The concept of ecological representations of preschoolers. Ecological representation in children in the modern world

Description of the presentation Formation of ecological representations in children of middle preschool age on slides

Formation of ecological ideas in children of middle preschool age in experimental and experimental activities Completed Art. TO gr. 609 A. V. Zubreva

Relevance During preschool childhood, in the process of purposeful pedagogical interaction in preschool children, it is possible to form the foundations of ecological culture, a correct and conscious attitude to phenomena, objects of animate and inanimate nature. Ample opportunities for this are presented through experimental activities.

Purpose Formation of environmental knowledge in children, norms and rules of interaction with animate and inanimate nature through experimental and experimental activities

Tasks Formation of concepts about animate and inanimate nature. The development of children's interest in experimental and experimental activities. Development of didactic and methodological support for experimental activities of middle-aged children. Improving the subject-spatial environment

Hypothesis If the system of work of a teacher on the environmental education of children of middle preschool age includes the organization and conduct of children's experimentation, then the children will develop ecological consciousness, cognitive activity, mental activity, interest in nature, search for solutions and patterns and enjoyment of the achieved result will develop.

Expected results Formation in children of real ideas about objects and phenomena of animate and inanimate nature; foundations of ecological culture. Replenishment and updating of methodological and didactic material. Creation of a corner in the group for conducting experimental activities.

Type of project Project participants: children of the middle group and teachers By the time frame of the project: long-term (September - May)

Main stages and terms of the project implementation preparatory September main October - April final May

The main stage Working with children Formation of ideas about living and inanimate nature through experimental activities Development of didactic and methodological support for experimental activities of middle-aged children Improvement of the subject-spatial environment

Methods and techniques Experimental and experimental activity Observation of living objects and natural phenomena; Cognitive conversations; Didactic and educational games; Listening to audio recordings, reading literature, memorizing poetry, etc. Examining pictures; Labor activity in a corner of nature, on the site and in the garden

Technology of work on the project 1. Acquaintance with the properties of water 2. Acquaintance with the wind 3. Acquaintance with the properties of soil, clay, sand 4. Factors necessary for the growth and development of plants (water, light, heat ...) 5. Develop an emotional-value attitude to the outside world

Model of interaction between a teacher and parents 1. Screens, environmental stands 2. Questionnaires, surveys 3. Consultations 4. Joint activities

Model of integration of educational areas Cognitive development Social - communicative development Physical development Speech development Artistic - aesthetic

Problems of the formation of ecological culture in preschoolers 1. Insufficient ability to reflect the cause-and-effect relationship between events. 2. 3. Experiencing difficulties in independent analysis of the phenomena. 4. Children have difficulty understanding the causal relationship of the phenomenon under consideration.

Target guidelines 1. The project for children of middle preschool age is aimed at the development of integrative qualities and abilities - through the education of children to love nature, the development of ecological culture. Children will learn to love nature and teach others to love it. 2. The use of ecological holidays and entertainment in order to give children a better memory of the material on ecological education, to know the rules of behavior in nature, to protect it, to positively influence the ecology of the human soul: there will be aesthetic enjoyment of the sounds, smells and colors of nature. 3. The key to disclosing the potential experimental capabilities of children is the correct organization of the subject-developing environment in educational activities and the creation of a benevolent atmosphere. 4. Effective activity is possible only with close cooperation of all project participants. 5. For the correct formation of ecological culture, a certain system of interaction with the teacher is necessary, which the child will receive in the process.

Mini - center in the group A mini - library can be created based on the selected project theme. Collect a variety of colorful books, encyclopedias for children. Use the literature of famous children's writers, naturalists: Prishvin, Bianki in the classroom, thematic readings. Often with children they learn poems about the nature of famous poets: A. Pushkin, N. A. Nekrasov, I. A. Bunin and others.

Experimental equipment 1. Assistant devices: magnifiers, scales, sand scales, compass, magnets. 2. A variety of vessels from different materials.

Conclusions The interaction of a teacher with children to increase the level of development of ecological culture through experimental activity will lead to a conscious attitude towards nature. The success will be: 1. The system of work on the implementation of the problem; 2. Carrying out holidays and entertainment and close cooperation with parents; 3. Creation of a subject-developing environment; 4. Selected methodical literature; 5. Professional skill of the teacher

Literature 1. Vernadsky VI Acquaintance of preschoolers with nature. - M.: Education, 2010. 2. Dybina O. V. Child and the world around. Program and methodological 3. recommendations. - M.: Mosaika-Sintez, 2006. 4. Dybina OV Unknown next: Entertaining experiences and experiments for 5. preschoolers. -M. : TC Sphere, 2005. 6. Zenina T. Environmental actions in work with preschoolers. // Preschool 7. education. - 2012. - No. 7. - p. 18. 8. Molodova LP Game ecological lessons with children, in 2 parts - Minsk: 9. Askar, 2006. 10. Pavlova L. Games as a means of ecological and aesthetic education // Preschool 11. education. - 2012. - No. 10. - p. 40. 12. Ryzhova NA About the draft Strategy of environmental education in the Russian 13. Federation. // Preschool education. - 2011. - No. 6. - p. 18. 14. Ryzhova NA Pedagogical models of the organization of environmental education in 15. Preschool educational institution // Preschool education. - 2010. - No. 9. - p. 40.

Problems of the formation of ecological ideas

in children 6-7 years old

The term "ecology" has taken a firm place in our dictionary, but it is interpreted in different ways. In the scientific literature, several definitions of this term are given; in our work, we will take as a basis the definition of academician M.S. Gilyarova: "ecology is the science of the relationship of living organisms with each other and with the environment."

It is advisable to start work on the formation of the ecological thinking of a person from preschool childhood, since the foundation of a conscious attitude to the environment is laid during this period. The child accumulates vivid, emotional impressions that remain in his memory for a long time.

Ecological education of preschoolers is the acquaintance of children with nature, based on an ecological approach, which involves the support of the pedagogical process on the fundamental ideas and concepts of ecology.

Many outstanding thinkers and teachers of the past spoke about nature as a means of raising children. Ya.A. Comenius considered nature as a source of knowledge, a means for the development of mind, feelings and will. K. D. Ushinsky called for "leading children into nature" in order to learn from it everything that is available and useful for the mental and verbal development of the child.

The idea of acquaintance of preschoolers with nature was further developed in the theory and practice of preschool education in articles and methodological works of Soviet teachers. In the 1970s, a lot of pedagogical research was carried out, which later entered the core of the theoretical and experimental substantiation of the methodology of environmental education of preschoolers. New ideas were initiated by the Academy of Pedagogical Sciences. Such child psychologists as V.V. Davydov, D.B. Elkonin and others proclaimed the need to complicate the educational content, to introduce into it theoretical knowledge that reflects the laws of the surrounding reality; building such a system of knowledge, the assimilation of which would ensure the effective development of mental abilities in children.

N.N. Poddyakov, S.N. Nikolaeva, N.N. Kondratyeva and other researchers. In their opinion, the goal of ecological education is to develop in children a scientific-cognitive, emotional-moral, practical-activity attitude to the environment and to their health.

the need to educate a humane attitude towards nature (moral education);

formation of a system of environmental knowledge and ideas (intellectual development);

developing the ability to see and feel the beauty of nature, the desire to preserve it, admire it (development of aesthetic feelings);

to attract children to participate in activities within their power of caring for plants and animals, for the protection and protection of nature.

