Preschool children’s knowledge about the environmental impact of various modes of transport

Figures & data

Figure 1. Relational aspects of transport use theme with the three dimensions of sustainable development.

Table 1. Overview of participating children and preschools.

	Green flag (eco-certified)	Preschool for sustainable development (eco-certified)	Non-eco-certified	Total
Preschools	4	2	6	12
Children	17	21	15	53
Girls	12	11	6	29
Boys	5	10	9	24

Figure 2. Illustrations of the modes of transport used in the interviews.

Table 2. Operationalization of the SOLO Taxonomy for analysing children’s justification for the environmental impact of various transport modes.

SOLO level	Prestructural = 0	Unistructural = 1	Multistructural = 2	Relational = 3	Extended abstract = 4
	No relevant idea	One relevant idea	Many relevant ideas	Linked ideas	Extended ideas
Examples from children’s responses in this study	I don’t know	Driving a car is bad for the environment	Driving a car is bad for the environment. Harmful gas comes from the car	Driving a car is bad for the environment. (Because) The air gets polluted by the harmful gas from the car	Driving a car is bad for the environment. If you drive a lot, there will be too much pollution in the air, and people and animals will suffocate. If we walk to preschool instead, we don’t pollute the air, and walking is good for our health

Figure 3. Children’s views of the environmental impact of cars, buses, cycling and walking.

Figure 4. Sources of knowledge about the environmental impact of various transport modes as perceived by children.

Figure 5. Variable importance for projection values (VIP) of the independent variables used in the OPLS-DA model for characterizing eco-certified and non-eco-certified preschools.