KNOWLEDGE AND PRACTICES ON THE SUBJECT OF ENERGY CONSERVATION AS PART OF PRIMARY SCHOOL 6TH GRADERS’ ENERGY LITERACY

Abstract

Sustainable energy production and consumption is essential, directly linked to the environmental and social impacts and particularly related to the adults and students’ energy literacy. It is a major educational issue as electricity is present in all human activities. Particularly, in the context of pedagogical approaches, the rational use, saving or non-use of energy and resources are linked to the knowledge, perceptions and habits of students, in order to design appropriate learning environments, as steps to develop environmentally friendly behaviors, through energy literacy. Thus, proper and effective education for children on energy issues establishes energy literacy in the context of environmental education and sustainability. The purpose of the study is to highlight the students’ energy literacy, after attaining and completing basic education, before their transition to High School. The survey was conducted in May 2021 on 116 primary school students of the 6th grade in an urban area with an anonymous structured questionnaire, adapted to the children’s language skills, while the data were analyzed with the SPSS 25 statistical program. The results indicate high levels of energy-related knowledge, as the statements show the adoption of basic practices of energy saving and use in daily life, in the context of environmental education and sustainability. They also demonstrate concisely a more complete and successful personal interconnection with the study issues through the educational process as a result of the successful educational approaches of basic education for the environment and sustainability, while some minor misunderstandings, mainly cognitive, do not seem to affect their positive energy efficiency behavior.