Today, environmental education is an integral part of preschool education. In accordance with the requirements of the Federal State Educational Standard, it is necessary to work to improve the effectiveness of the ecological development of children. That is impossible without the formation of ecological ideas in children.

Ecological concepts are information about the relationship of plants and animals with the habitat, their adaptability to it; about man as a part of nature; about the use of natural resources, environmental pollution and so on.

The specificity of the process of the formation of ecological ideas in children lies in finding, highlighting such interrelated natural phenomena, the demonstration of which is available to children of different ages. Numerous pedagogical studies (A.P. Zakharevich, T.A.Kovalchuk, P.G. Samorukova, L.E. Obraztsova, N.K. Postnikova and others) have established that preschoolers are aware of the dependence of plant life on environmental factors. In the experimental works of I.A. Khaidurova, Z.P. Bad, V.P. Arsentieva investigated a special organization of observations of older preschoolers, in the process of which children traced and understood the chains of biocenological connections. In the works of S.N. Nikolaeva notes that the formation of ecological ideas is a necessary condition for the development of such an attitude to the surrounding world, which is emotionally effective in nature and is expressed in the form of cognitive interest, humanistic and aesthetic experiences, practical readiness to create around oneself.

The basis of this statement is the provision on the leading role of systemic knowledge in the development of older preschool children (V.I. Loginova, N.N. Kondratyev, P.G. Samorukova, I.A. Systemic knowledge will be able to allow the child to become aware of the essential features of objects and natural phenomena, "system-forming" connections available to his understanding. Older preschoolers have developed the ability to master more complex connections: spatio-temporal, morphofunctional, cause-and-effect, genetic.

To study the connections of living organisms with their habitat, which are manifested in numerous and varied adaptations of living beings to it, L. Manevtsova offers the following sections for study:

The system of knowledge and ideas about a living organism as a carrier of life, its essential characteristics: integrity, system of needs;

The system of knowledge and ideas about the habitat of living beings, their adaptability to a particular habitat, including seasonal changes;

The system of knowledge and ideas about the reproduction of living beings, their growth and development;

The system of knowledge and ideas about the interaction of living things in ecosystems.

The formation of a system of environmental knowledge and ideas is part of the intellectual development of children. Under the intellectual development of children S.M. Vishnyakova understands the ability to master and use various types of thinking (empirical, figurative, theoretical, concrete - historical, dialectical in their unity).

In the process of learning about nature, the ability to observe is developed. In addition, feasible practical research activity has a positive effect on the development of logical thinking. Comparison of the studied objects (phenomena) of nature, the identification of similar and distinctive features in them activates the mental activity of children.

Thus, the formation of ecological ideas has a direct impact on the development of thinking. On the one hand, the child's ideas about the world expands, on the other hand, the process of mastering the causal, generic, spatial and temporal relationships begins, which make it possible to connect individual ideas into a holistic picture.

There is a methodological support for solving the problems of environmental education of preschoolers. The following programs can be a support for teachers: "Young ecologist" S.N. Nikolaeva, “Open Yourself” by E.V. Ryleeva, "Our home is nature" N.А. Ryzhova, “We” by N.N. Kondratyeva.

For example, in the program of E. Ryleeva "Open yourself" based on the author's concept, the individualization of the child's personal development is assumed. The program provides for the development of natural science concepts and ecological culture in children, the formation of the initial forms of ecological consciousness through the cycle of classes "The world is not made by hands."

In another program "Our home is nature" N.А. Ryzhova's main goal is to educate a humane, socially active and creative personality of a child who has a holistic view of nature, an understanding of a person's place in it. In accordance with the requirements of the program, children will form an idea of the relationships in nature, which will help the child acquire the foundations of an ecological worldview and culture, a responsible attitude to the environment and their own health. The program provides for the development in children of the first skills of competent and safe behavior in nature and everyday life from an environmental point of view, skills of practical participation in environmental protection activities in their region will also be formed.

The Our Home-Nature program includes ten blocks. Each block consists of a teaching and upbringing component, children are given knowledge about nature and various aspects of attitudes towards it are developed (careful care, the ability to see beauty, etc.). Five blocks of the program consider objects of inanimate nature (water, air, soil, etc.). Three blocks are devoted to wildlife (plants, animals and forest ecosystem). Two blocks reveal the relationship between man and nature. Methodological support has been developed for the program - recommendations on how to create a developing environment in a preschool institution, how to acquaint children with water and air. ON THE. Ryzhova offers her ecological fairy tales, "letters to animals" and the ecological project "My tree". Another plus of this program is that it has a continuation for study in elementary school.

S.N. Nikolaeva "Young Ecologist" became one of the first in the 90s. The program was created on the basis of its own author's Concept of ecological education of preschoolers. "Young Ecologist" consists of two subprograms - a program for environmental education of preschoolers and a program for advanced training of preschool workers in the field of environmental education of children. Thus, the issue of the formation of the beginning of the formation of ecological culture in children and its parallel development in adults who bring them up (after all, the educator who is the bearer of ecological culture is the most important condition for the development of children) is solved simultaneously. The program is based on a thorough theoretical and experimental substantiation, focuses on a personal approach to the child and his all-round development.

Thus, having studied a number of environmental education programs for preschoolers, one can see a demonstration of the great creative activity of specialists who understand the environmental problems of the planet, the need to solve them, the value of nature and life on Earth in all its manifestations. This proves the advisability of universal intensive environmental education, starting from preschool age..

List of used literature

Gorbatenko, O.F. The system of environmental education in preschool educational institutions [Text] / OF. Gorbatenko. - Voronezh: Teacher, 2007 .-- 195 p.

Dybina, O. V. The child and the world around him [Text] / O.V. Dybin, Moscow: Mosaika-Sintez, 2010, 147 p.

Ulanova, L.I. Ecological education of preschool children [Text] / L.I. Ulanova, L. D. Pushkareva, G.F. Larina. - Yoshkar-Ola, 2005 .-- 258 p.

It is known that preschool age is an intrinsically valuable stage in the development of an individual's ecological culture. At this age, the foundations of the moral and ecological positions of the individual are formed, which are manifested in the child's interactions with nature, in the awareness of the inseparability with it.

The process of environmental education is closely related to cognitive, labor, play, visual activities and musical education. The success of our activity became possible due to the organization of the subject-cognitive space of the group. Our group has a wildlife corner. Children can turn to various sources of information: encyclopedias, magazines and books, discs, postcards about nature, organized albums with photographs, etc.

The work is carried out in several directions:

* Formation of environmental knowledge in preschool children;

* Development of practical skills in nature;

* Formation of a moral, caring attitude, love for nature.

However, the presence of ecological ideas among preschoolers does not guarantee their readiness to act ecologically expedient.To develop an emotional-value attitude towards nature, its aesthetic perception and the formation of a moral-evaluative experience of children, we use the following didactic games:

1. Didactic games for the development of aesthetic perception in nature: "Conversation with trees", "Our flowers".

2. Didactic games for the formation of moral and evaluative experience: "What is good and what is bad", "What should not be."

3. Didactic games for familiarizing with environmentally oriented, practical activities: "Chamomile", "Complete the task".

