high school students' environmental knowledge, attitude toward the environment, environmental awareness, and environmental concern, and to present the effect of various extracurricular activities on high school students' knowledge, attitude, awareness, and concern. We surveyed 124 students at various grade levels. Results indicated that Kazakhstani students did not have a strong environmental knowledge base and their awareness of environmental issues is not strong at all, but they had a strong positive environmental attitude. There was no significant relationship between knowledge, attitude, and awareness based on grades in biology, chemistry, physics, math, and geography. Gender did not influence students' environmental knowledge, attitudes, and awareness but year in school did for environmental knowledge. Kazakhstani students were most concerned about air pollution, pollution of rivers and seas, and flooding, and they were the least concerned with overpopulation, radioactive waste, extinction of species, and climate change. Extracurricular activities did prove useful with increasing students' knowledge and awareness about environmental challenges but did not impact their environmental attitude. Our results imply that what is being taught about the environment in Kazakhstani schools is not substantial enough. Educators may modify the curriculum to better address environmental issues in the classroom and add more content and activities.

This study qualitatively explored the process of student environmental identity development (sEID) within the highly social and structured context of elementary school science. Social practice theory was used as the lens to distinguish the dimensions of sEID that were visible during a curriculum-based, in-school program focused on the issue of pollution. Student narratives, collected from small group interviews and reflective journals, were prioritized to capture the process of students in context identifying as "being "for" the environment." Data collected from 35 grade six students were qualitatively coded, a network diagram was used to visualize the relationships in the data, and a research vignette was constructed. Eight dimensions were recognized as contributing to sEID; the opportunity to be an environmental actor with peers, increased awareness of environmental threat, emotional responses, self-recognition for environmental action, perceived agency, changed behavior across social contexts, social recognition for identity actions, and personal meaning. While many of these dimensions have been directly or indirectly discussed in the research on adult environmentalists, shifting the emphasis from group membership to the individual student in context led to the addition of two dimensions--personal meaning and emotional responses. Recognizing the eight dimensions of sEID is an important contribution to the literature as students engaging in environmental action as a requirement of school is distinct from the existing research. Identifying the dimensions of sEID can support the intentional design of learning sequences that foster environmental identities in school and beyond.

Environmental injustice is often an intersection of economic, social, and environmental disparities. Addressing the inequities borne by communities overburdened with such disparities requires local learning opportunities. Exploring how and what participants learn during community education projects can help inform and improve practice, which was the focus of this study. This study reports on a larger community environmental education project involving participatory action research, which involved community residents in Chicago learning to monitor local air quality using low-cost air sensors. The experiences of 14 volunteer air monitors were collected using focus group interviews and analyzed using Braun and Clarke's (2006) approach to thematic analysis. Participant learning focused on new and existing skills related to science/technology, interpersonal communication, and local environment. Volunteers built skills in using low-cost air sensors, taught other community members about air monitoring and local air quality, and devised strategies for improving community air quality and health. This exploration of the experiences of community residents learning to use low-cost air monitors has three applications to community education practice related to addressing inequity: utilizing community members as educators, developing community capacity to engage with science, and normalizing equitable processes. The study's findings mark a contribution by the field of adult and community education to both Critical Science Agency and low-cost air monitoring literature, in addition to the Education for Sustainability literature by addressing the lack of focus on sustainability and equity by highlighting a community-based PAR project focused on developing local capacity of marginalized communities to address air quality issues.

