Resumo

MOLINA, Yolanda. Environmental education program for the mucujún river basin: a window of university extension. Educere [online]. 2006, vol.10, n.34, pp.471-481. ISSN 1316-4910.

This article shows the first results of the first year of execution of the Environmental Education Program for the Mucujún ’s river basin, which took place with 27 students from the 4th year of Forestry Engineering, in the area of Extension and Community Involvement, School of Forestry and Environmental Sciences of the University of Los Andes, with the financial help of the company “Aguas de Mérida ”. The program aims to contribute to the conservation of the Mucujún river basin, which has a vital role in supplying water to the city of Mérida, creating an environmental conscience in the youth population. This program was designed for 155 students from seven schools along the basin. Nine specific projects were implemented, designed according to the problems that are worsening our natural resources, especially those that afect the quality and quantity of water and according to the possibilities and interests expressed by the teachers and coordinators in the schools. The results show a 36% of execution of activities above the planned ones (75 of 55). Also, the work done through these projects gained enthusiasm and allowed for a dynamic and interactive education which helped the Forestry students and the children from the participating schools in the acquisition of knowledge, understanding new concepts, developing positive attitudes for the conservation of the environment, as well as other skills. The program brought academia into solving problems in the real world and allowed the use of the basin area as an open classroom for teaching and application of Rural Extension Courses. Also, 5 structures for earthworm farming and 3 compost structures were installed.

Palavras-chave : Environmental education; environmental conscience; dynamic and interactive education; hydrographic basin; organic fertilizer.