4. Didactic games for enrichment of ecological knowledge: "Magic train", "Know the birds", "Seasons", "Who needs water?"

A feature of our work with children is thematic immersion, i.e. each week of the month has a specific theme. For example:

1 week - "Pisces".

2 week - "Plants in spring".

3 week - "Migratory birds".

4 week - "Pets".

The themes of all four weeks are always interconnected and are devoted to the connection between nature and man.

In winter, we systematically introduce branches of trees and shrubs into the group, while explaining to the children that they have leaves in their room. The children are very happy with planting and growing onions and seedlings in a corner of nature. In a kindergarten, we try to create opportunities for the creative independent activity of children: we organize exhibitions of thematic drawings and handicrafts, together with the pupils we compose herbariums, compose stories and fairy tales about plants and animals, use logical problems and crosswords.

We pay special attention in our work to experimental and experimental activities. Together with the pupils, we conduct experiments to identify the properties and qualities of snow, ice, sand, water. With great interest, the guys investigate and identify the need for light, water and heat for the growth of plants, etc.

Thus, our activity allows not only to form environmental knowledge in preschoolers, but also teaches them to evaluate and protect the natural environment around them, to be attentive to nature, to do good.

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Formation of ecological ideas in preschool children

The work is carried out in several directions:

* Formation of environmental knowledge in preschool children;

* Development of skills in practical activities in nature;

* Formation of a moral, caring attitude, love for nature.

1. Didactic games for the development of aesthetic perception in nature: "Conversation with trees", "Our flowers".

2. Didactic games for the formation of moral and evaluative experience: "What is good and what is bad", "What should not be."

3. Didactic games for familiarizing with environmentally oriented, practical activities: "Chamomile", "Complete the task".

4. Didactic games for enrichment of ecological knowledge: "Magic train", "Know the birds", "Seasons", "Who needs water?"

A feature of our work with children is thematic immersion, i.e. each week of the month has a specific theme. For example:

1 week - "Pisces".

2 week - "Plants in spring".

3 week - "Migratory birds".

4 week - "Pets".

The themes of all four weeks are always interconnected and are devoted to the connection between nature and man.

We pay special attention in our work to experimental activities. Together with the pupils, we conduct experiments to identify the properties and qualities of snow, ice, sand, water. With great interest, the guys investigate and identify the need for light, water and heat for the growth of plants, etc.

Chepurnaya Valentina Aleksandrovna, educator, MBDOU "Kindergarten No. 28", Norilsk [email protected]

The child and the development of ecological beliefs

Abstract: The effectiveness of ecological education of preschoolers depends entirely on the creation and proper use of the developing ecological environment, as well as on systematic work with children. This topic is difficult for children to understand, but very interesting in that it allows you to study the period of growth and development of living beings, to get to know nature and its inhabitants in more detail. Particular attention is drawn to the fact that the issue of the formation of dynamic representations is insufficiently studied, and differs in the complexity of the application of techniques in various conditions. Key words: ecological representations, older preschoolers, the development of dynamic representations, research in ecology.

