Abstract:

It is important to realize that not only the family but also the school systematically affect acquiring of new knowledge with the perspective of its further use in practice. A lot of knowledge and life skills which ensure the child's welfare and health and safety should be developed in lower-secondary school. In lower-secondary school, subjects such as physics, chemistry, geography, and biology are integrated on "The Human and Nature" educational field. This educational field should provide pupils with the means and methods for a deeper understanding of the environmental facts and their rules and, in particular, their interconnection. It is mainly focused on their interconnection, therefore the creation of interdisciplinary relationships (e.g. waste from point of view chemistry, physics, biology) and the awareness of the usefulness of the scientific knowledge and its application in practical life. In this paper, we present some knowledge and experience related to the chemical composition of waste in lower-secondary education.

The paper highlights the function of an education programme in lower-secondary schools aimed at the chemical composition of waste. Based on the survey, we evaluated the knowledge of lower-secondary school pupils (aged 11-16 years) in selected fields. The survey also focused on the chemical composition of waste in terms of educational work and in relation to such acquired knowledge in practice. In this paper, we evaluate the interest of pupils in chemical substances and mixtures, which pupils use and which are in the form of waste in the environment. The aim is to point out their negative impact on the environment and hence on population health. Good health is a major resource in terms of social, economic and personal development, and it is an important aspect of life quality. This survey is the part of KEGA project No. 044UKF-4/2017, which aims to prevent environmental problems and thus to ensure the quality of health.

The questionnaire focused on knowledge about the chemical composition of waste was distributed to lower-secondary school pupils. The target group was school-based youngsters, pupils of the 7th and 9th grade. The preparation of the questions in the questionnaire was preceded by an oral interview with pupils, and piloting of the prepared questions. We have taken into account the views and experiences of cooperating teachers in the process of developing the questions. The aim of the research is to improve the educational process and to integrate new development trends into the preparation of schoolchildren. The achieved results were included do e-learning course, which is part of KEGA project.

Creating and disseminating knowledge focused on the chemical composition of waste should redound to more effective education and training for pupils. Such a knowledge base is open also for new methods and ideas and in the case of e-learning, also the possibility of continuous replenishment of new materials. The interdisciplinary connection between science subjects affects the growth of pupils' creative thinking.

Keywords:

Pupil, e-learning, knowledge, nature, chemistry, waste.