Volume/Issue :

Article type :

Case studies

Page No :

34-41

Abstract :

“Nature is not a luxury – it is a necessity”. So states Richard Louv, the author of the book “The Last Child in the Woods”. Being outdoors directly activates all five senses simultaneously. Digital screens stimulate only sight and hearing; it is exhausting for the brain. Nature provides a calm attentiveness that heals an overworked nervous system. R. Louv (2025). Another famous German neurobiologist, psychiatrist, and professor of psychology, Manfred Spitzer, reveals the results of brain research that he urges to be usefully applied in schools. It is the brain activity researchers who provide us with scientific arguments for developing humanistic pedagogy and creating optimal conditions for children to grow up properly. They reunite mind and feelings, human and nature, emphasizing how “human” nature has created us and how indivisible we are. Czisch (2007). Based on the literature of these authors, I want to present several troubling thoughts in this article: how to preserve the values of natural science and properly pass them on to preschool children. How we, as educators, can create appropriate contexts and instill natural science literacy in children, their families, and our entire community. How to encourage resistance to the influence of screens and show that in a rapidly changing world, an abundance of technology is fundamentally changing humans, their attitudes, values , and behavior. More and more often, families choose a passive time at home, in front of screens, and spend far less time in a natural environment. Practice shows increasing cases where families try to keep their children "sterile", thereby closing the door to the world of senses and nature. With this article, I also aim to share successful work practices. I will present how much attention we pay to creating contexts for preschool children. I will introduce how project-based activities are successfully implemented at the Utena nursery school–kindergarten “Gandrelis”. I will provide information on how other educational areas are integrated into the context of natural science education. Finally, I will summarize and present the established educational and informational outdoor zones, as well as areas dedicated to observing organic decomposition processes.

Keywords :

natural science education, project-based activities, preschool education

References :

Bilianska, M., & Yaroshenko, O. (2020). Ability to foster schoolchildren’s ecological literacy as a result of prospective biology teachers’ professional training. Problems of Education in the 21st Century, 78(6), 907–919. https://doi.org/10.33225/pec/20.78.907
Czisch, F. (2007). Vaikai gali daugiau: kitokio mokymosi praktika [Children can do more: A different learning practice]. Vaga.
Lisberg Jensen, E. (2025). „The name of things“: Lexical ecological literacy as Bildung in environmental and sustainability education. The Journal of Environmental Education, 57(1), 59–72. https://doi.org/10.1080/00958964.2025.2541885
Louv, R. (2005). Last child in the woods: Saving our children from nature-deficit disorder. Algonquin Books.
Nguyen, D. N., & Ngo, T. K. H. (2024). Applying project-based learning to educate primary school students on environmental protection. HNUE Journal of Science: Educational Sciences, 69(4), 97–108. https://doi.org/10.18173/2354-1075.2024-0067
Nurlina, N., Sahabuddin, E. S., & Faisal, M. (2025). Project-based learning in science education: Strategies for fostering environmental awareness in fifth-grade students at SDIT Wihdatul Ummah Makassar. International Journal of Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 2(4), 40–47. https://doi.org/10.62951/ijeepa.v2i4.405
Orr, D. W. (1992). Ecological literacy: Education and the transition to a postmodern world. SUNY Press
Sampson, S. D. (2017). Kaip užauginti gamtos vaiką: gidas tėvams ir mokytojams [How to raise a nature child: A guide for parents and teachers]. Vaga.

Cite as :

Kavolėlienė, B. (2026). Ankstyvasis gamtamokslinis ugdymas: projektinio metodo taikymas ikimokyklinio ugdymo įstaigoje [Early science education: Application of the project method in a preschool education institution]. Gamtamokslinis ugdymas bendrojo ugdymo mokykloje / Natural Science Education in a Comprehensive School, 32, 34–41. https://doi.org/10.48127/gu/26.32.34