It is important for each of us to understand how man is connected with nature and how he depends on it, what patterns exist in nature and why humanity has no right to ignore them. The last two decades have been a period of formation of the ecological educational space. This is the time for the development of new concepts, such as "ecological consciousness", "ecological thinking", "ecological culture", including the concept of "ecological education of preschoolers." animals, phenomena of inanimate nature is inevitable - this is a natural process of cognition of the surrounding world and the acquisition of social experience. The basis of ecological consciousness is an understanding of the connections and relationships that exist in nature, on the one hand, and the ability to understand and love all living things, on the other. The development of ecological consciousness is impossible without the child's living of his unity with the world of plants and animals, a sense of responsibility for it, such work is carried out in the classroom and in everyday life: on excursions, in the process of experimenting and observing objects of wildlife, caring for the inhabitants of a living corner. Consciously correct attitude to nature, which is the core of ecological culture, is based on understanding the relationship of plants and animals with external conditions, their adaptability to the environment; on the awareness of the specifics of all living things and its intrinsic value, the dependence of the life of animals and plants on the impact of environmental factors and human activities; on the understanding of the primordial beauty of natural phenomena and living beings, if their development takes place in full-fledged natural or specially created conditions. The initial link in the upbringing of such an attitude of preschoolers to nature is a system of specific knowledge that reflects the leading laws of living nature: the diversity of species, their adaptability to the environment, life in communities, change in the process of growth and development. The possibility of assimilating such knowledge by preschool children has been proven by numerous domestic pedagogical and psychological studies (TV Khristovskaya, SN Nikolaeva, etc.) Environmental education of preschoolers is going through a stage of active development. Its basic basis is the bioecology section, adapted in the content of the partial programs "Our home is nature", "Young ecologist", and others. Environmental education is a new category directly related to the science of ecology and its various branches. This concept is based on an ecological approach, and the pedagogical process is based on the fundamental ideas and concepts of ecology. The goal of ecological education of preschoolers is the formation of the principles of ecological culture - the basic components of the personality, which allow in the future, to successfully appropriate in the aggregate the practical and spiritual experience of interaction of mankind with nature, which will ensure its survival and development. a certain habitat and complete dependence on it will allow preschoolers to form initial ideas of an ecological nature. Children learn: the mechanism of communication is the adaptability of the structure and functioning of various organs in contact with the external environment. Growing up individual specimens of plants and animals, children learn the different nature of their needs for external components of the environment at different stages of growth and development. Good results in environmental education are achieved when observation is combined with experimentation and modeling. So, according to the "Development" program, the development of intellectual and creative abilities is solved through mastering the actions of visual modeling. In the older group, children master the actions of using, and then building models. The model of the growth and development of living beings helps the child to understand how the process of growth and development is carried out, that is, in what sequential chain the change of individual states of a growing living being is built. Thus, modeling activity is of great help in the formation of dynamic representations in preschoolers. Dynamic representations are a special type of representations that reflect the sequence of changes, transformations of an object that are inaccessible to direct perception. The theoretical foundations of the study are the works of scientists and researchers N.N. Poddyakov, L. Elkoninova, S.N. Nikolaeva, L.S. Ignatkina, T.N. Druzhinina, T.V. Christ's. The very first to single out dynamic views was N.N. Poddyakov. He formulated a definition and revealed the age when dynamic ideas begin to form successfully (children of the 5th year of life, middle group). His successor in this study was L. Elkoninova, she followed the same questions as N.N. Poddyakov, working in his laboratory. S.N. Nikolaeva is the author of the Young Ecologist program, in which she reflected the ecological approach to the maintenance of living things. Highlighted in a separate section - the growth and development of plants and animals. This section traces the role of interconnections in the process of ontogenesis — the growth and development of certain species of plants and higher animals. T.N. Druzhinina, T.V. Khristovskaya and L.S. Ignatkin began work on the formation of dynamic representations in preschoolers. They conducted surveys involving children of different ages (from the second junior to the preparatory group for school), as well as those living in different conditions. At the same time T.V. Hristovskaya formed dynamic representations on the example of plants, and L.S. Ignatkina formed dynamic representations on the example of animals. But it can be noted that all the researchers pursued one goal in their work - this is the formation of dynamic ideas, the development of mental abilities and the environmental education of preschoolers. In kindergarten in all age groups, caregivers and children grow plants, care for and supervise them. However, even children of the preparatory group are not always able to restore the correct sequence of stages of plant development, although this knowledge is quite accessible to them. For example, in order to reveal the level of this knowledge, the children were asked to lay out eight color pictures, reflecting the different stages of growth and development of the poppy plant, in the order of their sequence. Only a few children of the preparatory group and, in some cases, the older one, coped with the task without error. In the majority of the children of the preparatory group, the sequence of close stages of plant development was confused, and the children of the older group sharply violated the enumeration of the sequence of stages of growth and development of the poppy. The growth and development of new organisms are determined by children according to different signs. It is easiest for preschoolers to identify an adult animal and a cub if they are both presented visually and the age difference is significant. Children establish this by various criteria: size, presence or absence of individual organs, their number, behavior, but the dominant feature is size. An example is a problem where three booths of different sizes, but with the same entrance, are laid out in front of the child. The child is asked to determine for whom which booth (for a puppy, a grown-up puppy or an adult dog). It can be assumed that most children will be guided not by the size of the booth, but by the size of the entrance. This is proved by the following research, children of different ages were offered a problem of the following content: “They bought a little puppy for a boy (they showed a cheek to a figurine), we need to choose a house for him. Which of the three houses will you choose? " In front of the child, booths of the same shape were placed, in one the entrance corresponded to the size of the puppy (small), in the other it was larger and in the third it was very large. The goal was to find out if the children know that as they grow, the dog grows in size, if they can foresee this when choosing a house. Almost all children (regardless of age) chose a kennel according to the size of the puppy. “If the puppy is small and the hole is small,” they said. Some chose a kennel with a large entrance, but their choice was not motivated by the fact that the puppy will grow up. It was important for them that he had a lot of air and space. It can be assumed that in this case, the growth of the child himself and the comparison of himself with the adult play an important role. Other facts also suggest that size, as a sign of a growing animal, dominates in the imagination of children. Children hardly distinguish between an adult and a young animal, when the latter is in adolescence and in terms of overall body size is almost the same as an adult. The researchers note that most children make mistakes when laying out cards depicting individual age stages in the last links. In this case, other signs (behavior, body proportions) acquire leading importance, but children do not always notice them and therefore make mistakes in their answers. Knowledge of the developmental features of living things presupposes taking into account their connections with the environment, with other organisms. Preschoolers can establish this relationship, note that the plant develops under certain conditions (it is watered, loosened, sprayed, etc.); a baby animal is in a certain relationship with an adult animal (mother, enemies), other babies. So, already children of the second younger group know why puppies need an adult dog. Some say that she feeds the puppies, others that she protects them, plays with them. Some children know that an adult dog warms up a puppy, feeds him with his own milk. Children of all age groups, but especially the younger and middle ones, often carry out an explicit transfer of their personal life experience, their emotional experiences to the attitude of an adult animal and a baby. For example, a child of the preparatory group explained the need for an adult dog for puppies: “So that she feeds them, watered them, and took them for a walk. I also put it to bed and raised it on time. " Sometimes the necessary connection between an adult dog and a puppy was briefly indicated with a simple statement: “This is his mother! »Some older preschool children have a clear understanding not only of the relationship between an adult animal and a baby, but also of the life cycle of development. This can be seen from the following statements: “He (the puppy) first sucks milk from the mother, and then he will grow up and give birth to puppies”; "When the dog grows up, mom and dad leave her, and she herself will give birth to children." More often, the individual signs of behavior that distinguish an adult animal and a cub are called. But if we summarize the disparate answers. Then you can make a collective image of a baby animal, which can be formed in their ideas: he is weak, defenseless, does not know how to move around like an adult, get food (his mother feeds him), inexperienced, playful. An adult animal in preschoolers' imaginations is strong, can move quickly, get food, take care of the cub (feeds, protects from enemies, teaches). Researchers L.S. Ignatkina, T.N. Druzhinina, T.V. Khristovskaya note that babies of the 4th year of life, and even more so, older children associate the growth of young animals with nutrition: "They grow when they eat or when they are fed." Moreover, as L.S. Ignatkin, children judge the growth of animals by analogy with themselves (they eat and grow, which means that the same happens in animals). However, not all children know that mammals feed their young with their milk. T.N. Druzhinina asked older preschoolers a question: "Can a newborn puppy live alone in the forest?" All the children answered correctly (cannot), but the reasons were different. Most attributed this to the lack of food, which, as it turned out later, meant only meat and bones, and not mother's milk. Among other reasons, some pointed to the lack of water, home, heat, mother, the presence of enemies, as well as the fact that the puppy will be scared and bored. Moreover, each child named not one, but several reasons. This confirms that children are able to consider the conditions of existence of a young animal as a complex of factors ensuring its survival. It is this approach that is of great importance for a correct understanding of the relationship between a growing organism and the external environment. It should be noted that children are not very familiar with the environment-forming role of the mother, which, especially at first, fully provides the baby with safety, warmth, nutrition, and care. Ignatkina, who conducted the research 10 years later than T.N. Druzhinina, children began to better understand the meaning of the mother. This proves that some of the kids have already been able to name the most important functions of their parents. More than a third of children in the middle group and more than half of the older group said that adult animals are necessary for pups to feed, protect, play and learn. It was also revealed that children know little about the role of people caring for young animals. Only those of them who participated with adults in caring for kittens, puppies, chickens, and calves were able to describe this in detail and correctly. Consequently, preschoolers realize the environment-forming role of man in the life of domestic animals, mainly through the experience of their own participation in raising young animals. Which is problematic, since the conditions necessary for this do not exist everywhere, and not everywhere they can be created so that the animal grows and develops normally. The growth and development of plants is the majority of preschoolers, as T.V. Christ's, is also associated with nutrition, primarily with watering: "They are watered, and they grow." Preschoolers hardly name other conditions necessary for the plant. When asked how to find out that it is growing, many older preschoolers talk about increasing its height. Some children indicate the appearance of new organs: roots, sprouts, flowers. In the studies of T.V. Christ's formation of dynamic representations was carried out in the process of growing a cucumber in room conditions. Children of the two older groups first germinated seeds in an open way, then observed the vegetative growth of one plant, its flowering and fruiting. Already at the stage of seed germination, the children of the experimental group were twice asked to express their views on what will happen to the seeds next: whether they will change or not; if they change how. It was difficult for preschoolers to make the first assumption: they expressed themselves differently (they will change, not change, there will be more, a leaflet will grow). But the second assumption of the children was largely consistent with the observed phenomena: everyone argued that the seedling would change, and most pointed to the possibility of quantitative changes — organ enlargement. Some children suggested the appearance of a flower. In the future, twice more children were given the opportunity to predict the course of growth and development of plants. From the materials it can be seen that the experience of observation and knowledge of the regularities of plant transformation in preschoolers showed more and more precise and detailed foresight, concerning mainly quantitative rather than qualitative changes. Children speak the same way when it comes to animals. The appearance of new organs (comb and beard in the cockerel, horns in the kid, etc.) ), according to children, indicates the growth of animals. An important side in understanding the changes in living beings is the characteristic of the temporal parameter of their growth and development. It is known that the idea of time is formed with difficulty in preschool children. The strictly defined temporal extent of biological processes is poorly understood by preschoolers, which is noted by all researchers. At best, children say it takes a long time to transform a cub into an adult. They can more easily time the appearance of juveniles into the world (especially in birds) at a certain time, attributing this to the presence of the necessary conditions (warmth in spring). Tatyana Nikolaevna Druzhinina asked the village children of senior preschool age how long a hen incubates an egg when chicks appear. Children, who have repeatedly witnessed this process, answered in different ways: a hen incubates an egg for a day, three days, a month, for a long time, I don’t know. Christoff contained the following task: the children had to indicate how long it took for a plant with cucumbers to grow from a seed. For this, several special stripes of different scales were made: on one equal divisions designated hours, on the other - days, on the third - weeks. For preschoolers of the senior and preparatory groups for school, the experimenter first explained what is depicted on the strips and how to use them. Then the children were asked to alternately move the cards depicting different stages of growth and development of a cucumber along the selected time strip, thereby determining how many hours, days or weeks are needed for such a plant to grow. According to the observations of the researcher, many children of the older group did not understand the task: they chose a strip of hours and manipulated it. As it turned out later, the word "clock" (the concept of time) they associated with the object known to them - the clock. The children of the preparatory group for school coped better with the task, who consciously chose a strip of days or a strip of a week, showing them how long it would take until the leaves, flowers, and fruits appeared. The researcher notes that, despite the wide range of answers, nevertheless, in a number of cases, spontaneously formed ideas of children about the time of growth and development of a particular annual plant approached the real assessment of the length of the process. In general, conducted by the researcher T.V. Christ's experiment, confirmed: the time parameter of natural changes in nature is recognized by children of preschool age with difficulty and requires the search for special techniques for purposeful learning. The last goal of the experiment is to establish the nature of the ideas about the growth and development of living beings that are spontaneously forming in preschoolers, and the degree of their dynamism. How do children imagine the transformation of plants and animals as they grow: in the form of an abrupt change in individual states or in the form of a smooth gradual process of change? The identification of this was largely facilitated by the visual material that was presented to the children in the assignments. All researchers asked them to arrange in the necessary sequence pictures depicting the stages of development of individual animals and plants. In one task, Tatyana Nikolaevna Druzhinina, examining rural children in an individual experiment, suggested that they listen to a short story: “The dog Zhuchki gave birth to a puppy, he was named Druzhok. The artist painted in pictures how Druzhok grew up and became an adult dog. The artist gave these pictures to us. But here's the trouble! We had many more pictures of dogs, and now we cannot find Druzhka among them. Help me find him. Find all the pictures showing how Druzhok grew up and put them in order. " Thus, the preschoolers had to solve two problems: first, to separate the pictures with the image of Druzhok from the pictures with the image of other dogs, and then put them in the correct sequence (turning the puppy into an adult dog). The materials show: the children of the older and preparatory groups for school easily coped with the task. Separating Druzhok's images from the rest of the dogs was straightforward. When laying out a sequential series, consisting of five stages of growth and development of a dog (newborn puppy, one month old, three month old, six month old, adult dog), the difficulty was caused only by the adolescent stage (six month old puppy). Of the 50 surveyed children, 10 5-year-olds and 3 6-year-olds missed this stage. The task with chickens turned out to be more difficult: 10 pictures showed the development cycle twice - from an egg to an adult hen (intermediate stages - a hatched chick, one week old and an adolescent). The children of the preparatory group for school performed the task (to lay out two rows - from an egg to an adult chicken) much better than the older ones. For several children, it was difficult to determine the stage of the adolescent (he was confused with an adult chicken) and laying out the second row. From the senior group, only two were able to correctly complete the entire task. The greatest difficulties, as well as for 5-year-old children, arose with the identification of a teenage chicken (12 children) and laying out the second row. However, some made mistakes in all other stages. Similar results were obtained by T.V. Christ's. In her experiment, older preschool children laid out a sequential series of growth and development of a herb (for example, a poppy). Some children of the senior and preparatory groups performed the task correctly, most of them confused intermediate stages or skipped them. Thus, all this confirms the earlier conclusion that children are well oriented in the initial and final stages of development, but do not understand how one stage passes into another. The materials of various studies conducted allow us to conclude that familiarizing children with dynamic representations can have an impact on the formation and development of special - single - spatial-temporal representations, reflecting the successive changes in the object occurring at certain time intervals. The necessary conditions for the formation of such representations are the systematic observation and synchronous reflection of changes in the observed object in the calendar, a sequentially filled graphic model, and it is also necessary to periodically discuss the results of observations, summarize them, summarize the results of the work done. plants and animals, successfully develop in conditions where preschoolers can regularly observe living things. It is easier to organize the observation of the growth and development of plants. Researchers have found that systematic familiarization of children with the growth and development of plants can be carried out both in the winter-spring period, growing various crops from seeds or bulbs in the kindergarten room, creating a vegetable garden on the window, and in the summer, working on the beds and flower beds of the kindergarten ( if conditions are favorable).

