An Investigation on the Scope of the Concept of Biodiversity in Turkey at High School Geography Curriculum

One of the definitions of biodiversity, which has many definitions, is the differences between living things or the diversity of life forms in the world. According to another definition, biodiversity is a group of wholes formed by genes, species, ecosystems and ecological events in a region. The importance of biodiversity is gradually increasing nowadays where some living species existing on earth are gradually disappearing. In this context, many disciplines have started to work on this subject. Studies in the fields of biology and science are especially important. On the other hand, although some studies have been done on the subject in the field of geography, studies on the place of biodiversity in geography education are limited. Biodiversity; Turkey has not received the place it deserves due to be reduced to just one unit in the Geography Curriculum. Biodiversity, due to the reduction to only one unit in the Geography Curriculum in Turkey, it has not received its deserved place. Because, when the secondary education geography curriculum is examined, it is seen that only in the first unit of 11th grade includes biodiversity. Likewise, there is only one learning outcome directly related to the subject in the Geography Education Program. Document analysis technique, which is one of the qualitative research methods, was used in our research. In the research, the place of biodiversity subject in secondary education geography curriculum was examined. Within this framework, journals, articles, books of academic value and reports containing statistical data that are published regarding to the topic were reviewed. In this context, many resources published in domestic and foreign languages on the internet has been scanned. In conclusion, in order for the biodiversity of what our country has, to be understood in terms of the whole society, this existence must be well known and assimilated. It gains importance to increase the efforts to transfer the biological diversity that exists in our day to future generations. Geography education is one of the most important factors in order to increase the level of awareness in this regard. In this context, it is important to allocate more space for this subject in different units in the secondary education geography curriculum. [This article was presented as a summary paper at the International Battalgazi Scientific Studies Congress, December 18-20, 2020, Malatya.]