Measurement and Study of the Understanding of the Concept of Ecology in Fifth and Sixth Grade Students

The deterioration of our environment is becoming ever more evident. Pollution of the air and water is increasingly observable. Various species of animals are becoming extinct. The recent energy crisis brought acute awareness of the fact that our natural resources are exhaustible, and their rapid consumption is resulting in accelerated pollution of our atmosphere. Thus the balance which had existed in many aspects of our environment is being disrupted. Our concept of that precarious balance has changed as a result of the manner in which we perceive our total environment, the earth. In the 1960\u27s, voyages to the moon brought reality to the concept that we actually live on a tiny spaceship, and it became evident that our future depends on our conduct as members of the \u27\u27crew on that spaceship. Economist Kenneth Boulding stated that it has cost over 24 billion dollars to land on the moon and to probe Mars and Venus (Hardin, 1970). But if this results in appropriate modification of our behavior such that we realize the importance of regaining a better ecological balance, it is a small price to pay..