References to sources 1. Nikolaeva S.N. Raising an ecological culture in preschool childhood. Methodology for working with children of the preparatory group of kindergarten: A guide for the teacher of a preschool educational institution. –M., 2002.2. Nikolaeva S.N. Methodology of ecological education in kindergarten. Work with children of the middle and senior groups of the kindergarten. –M., 2004.3. Nikolaeva S.N. Methods of ecological education of preschoolers: a textbook for students of environments. pedagogical educational institutions. –3rd ed., Rev. –M .: Publishing Center "Academy", 2005. –224 p. 4. Nikolaeva S.N. We cultivate love for nature from childhood: Recommendations for teachers, parents and tutors. –M., 2004.5. Nikolaeva S.N. Acquaintance of preschoolers with inanimate nature (Nature management in kindergarten): Methodological guide. –M., 2003.6. Nikolaeva S.N. Theory and methodology of environmental education for children. –M .: Publishing Center “Academy”, 2002. –336 p. 7. Nikolaeva S.N. Ecological education of younger preschoolers: A book for kindergarten teachers. –M., 2004.8. Nikolaeva S.N. Young ecologist: program and conditions for its implementation in kindergarten: Program of environmental education of preschoolers. –M., 2004.9. Poddyakov NN The problem of the development of mental activity in preschool children // Development of thinking and mental education of a preschooler. –M .: Pedagogy, 1985. –p. 1410.

Poddyakov N.N. Preschooler thinking. –M .: Pedagogy, 1977. –p. 230

Chepurnaja Valentina Aleksandrovna, Municipal budgetary preschool educational institution "the Kindergarten of №28", the tutor

[email protected] child and development of ecological representations. The summary: Efficiency of ecological education of preschool children entirely depends on creation and correct use of the developing ecological environment, and also from regular work with children. The given theme is difficult in understanding for children, but rather interesting by that allows to study the period of growth and development of live beings to get acquainted with the nature and its inhabitants in more details. The special attention involves that the question on formation of dynamic representations is insufficiently investigated, and differs complexity of application of techniques in various conditions.