This article analyzes how three mathematics preservice teachers (PSTs) reasoned quantitatively and covariationally while making sense of the Earth's energy budget (EB)--a model of energy circulation within the Earth's climate system--and discusses how their quantitative and covariational reasonings influenced their understanding of climate change. The PSTs completed the EB task during an individual, task-based interview; the task explored two concepts that are key to understanding climate change: The Earth's EB and the link between carbon dioxide (CO[subscript 2]) pollution and global warming. The results showed that quantitative and covariational reasoning played an important role in shaping the PSTs' understanding of climate change, extending the usefulness of these theories from the mathematics education domain to the science education domain. More specifically, when these two types of reasoning supported the realizations of an EB with multiple equilibriums and an increase in global temperature as a response to increasing CO[subscript 2] levels, the PSTs could describe and model why CO[subscript 2] pollution causes global warming. Conversely, if their reasoning did not support those two realizations, then they develop misconceptions about the EB and global warming. The results suggest that strengthening quantitative and covariational reasoning in connection to climate change can prepare mathematics and science teachers to teach it.

The purpose of the current study is to qualitatively explore how Thai preservice biology teachers make decisions on, and informally reason about, an agriculture-based socioscientific issue (SSI). The SSI arises mainly as a controversy between two social classes, namely the agricultural and non-agricultural sectors, involving haze pollution. Participants comprised 45 fourth-year preservice biology teachers (11 males and 34 females) almost equally divided between the two sectors. They completed a written questionnaire asking for the level of their concern, their reasons for concern, and their positions regarding a solution to haze pollution -- that is, the banning of agricultural burning. Data were inductively analysed using an iterative process of coding and categorising. The results suggest that, while they shared the main concerns about health and the environment, the participants from different sectors tended to approach the issue differently. While this difference must be confirmed with a larger population, it supports the hypothesis that socio-professional identities play a role in the process of decision-making and reasoning regarding SSIs. It is recommended that the socio-professional identities of those engaging in SSIs should be explicitly considered in the context of SSI-based instruction.

The discovery of frog abnormalities by students on a school field trip in 1995 sparked hundreds of scientific studies in search of the cause of abnormality. This Socio-Scientific Issue has been used as an inquiry-based learning exercise for training in the practice of science, but it is also well-suited to teaching the nature of science. Our goal here is to provide an integrative resource for biology and environmental educators to integrate the nature of science into their course context. We introduce frog abnormalities in the context of a socio-scientific issue for teaching the nature of science, review the frog abnormality phenomenon, suggest appropriate educational methods for this SSI, and offer ideas for non-science educators to connect to the sciences.

Following the severe impact of capitalist industrialization on the environment, the EU has funded several projects in the context of the European Green Deal to pursue climate neutrality by 2050. Some of these projects attempt to achieve zero emissions through political participation, while others by committing EU citizens to adopt sustainable habits in terms of both practical behavior and economic choices. The GreenSCENT project, funded by the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme, aims to develop a Competence Framework compliant with the European Qualifications Framework and the European Green Deal. The present article documents the process of developing such a Competence Framework. Eight distinct research teams independently conducted a similar thorough literature review over an assigned topic (Climate Change; Clean Energy; Circular Economy; Green Building; Smart Mobility; From Farm to Fork; Biodiversity; Zero Pollution). The resulting documental corpora have then elicited to build the competence matrices and the corresponding European Qualification Framework levels. Once the information has been reorganized as a knowledge graph, the researchers discovered a large amount of novel interdomain connections, providing a more engaging way of interacting with the Competence Framework, and potentially apt to avoiding information overload issues while preserving the complexity, in line with the simplexity paradigm. The environmental education tools produced by this research could be useful in mitigating the repercussions of Capitalocene on the environment toward the adoption of more sustainable behaviors.

We implemented research-based learning (RBL) as an alternative to traditional frontal classroom lectures and laboratory sessions to impart knowledge on the emerging topic of microplastics in soil to students. The RBL module aimed at studying how microplastics (MPs) affect soil processes. We designed low-cost, small-scale and simple experiments for master's students in Environmental Engineering at the Hamburg University of Technology. Students reported a clear understanding of concepts underlined by their presentation of the results and enthusiasm towards future exploration for their master's or doctoral projects evidenced by a number of students carrying out research projects in the same field after finishing the module. The experiments were consequently published as an online learning module with the Hamburg Open Online University, to make them accessible for other students. The recent push in the education sector to include innovative teaching and learning methodologies offers new opportunities for RBL that are practical and replicable learning experiences that foster students' research and problem-solving skills in areas of chemical, soil physics and environmental engineering fields.

