PRESCHOOLERS’ EXPLORATION OF HERB ENVIRONMENTS

• Main Authors: VIORICA-ADELA BRUDAN, RALUCA-CLAUDIACASSIANU
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Universitatea "Babeş-Bolyai" Cluj Napoca 2018-08-01
• Series: Romanian Review of Geographical Education
• Subjects: hike; activity in nature; observation; sensory games; field activity
• Online Access: http://rrge.reviste.ubbcluj.ro/Arhive/Art%20pdf/v7_n2_2018/2_Brudan_Cassianu_RRGE_VolVII_no2_2018.pdf

The present study is about a description of an experimental research, realised in 2016-2017 school year, at the Normal Programme Kindergarten in Iclandu Mare, Mureș County, Romania. The following hypothesis was tested: If preschoolers are systematically involved in direct exploration activities of the environment with low herbs associations, then, they acquired a big volume of knowledge about this type of environment and they develop their thinking operations. In this psycho-pedagogical experiment, it was applied an initial test, many learning activities were organized in a rural area, where the preschoolers studied the herb environments (pastures, grassland, meadows) and, in the end, it was applied another test. The preschoolers’ registered results from the experimental group showed that the structured learning activities by Exploration-Explanation-Extension model were effective and the preschoolers have acquired a lot of knowledge compared to the initial stage. In this research, the hypothesis was confirmed.