480 RUB | UAH 150 | $ 7.5 ", MOUSEOFF, FGCOLOR," #FFFFCC ", BGCOLOR," # 393939 ");" onMouseOut = "return nd ();"> Dissertation - 480 rubles, delivery 10 minutes, around the clock, seven days a week

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Tyutyunnik Olga Yurievna. Formation of ecological ideas in older preschool children: Dis. ... Cand. ped. Sciences: 13.00.01: Moscow, 1994 169 p. RSL OD, 61: 95-13 / 419-X

Introduction

Chapter I. The problem of environmental education and upbringing of children 7

1. Methods of familiarizing children with nature in modern pedagogy 7

2. Alternative approaches to teaching children about nature 14

Chapter II. Theoretical substantiation of the modeling method in the formation of ecological ideas among older preschoolers 17

1. Application of the principles of a systems approach to the construction of environmental education programs 17

2. The ecological system as the basis for the formation of ideas about nature in children 20

3. The modeling method as a means of forming ecological ideas among older preschoolers 27

Chapter III. Experimental research techniques 39

1. Methods of the ascertaining experiment 39

Chapter IV. Experimental research results and their analysis 49

1. Results of the ascertaining experiment 49

2. Course and results of the formative experiment 63

3. Results of control experiment 87

Conclusion 116

Literature 119

Applications 127

Introduction to work

Relevance of the research topic... At present, the ecological situation has sharply deteriorated. The reason for this is not only the conditions of economic development, but also the low level of environmental awareness of people, their insufficient competence in the functioning of natural systems. To stop the rapidly growing environmental crisis, it is necessary to fundamentally change the environmental behavior and thinking of people. To do this, you need to use that period in a person's life when he is most susceptible to the assimilation of ecological concepts, rules of behavior in nature. This age, according to modern psychology, is the age before school. It is at this age that the process of the formation of a person's worldview begins. Environmental beliefs are the basis for the subsequent environmental worldview. One can speak about the formation of a scientific worldview only when knowledge has been mastered at the level of personal values, acquired the form of beliefs, act as an indicative basis for the subject's actions, and lie at the basis of a personal way of orientation in the surrounding world (G.E. Zalessky, 1982).

Most studies on the problem of familiarizing children with nature, single out individual elements or individual connections in nature as the content of children's knowledge. However, there are currently no studies of the ideas of preschool children about ecological systems, just as there are no studies that would study the effectiveness of certain methods of forming in preschoolers ideas about the operation of objective laws of nature. Therefore, this study, devoted to the development of the content of ecological education of children, adequately reflecting the objective connections in nature, as well as the methods that make these concepts available for assimilation by older preschoolers, is relevant.

Subject research is the content of environmental education of older preschoolers.

Object researches are methods of formation of ecological ideas in older preschool children.

Target research - identification of methods for the formation of older preschool children of ecological ideas, ecological attitude to the world, the essence of which is in the completeness, coherence and integrity of ideas about connections and dependencies in nature.

Hypothesis research - an assumption about the possibility of forming ecological ideas in older preschoolers using the leading modeling method.

Tasks Research: 1. Development of the content of environmental education for preschool children. 2. Development of models of ecological systems that ensure the assimilation of ideas about connections and dependencies in nature by children. 3. Revealing children's ideas about ecological systems: a) about the relationships between the organism and the environment; b) on the relationship and interdependence of ecosystem elements; c) about biological balance in nature. 4. Revealing differences in ecological perceptions among children studying according to traditional methods and experimental programs (preschool and primary school age).

Theoretical value The work consists in the development of the content of ecological education of children through their acquaintance with ecological systems, in contrast to the traditional approach to the formation of ideas about nature in children through familiarizing them with its individual elements. The paper presents a theoretical and experimental substantiation of the application of the modeling method as adequate to the requirement for children to assimilate ecological concepts.

Practical value research is to develop a specific program of environmental education for preschool children, which can be used in the practice of familiarizing preschool

schoolchildren with nature; in the development of ecosystem models in the form of games "Ecological Cubes", "Ecological Lotto", "Ecological Dominoes", "Ecological Journey"; in the development of guidelines for teachers and educators in order to use this program in kindergartens and primary schools.

The scientific novelty of the research lies in the fact that it has developed the content of environmental education for older preschool children on the basis of highlighting the relationship and interdependence between elements of ecological systems and between ecosystems; revealed the possibilities of older preschoolers in the assimilation of ideas about ecological systems; models of ecosystems in the form of ecological games have been developed and tested, which make it possible to form ecological ideas about connections in nature in older preschool children.

The provisions in endorsed for protection

1. Environmental concepts can be considered as reflecting
connections and dependencies objectively existing in nature: a) present
Leaning about the relationship of the organism with the habitat; b) about the relationship and interaction
the dependence of living elements of ecosystems; c) about biological education
novelties in nature; d) about the ecological significance of nature in life
man and the role of man in the functioning of nature.

The age at which ecological concepts can be first assimilated is the sixth year of life.

Modeling is a method by which it is possible to form in older preschool children ecological ideas about the connections between elements of ecosystems and between ecosystems.

Teaching preschool children according to the experimental program led to a change in the attitude of children to the surrounding nature.

Approbation of work: the materials of the dissertation research were reported at a meeting of the Department of Preschool Pedagogy and Psychology of the Glukhov Pedagogical Institute, at the Regional Scientific and Practical Conference on Preschool Education, at the Sumy Institute for Teacher Training (1991, 1993), at an international conference-seminar on the problems of comparative pedagogy (Novgorod, 1994).

Implementation: the materials of the dissertation research were used in the development of a lecture course for students of the preschool faculty of the Glukhov Pedagogical Institute, students of advanced training courses at the Sumy Institute for Teachers Improvement, students of the Institute for Advanced Studies and Retraining of Scientific and Pedagogical Personnel at the Russian Academy of Education, during a regional seminar on the environmental education of preschoolers in Sumy region.

Work structure: the dissertation consists of an introduction, four chapters, conclusion and appendices. The list of references contains 87 titles. The text contains 14 tables, 18 figures. The volume of the text is 118 pages.

Methods of familiarizing children with nature in modern pedagogy

At the present stage, this type of human relationship to nature prevails, which can be designated as object-pragmatic, but there is an awareness of the need to transition to such a type that can be designated as subjective-ethical. An object-pragmatic attitude to nature characterizes this type of ecological consciousness, when a person is considered as a subject, and nature as an object on which he exerts a one-sided influence, when it is believed that in the interests of people it is necessary to achieve power over nature. At the same time, the statement that a person has the right to this power is taken for granted.

The essence of such an attitude towards nature is most accurately reflected by the concept of "use" - the use to satisfy one's pragmatic (food, production and other needs in this series).

The object-pragmatic attitude determines the appropriate perception of the surrounding natural world by a person, makes environmentally dangerous actions possible, explains why the measures taken to protect the environment are often ineffective, because environmental rules for most people are only external requirements, not becoming principles accepted by the individual. An object-pragmatic attitude towards nature is not unique to industrial technocrats who directly benefit from the use of nature. Let us recall the typical expressions from school textbooks: "The value of nature in the national economy", "Reasonable use of natural resources", etc. The educational system: selection of material, form of presentation, assessment criteria - are permeated with the spirit of the object-pragmatic attitude to nature. An analysis of the content of upbringing and education programs in kindergarten, according to which preschool institutions now operate ("Malyatko", 1991; Program of education and training in kindergarten, 1987; Typical program ..., 1984), showed that the content of program knowledge characterizes consumer attitude to nature. The program proposes to teach children to admire the beauty of the surrounding nature, to preserve it, but the use of nature for purely practical purposes is noted as a basis for respecting nature.

