the role of environmental education in increasing the awareness of primary school students and reducing environmental risks

introduction: primary schools are children's first social environments. other people's attitudes towards environmental hazards play a key role in developing children's personality. this study aimed to identify and assess the environmental risks (such as emission of pollutants into the air, discharge of pollutants into water and soil, energy consumption, etc.) in shohadaye kork girl primary school in kashan, iran, and investigating the role of environmental education in the promotion of students' environmental knowledge. methods: in this quasi-experimental study, at first environmental hazards were identified by a checklist through field visits and observing students' activities, and then they were assessed through preliminary hazard analysis (pha) method. after that, the risk assessment code 1 (rac1) was calculated. by considering the hazards involved, environmental education was presented and then rac2 was calculated. environmental awareness of 172 students was investigated by a questionnaire. spss v.19 was used for statistical analysis. results: 26 environmental hazards were identified, including 22 acceptable and 4 unacceptable (critical) hazards; 21 could be directly resolved by proper education. the mean scores of students' environmental tests were respectively 5 and 18.21 before and after the education. after taking control of measures all hazards were placed within the acceptable range. conclusions: schools environmental management plays so important role in preparing students for environmental education that the results of this study showed a significant relationship between education and promotion of students' environmental awareness