| Budget Amount *help |
¥2,600,000 (Direct Cost: ¥2,600,000)
Fiscal Year 2004: ¥700,000 (Direct Cost: ¥700,000)
Fiscal Year 2003: ¥500,000 (Direct Cost: ¥500,000)
Fiscal Year 2002: ¥1,400,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,400,000)
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| Research Abstract |
Two surveys with a questionnaire and field investigations on the biotopes and environment education at pre-schools were conducted.
1. First survey was nationwide with pre-school teachers. This was carried out in order to discover the degree of pre-school teachers' awareness, action toward installation, and actual use of biotopes in preschool education. The findings from the surveys revealed that the biotope was useful in pre-school education. However, what also found was that biotopes were not generally being installed in pre-schools.
2. Field investigations were made in Kanto area. In total, 21 biotopes of pre-school we investigated and concluded that attributes of actual biotopes were categorized in six or more. These categories, for example, location and size, component, water environment, and container of water environment consisted of many elements. The biotopes of pre-school had various combinations of those elements, and therefore looked different each other.
3. Second survey was made to research pre-school teachers' thinking about environment education and location of nature experience for children. With the word "environment education" they frequently reminded nature experience, recycle of nature, and nature preservation, respect for life. On the other hand, global warming and other global destructions were rarely reminded. This suggests that for many pre-school teachers, environment education means local not but global problems. Characteristics of location where children had nature experiences, e.g. classroom with aquarium and/or insect breeding case, play-ground with flower garden and/or biotope, and zoo park, were evaluated differently.
These results suggests that to enrich children's nature experiences locations should be characteristically recognized and be effectively used in early childhood education.
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