The content and presentation of knowledge is built from the specific to the general. Here are some examples. For example, in the second junior group, the teacher has a goal: "To acquaint children with the structure of the ground part of herbaceous plants (stem, leaves, flowers), trees (trunk, branches, leaves); in the middle group:" Herbaceous plants have a stem, leaves flowers ... The plant has roots underground "; in the older group:" To clarify and expand ideas about the structure of plants, the functions of their individual parts. " the formation in children of ideas about nature as an integral system.

There is no information in the programs that reveals such an important regularity of the existence of nature as biological balance, i.e. children are not shown the importance of all living organisms in nature for its existence. The concept of this begins to form only in the fourth grade of school, when children have already quite firmly formed distorted ideas about the "harmfulness" of some inhabitants of nature and the "usefulness" of others, a utilitarian attitude towards nature. In addition, the programs do not mention the negative impact of people on nature, it is only noted that a person cares for plants, animals, watering, feeding, etc.

A lot of space in the programs is given to the formation of children's ideas about seasonal changes in nature and their characteristic features, as well as human economic activity in nature (the work of collective farmers in the fields by seasons).

As you can see, the content of the children's knowledge about nature, which is indicated in the programs, does not reflect the objective laws of the existence of nature, i.e. this content of children's ideas, whether it is formed by them, is not ecological in nature.

It should be recognized that the programs reflect some environmental characteristics: factors necessary for the life of plants and animals (light, heat, moisture, soil); adaptation of animals to certain living conditions (movement, protection from enemies); establishment of causal relationships between air temperature, the state of water, soil, plants, the way of life of animals. According to the authors of the Program of education and training in kindergarten (1987), by the end of the year, children 5-6 years old should have an idea of: - about seasonal changes in nature; - about where and how vegetables and fruits are grown; - about the conditions necessary for the growth of plants; - about forest berries and mushrooms (edible and inedible); - about pets; - about wintering birds; - about the transition of water from liquid to solid state and from solid to liquid. Be able to: - distinguish and name trees, shrubs by bark, leaves, fruits, 2-3 species of herbaceous plants; - distinguish in appearance and name 4-5 species of wintering birds; - take care of plants in a corner of nature.

Alternative approaches to introducing children to nature

An alternative to the object-pragmatic type of attitude towards nature is the subjective-ethical one. In this case, nature is no longer perceived as an object of one-sided human influence, it is psychologically recognized as the qualities of the subject with all the ensuing consequences: contacts between man and nature are perceived precisely as interaction, nature, like any other subject, has the right to exist "simply so ", outside of its" usefulness "or" uselessness "for a person, from" resources "it turns into a partner of a person who, from the conqueror and patron of the natural community, becomes one of its members, possessing the same rights as any other.

One of the alternative programs for acquainting children with nature is the program of A.A. Pleshakov "Nature and Man". In the content of children's knowledge about nature for the first grade, the author includes the following topics: "What surrounds us. Inanimate and living nature. On a visit by autumn. If you want to be healthy. The surface of our land. About air ... And about water. What are the plants." What animals are. What grows where. Who lives where. " The content of the program shows that, along with the separation of the ecological content, which is original in comparison with other approaches (In the first grade A. nature (the value of nature in human life, its health-improving role, practical value), giving these aspects a significant place in the content of children's knowledge.

In the program and guidelines for acquaintance with the nature of second-grade children, the author in an explanatory note rightly puts the formation of knowledge about environmental relations at the forefront. However, the program starts with the theme "Summer and Autumn" (inanimate nature in summer and autumn, the height of the sun above the horizon, temperature, rains ...), i.e. in the content of the programs, the author moves away from the set goal, focusing on a pragmatic approach to nature: "Nature must be protected, because it gives man ..."

In the textbook "Natural Science" for the third grade, A.A. Pleshakov first introduces the concept of "food chain" in the section "What is ecology", which he offers for study not to all children, but only to curious and more "advanced" students. In the same section, it is proposed to give children the concept of biological balance. In addition, this textbook also shows for the first time, along with the positive and negative impact of man on nature. The author proposes, along with traditional methods, to use in the learning process the construction of models, graphical and dynamic schemes.

Thus, when constructing a teaching program about nature, A.A. Pleshakov is the only one who introduces an ecological approach, although, as noted, he does it inconsistently. His curriculum suffers from a lack of systematic delivery of educational material, starting from the first grade of school. Many points in his program duplicate the content of the kindergarten program. A fundamental drawback that violates, in our opinion, the principle of the ecological approach, is that the concept of "ecological system" is absent altogether, and the concept of "food chain" is introduced only in the third grade. The emphasis in acquainting junior schoolchildren with nature is shifted from ecological significance to utilitarian, practical significance, which leads to the formation in children of a one-sided idea of the significance of nature in human life, as well as the role of man in the functioning of natural communities.

The author of another alternative project of the program of the integrated course "Man and the Environment" for primary school (grades 1-4) L.P. Saleeva puts a person at the center of nature and, accordingly, the content of knowledge about nature is built around and for a person (L.P.Saleeva , 1993). Consequently, as in previous programs, here, too, the ecological content of children's knowledge is obscured by a pragmatic approach to nature. As a result of the assimilation of the content of knowledge that implements this approach to nature, children still do not understand the true reason for respecting nature as a house in which they live.

Another alternative approach to familiarizing children with nature is the research by S. N. Nikolaeva, in which the author develops a methodology for the ecological education of preschoolers. So, S.N. Nikolaeva proposes to show children the connection of the body with the environment through an adaptation, for which he takes such forms that have a distinct manifestation in the external structure and behavior (the structure of the limbs, the shape of the body, the structure of the mouth apparatus, etc.) using traditional methods S.N. Ni-kolaeva suggests using models. In particular, the models were used to show children such forms of adaptation to the environment as "disguise", "scare off". (S.N. Nikolaeva, 1979).

In recent publications, S.N. Nikolaeva develops an ecological approach to familiarizing preschoolers with nature. She rightly noted that the connections characterizing natural communities as a whole are extremely complex, which makes this phenomenon inaccessible to preschoolers; and the connections that exist within the ecosystem are not only diverse, but also hidden from direct observation. At the same time, SNLikolaeva believes that the consequences of the anthropogenic factor - human influence on nature - are hidden from the direct observation of children.

Application of the principles of a systems approach to the construction of environmental education programs

To analyze the content of children's ecological ideas about nature, we have singled out the concept of "ecological system". In traditional education, individual representatives of flora and fauna are singled out as units for the formation of ideas about nature in preschoolers.

Speaking about the content of ecological education of children, it is not assumed that it is necessary to refer to the research available within the framework of preschool pedagogy and methods of acquainting preschoolers with nature, in which it is proposed to acquaint children with individual representatives of the animal and plant world, because such an approach violates the requirements for "units of analysis" (L.S.Vygotsky, D.B. Elkonin, G.V. Gordeeva, V.P. Zinchenko).

Individual representatives of the animal and plant world, taken as a "unit of analysis", which are introduced to children, cannot contribute to the formation in children of ideas about nature as a community, a system of interconnected living and nonliving elements. This approach, considered traditional in kindergarten, acquaints children with individual elements of nature, without taking into account those real connections that exist in nature and thanks to which life can be preserved. In other words, this approach violates the requirement for "units of analysis" for the content of children's ecological ideas, destroying them as a living whole.

