Ecology is a science that studies the interaction of man with his natural environment. Man, as you know, is an integral part of nature and is inextricably linked with it. Ancient people perfectly understood this, they worshiped nature, it was their main nurse. Today, such an attitude may seem ridiculous. Millennia have passed since ancient times, mankind has stepped far forward in terms of science and technology, but so far it has not learned how to control the natural element and has not fully studied its many phenomena. Some modern scholars believe that human civilization is on the verge of destruction, and it will destroy itself. Air pollution from the toxic emissions of numerous plants and factories, leading to an increase in cancer patients around the world, melting glaciers, leading to rising sea levels, reducing the diversity of the animal world due to the extermination of many species of animals - is this not the “beginning of the end”? Today, environmental problems worry mankind more than ever, in many educational institutions, along with natural history and geography, children are told about ecology and environmental pollution problems, more and more often you can hear the term “environmental culture” on scientific television channels.
Ecological culture is a part of universal human culture and is expressed in the perception of a person as an integral part of the natural world. In recent years, the interest of scientists and teachers in the study of the main problems of environmental education of the younger generation has increased. Today, in schools, children are told not only that “it is not good to throw garbage and make bonfires in the forest,” environmental education implies the comprehensive development of schoolchildren, the formation of their humane attitude to nature and people, which are its integral part. The concepts of "ecological culture of the individual" and "ecological culture of man" are identical, since both of them reflect the attitude of the individual to the world around him.
The family plays an important role in the environmental education of children, since the child’s first ideas about the world around him take shape not in the school period, but much earlier. It is at preschool age that a child receives initial ideas about various life forms and first impressions of nature . The ecological culture of the child should be formed from early childhood. This can happen only on one condition: if adults themselves are ecologically educated and have the opportunity to show their baby the diversity of the beautiful world around them and help establish relationships with him. Unfortunately, in our country, many families are not able to give their children basic education, not to mention the culture and its components.
Famous educators Vasily Sukhomlinsky, Nikolai Verzilin, Anatoly Zakhlebny made a great contribution to the development of environmental education of Russian children. In the 90s of the 20th century, Russian teachers and psychologists attempted to develop special approaches to the environmental education of the younger generation. The result of their successful work was the emergence of a large number of training programs: “Discover Yourself” by E. Ryleeva, “We Are Earthlings” by A. Veresov, “Semitsvetik” S. G. and V. I. Ashikovs, etc.
Currently, there is no doubt that environmental culture is an integral part of the general education of the future generation. However, today in this area of upbringing there are still many unresolved questions: what exactly and how to teach schoolchildren, what problems a child should learn before, about which later, what should be the requirements for environmental training of students, etc.