Abstract:

The rapid development of technology in recent years has increased the impact of media on children. With the widespread use of digital technologies and social media, the effects of media on children’s development are increasing. From an early age, children who grow up in front of the screen, intertwined with the media, need to have knowledge about media literacy. It is significant for children to gain awareness of the unreal world offered by the media and to develop the right media usage habits. For this reason, as one of the important skills of the 21st century, it is essential to provide children with the skills related to media literacy. To meet this need, training programs should be organized accordingly, and existing programs should be reviewed. That is because educational programs should be aimed at raising the human model needed by the age. Based on this determination, in this study, the Life Science course program in the first three years of primary school was examined in relation to “media literacy”. Since Life science lesson is an axis course, it is considered to be a suitable course to gain knowledge, skills and habits related to media. In the study, a qualitative research design was preferred; document review was used as one of the data collection methods. In line with the purpose of the research, it was examined whether the life science course curriculum, which was updated in 2018, included media literacy. As a result, the Life Science Curriculum was not found sufficient in terms of media literacy, and suggestions were presented to improve the program in terms of media literacy.

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