Although sensuous and embodied engagement is an integral part of child--environment relationalities, the intersections of aesthetics, children and environments remain scarcely addressed. As a response, this study develops a concept of 'aesthetic flux' to delve into the sensuous dynamics of matter and bodies in the context of a storying workshop in a forest with first graders in a Finnish primary school. An arts-based, post-qualitative methodology guided our analysis of video recordings from the workshop, resulting in visual-sonic montages that draw attention to the intense movements and sounds of children, soap bubbles, air, a research camera and trees. Thinking through the concept of aesthetic flux, our study experiments with the abundance, indeterminacy and potentiality of sensuous dynamics where bodies (human and otherwise) become together and linger. Thus, our study reconfigures aesthetics as a creative and unpredictable force that materialises in both embodied and conceptual ways in environmental education and research with children.

Ecological crises are also spiritual ones, leading to profound heartbreak. By helping us to understand and value the nature of heartbreak, as well as helping to find a balance between heartbreak and hope, religious traditions can play a significant role in empowering people to address serious environmental problems. This paper discusses how reconnection and ritual can help people to strike that balance.

The perceptions of 20 preschool children about nature and nature pollution were investigated. Data were collected through interviews and by studying the children's drawings. The results show that most children perceived nature together with living things. The children expressed that nature was most polluted with garbage and that all living things would be harmed in case of nature pollution. Children emphasized behaviors toward a sustainable environment to protect and not spoil it. Teachers should provide children with opportunities for environmental education through real-life experiences in nature-friendly settings and include their families in these educational activities.

To promote a justice-oriented approach to science education, we formed a research-practice partnership between middle school science teachers, their students, curriculum designers, learning scientists, and experts in social justice to co-design and test an environmental justice unit for middle school instruction. We examine teacher perspectives on the challenges and possibilities of integrating social justice into their standards-aligned science teaching as they participate in co-design and teach the unit. The unit supports students to investigate racially disparate rates of asthma in their community by examining pollution maps and historical redlining maps. We analyze interviews and co-design artifacts from two teachers who participated in the co-design and taught the unit in their classrooms. Our findings point to the benefits of a shared pedagogical framework and an initial unit featuring local historical content to structure co-design. Findings also reveal that teachers can share similar goals for empowering students to use science knowledge for civic action while framing the local socio-political factors contributing to the injustice differently, due in part to different institutional supports and constraints. Student interviews and a pre/postassessment illustrate how the unit facilitated students' progress in connecting socio-political and science ideas to explain the impacts of particulate matter pollution and who is impacted most. Analyses illuminate how teachers' pedagogical choices may influence whether and how students discuss the impact of systemic racism in their explanations. The findings inform refinement of the unit and suggest supports needed for co-design partnerships focused on integrating social justice and science.

Social, political, and cultural complexities observed in environmental justice (EJ) communities require new forms of investigation, science teaching, and communication. Defined broadly, participatory approaches can challenge and change inequity and mistrust in science. Here, we describe Project Harvest and the partnership building and co-generation of knowledge alongside four EJ communities in Arizona. From 2017 to 2021, Project Harvest centered learning around these communities and the participant experience drove the data sharing practice. The framework of sense-making is used to analyze how community scientists (CS) are learning within the context of environmental pollution and (in)justice. The environmental health literacy (EHL) framework is applied to document the acquisition of skills that enable protective decision-making and the capacity of CS to move along the EHL continuum. Using data from surveys, focus groups, and semi-structured interviews, we are asking how did: (1) Personal connections and local relevancy fuel sense-making? (2) Data sharing make pollution visible and connect to historical knowledge to either reinforce or modify their existing mental map around pollution? and (3) The co-creation process build data literacy and a relationship science? Results indicate that due to the program framing, CS personally connected with, and made sense of their data based on use and experience. CS synthesized and connected their pollution history and lived experiences with their data and evaluated contaminant transport. CS saw themselves as part of the process, are taking what they learned and the evidence they helped produce to adopt protective environmental health measures and are applying these skills to new contexts. Here, co-created science nurtured a new/renewed relationship with science. This science culture rooted in co-creation, fosters action, trust, and supports ongoing science engagement. The science learning that stems from co-created efforts can set the pace for social transformation and provide the foundation for structural change.