Therefore, to analyze the content of ecological concepts, we turn to the data of philosophical, biological, and actually ecological literature, in which the units of nature analysis are distinguished not by individual elements, but by systems of interrelated elements, or even more specifically, by ecological systems.

The concept of "system" - (from the Greek systema - whole, made up of parts; connection) a set of elements that are in relationships and connections with each other, forming a certain integrity, unity. Material and abstract systems are distinguished. Material ones are divided into systems of inorganic nature (physical, geological, chemical, etc.) and living systems (the simplest biological systems, organisms, populations, species, ecosystems) (SES, p. 12226). According to B.V. Vsesyatsky, a one-sided subject, element-by-element consideration of individual objects and their parts, isolated from the whole, does not give a correct understanding of complex life processes. The need to take into account the connections and interactions between objects that are part of integral biological systems was recognized (Vsesvyatsky, 1985).

E.G. Yudin (1978) gave a methodological substantiation of the principles of studying system objects: 1. Substantiation of the integrity of the studied system. 2. Determination of the number and types of connections (spatial, functional, genetic, etc.). 3. Allocation of the structure and characteristics of the organization of the system. 4. Determination of the direction of the links of the structural components of the system along the "horizontal" (links between the same type, one-order components of the system). The "vertical" structure leads to the concept of the levels of the system and the hierarchy of these levels. "

The systemic methodology provides a certain orientation not only in the organization of cognition, but also in the study of a systemic object, since reveals various characteristics of an object in their interrelationships and determines the conditions for their study: 1. Each element of a system object is described not as such, but taking into account its "place" as a whole. 2. One and the same "material", the substrate appears in the systemic research as having simultaneously different characteristics, parameters, functions and even different principles of structure. 3. The study of the system is inseparable from the conditions of its existence. 4. Specific for the system approach is the problem of generating properties of the whole from properties of elements and, conversely, generating properties of elements from characteristics of the whole. 5. Explaining the functioning and development of an object only on the basis of a cause-and-effect analysis is not always sufficient, since a systemic object is characterized by the expediency of behavior.

Nature is a systemic formation. Therefore, in environmental education and education, it is impossible to apply the traditional methodology, which introduces the phenomena of nature, separating factors and elements in order to find out the role of each of them. An integral-system methodology should be recognized as effective, in which each element becomes understandable only in connection with others, with the entire system (Novik I.B.). Thus, the formation of knowledge about nature at the present stage is most effective through the assimilation of ideas about ecological systems. Moreover, the very concept of "ecosystem" has already been sufficiently developed in the biological literature.

Modeling method as a means of forming ecological ideas in older preschoolers

To stop the rapidly growing ecological crisis, it is necessary to fundamentally change the ecological thinking and behavior of people. To do this, you need to use that period in a person's life when he is most susceptible to the assimilation of environmental knowledge, the rules of behavior in nature. This age, according to modern psychology, is the age before school. At this age, the foundations of the future personality, its worldview are laid. However, the question of which methods are most effective in shaping children's ecological ideas has not yet been sufficiently developed.

Obviously, in connection with the change in the content of environmental education of children, its methods must also change. In nature, many connections are hidden from direct perception, and since they are hidden, it becomes necessary to use a method by which these connections will become obvious. Therefore, according to our hypothesis, the modeling method is the most effective for the formation of ecological ideas in older preschool children. Until now, there are no studies in which the modeling method would be used for this purpose, although P.Ya. Galperin, V.V. Davydov, N.N. Poddyakov, N.G. Salmina, N.F. Talyzina, D.B. Elkonin et al. In relation to other goals of teaching children.

"Model", "modeling" are interdisciplinary, general scientific concepts with the help of which it is possible to effectively cognize complex systems. Representation of objects of various kinds in the form of a system consisting of interacting elements, and the study of such a model becomes a characteristic feature of modern scientific knowledge (Gvishaini D.M. Novik I.B., Pegova SA) Modeling is the study of any phenomena, processes or systems, objects by building and studying their models. Modeling is one of the main categories of cognition: any method of scientific research is essentially based on the idea of modeling - both theoretical, which uses various kinds of sign, abstract models, and experimental, using subject models (SES, p. 830).

Being in the overwhelming majority of cases simplifications, models act as peculiar abstractions of a special kind. The abstract nature of the models lies in the fact that they do not reproduce the entire phenomenon as a whole, but only a certain system of connections within a given phenomenon, subject to abstraction from other connections or aspects of the phenomenon. Thus, the model is a means of identifying a certain system of connections and relations for their special study and consideration. The elements of the model allow you to reproduce the structure of the system under study. The extent to which the elements of the model themselves are similar to the elements - it depends on the specific conditions of modeling, the nature and degree of abstractness of the model. Models in all cases act as analogies. This means that the model and the object displayed with its help are in a relation of similarity, not identity, that the model is in one respect similar to the system being modeled, and in another respect it is different from this system.

Moreover, the existence of some definite differences between the model and the original is an indispensable condition for those functions in cognition that it performs. According to A. A. Shibanov, the model is usually built on the basis of known information about the object or phenomenon under study, but only the most essential, the most important thing is reflected in the model. From the point of view of didactics, models, in their form, MAY be divided into three groups: material, visual and mental (logical).

Real models include, for example, an operating model of a structure - a canal, a sluice.

The visual models include various dynamic schemes, drawings, drawings, with the help of which the essence of the studied process or the structure of the studied subject is revealed.

In mental models, the studied process or structure of an object is consistently depicted. This is done either in the form of a description using linguistic similarities, or in the form of formulas, conditional codes, etc.

V.V. Davydov and A.U. Vardanyan (1981) call the model, the system, and the manual as models.

The analysis of the philosophical literature showed that the generalized concept of the model is characterized mainly by two features: 1) it is capable of replacing the object of research; 2) studying it gives us new information about the object.

In epistemological terms, one of the advantages of modeling is that here the transition from the known to the unknown occurs on the basis of reasoning about the unknown by analogy with the known. Modeling is a universal means of approaching complex systems that cannot be described within the framework of any particular discipline, to systems whose direct study is difficult or even impossible (Gvishiani D.M.).

Thus, the most important epistemological function of the model is that it acts as an intermediate link between theoretical abstract thinking and objective reality. The assimilation of the basics of scientific knowledge by children, the formation of their scientific worldview is impossible without the translation of abstract scientific concepts into a visual-figurative and visual-effective language, the only one accessible to children, especially in the early stages of learning.

According to the famous psychologist V.V.Davydov, the basis of developmental education is the content of knowledge and ideas that children must learn. Methods or ways of organizing training are derived from the content of the representations. Considering that the content of children's ecological ideas, according to our assumption, is a generalized view of nature as a single whole, consisting of systems of interconnected elements, the method that can convey these internal connections are models of ecological systems.

The analysis of psychological and pedagogical literature showed that modeling in learning processes can be used in various functions, one of which is the visual function (V.V.Davydov, D.B. Elkonin).

Due to the fact that the model has a certain degree of clarity, it helps in the learning process to establish a connection between the sensory and the logical, to outline the transition from the concrete, given in the representation, to scientific abstractions and, conversely, to reinforce abstract, conceptual thinking with more familiar and ordinary sensually visual images.