Scientific progress and science teaching:
Basic knowledge, interdisciplinary and ethical issues

The Ecological Educational Programme of Moscow University's Botanic Garden

Moscow, RUSSIA

The Ecological Educational Programme of Moscow University's Botanic Garden supplements the traditional curriculum, with the aim of using the Garden as an environmental teaching resource for schoolchildren. Indeed, this new educational activity provides an opportunity for children living in the city to learn more about plants and nature, via their own research experience and practical work. This approach promotes both the development of the children's creative abilities and the study of nature as a coherent unit of interaction of all components of the ecosystem.

The Ecological Educational Programme of Moscow University Botanic Garden includes three levels of education :
1. The "Lessons in the Botanic Garden" for schoolchildren from Grades 4 to 9 (children between the age of 11 and 14) as practical course within the traditional curriculum. For these courses, the pupils have special textbooks which support their lessons in the Garden.
2. The "Young Ecologist Club" (YEC) provides methodological classes for special groups of children between the age of 9 and 14, and also adults, with an interest in ecology and plant science. There are now 60 members in the YEC who visit the Garden for weekly classes. YEC's objectives are to develop the children's interest in plants and nature, and to teach them practical skills to enable them to work with plants.
3. The Teacher's programme for primary and secondary teachers, which aims to encourage a large number of schools to visit the garden, and enables teachers to learn how to organize work with their pupils and use (with them) the resources of the botanic garden in environmental education.
Diverse kinds of conscientization are given to the children. For example, they have lessons about tree's leaves, and have to find in the garden the plants with the largest and with the smallest leaves ; or they have to collect and draw the leaves of different structures. This kind of activities show the children how the different ecological conditions (including pollution) work on the growth of leaves.

The real motivation of the Moscow University's Botanic Garden is to give the children the opportunity to have a direct contact with nature. By using this new type of education, the programme would like to develop a real ecological education with school children.

Alla Andreeva
Ph. D., Education Officer,
Co-ordinator of Ecological Educational Programme
The Botanical Garden of Moscow State University
26, Prospect Mira 129090 Moscow - RUSSIA
Tel /fax : 7 (095) 280-67-65 - 7(095) 280 72 22
E.mail : edu-bgmu@mtu-net.ru

Institutional Partners
The Ministry of Education (Moscow Department)
Financial Partners
British Petroleum

The project began in 1997