Analysing Pre-School Students’ Water Awareness and Water Literacy Development in a Project Based Study

The amount of water we can use today faces many dangers. At the beginning of these dangers is water pollution caused by unconscious use. The correct use of existing water resources can be provided by proper training of future generations. Transforming the desired education into behavior is also possible with early education. For this reason, in this study, it was aimed to gain pre-school students’ water awareness and water literacy development. The study was conducted at a town which is in Turkey's coastal province located in the northeast region. 15 students participated in the study. The study was carried out within the scope of a project and the practical activities application process lasted 10 weeks. Each week a team of researchers visited the school on selected days and hours and conducted two-hour activities with those students. There are various demonstrations and various out-of-school activities for the students regarding water chemical formula, water cycle, rain, water power and the importance of water. Semi-structured interviews were carried out before and after the application, observations were made and diaries of teacher candidates included in the process are used as data collection tool. All data obtained were subjected to descriptive and content analysis. As a conclusion, students' scientific responses to water-related questions have increased, their awareness of water-saving use has increased, and, finally, joining of a project has led to an increase in positive attitudes toward scientific studies