Oftentimes the increase in industrial development is the cause of environmental problems. Environmental problems can be overcome by the presence of humans who care about the environment or have environmental literacy skills. Environmental literacy skills can be instilled from an early age, for example through practicum learning in schools. However, considering that the Covid-19 pandemic is one of the obstacles in carrying out the practice, virtual laboratory-based online learning is carried out. This study was aimed to improve students' environmental literacy through virtual laboratory-based online learning that has been developed. This research is quasi experiment with pre-test and post-test research design Control Group Design. The total sample of the study was 70 students of class X of state senior high school. The research instrument used was in the form of test questions about environmental changes material and environmental literacy questionnaires. The results showed that the N-gain value of environmental literacy in the experimental class was 29% high, 60% moderate, 11.42% low with the percentage of attitudes 66.62% and 63.43% behavior. Meanwhile, for the control class, the N-gain value was 9% high, 48.57% moderate, 42.85% low and 68% attitude and 67% behavior. This shows that virtual laboratory-based online learning contributes to increasing environmental literacy skills.

The focus of this study was on the associations between air pollution, outdoor activities and symptoms of wheeze and rhinitis for pre-school children over Wuhan and surrounding cities. Air pollutants had downward trends over the study region from 2015 to 2020. Sulfur dioxide (SO[subscript 2]) content decreased significantly. Particulate matter was concentrated on the north side of the study area and nitrogen dioxide (NO[subscript 2]) was concentrated near Wuhan urban, while the distribution of ozone (O[subscript 3]) was relatively uniform. Odds Ratio (OR) showed that an increase in NO[subscript 2] was associated with a high incidence of rhinitis, with an OR of 1.043 (1.025, 1.062 95% confidence interval). Reduction of O[subscript 3] was associated with remissions of rhinitis symptoms in spring and autumn. The living environment is an important factor. Living near lakes was associated with the incidence of wheeze and living near roads was associated with the incidence of wheeze rhinitis, respectively. Additionally, appropriate outdoor activities showed association with a low incidence of wheeze and rhinitis symptoms in this region. This research improved our understanding of air pollution, outdoor activities and pre-school children's respiratory health. It was also a guide on the design of outdoor activities and outdoor courses for pre-school children during the process of urban construction.

Metaphors are expressions that are frequently used in people's minds to explain concepts with other unrelated concepts and have a personal emphasis on learning. The purpose of this study is to determine and interpret the metaphorical perceptions of primary school pre-service teachers towards environmental pollution. The "phenomenology" research design was used in this study. The study group of this research consists of a total of 372 primary pre-service teachers. Data were collected using semi-structured forms to determine the metaphorical perceptions of primary school pre-service teachers. The pre-service teachers were asked to complete the sentence, "Environmental pollution is like... because....". At the conclusion of multiple comparisons, by the relation degree between environmental pollution and its metaphors, it was determined that significant difference was in favour of the 2nd year between the 2nd and 4th years and in favour of the 3rd year between the 3rd and 4th years. As a result of the research, it was discovered that the majority of the metaphors produced by the pre-service teachers were in the "human" and "harmful/dangerous/uncomfortable situations" categories. Furthermore, the study discovered that as the year level increased, the number of related metaphors about environmental pollution decreased.