Environmental education for schoolchildren in a seawater pond for creating a satoumi

In 2006, Hyogo prefecture opened the “Araihamakaze” park on reclaimed land leased with cooperation from some companies, and set up a seawater pond called “Konourafuna Ike” in the park. The initial plan was to make this seawater pond into a Satoumi, but since the water in the pond was stagnant, algae flourished making it uninhabitable for other living creatures. The authors conducted investigative research to implement activities for improving the environment and popularizing the park. This report is a summary of the results obtained and challenges faced while conducting these activities in the area over one year, which included involving the local schoolchildren in constructing tidal flats. The answers to the questionnaire revealed that schoolchildren understood that the nutrients in the seawater pond “go round and round” through the food chain and are utilized by living creatures. They realized that this process is called “circulation.”To the question, “Do you want to develop tidal flats?” 9 of the 10 children answered YES. However, only 50% of the children understood that a measure to prevent the degradation of the environment of the seawater pond is to “Construct tidal flats,” which suggested that there is a need to correlate the issues and the solutions to enhance their understanding.