Upcycling perceptions of gifted students

One of today's most important environmental problems is waste. Separating and recycling waste from garbage is an important part of waste management. One of the concepts within waste management is the concept of upcycling. Upcycling is the reuse of used or unused products for a different purpose. Gifted children, who are important for the growth and development of countries, will undoubtedly take on a social leadership role in the future and their waste management behavior will have an impact on the people around them and on the development of waste management technologies in the future. For this reason, it is necessary to determine the perceptions of gifted students regarding the concept of upcycling within the subject of waste management. In line with this justification, the aim of the study is to reveal the perceptions of gifted primary school students on the concept of upcycling through metaphor. The study was conducted with 92 primary school students studying at a science and art center in the Eastern Mediterranean Region of Turkey in the 2023-2024 academic year. In the study, phenomenology pattern, one of the qualitative research methods, was used. The data obtained from gifted primary school students completing the sentence "Upcycling is like ..." was analyzed according to content analysis. According to the findings of the study, 17 types of metaphors were produced by the students and it was determined that the most recurring metaphors were design, invention and recycling metaphors. The metaphors produced were categorized according to similar characteristics and 3 categories were created. The most metaphors were produced in the "upcycling in terms of re-creation" category, and direct quotations were made from the metaphors created by the students in order to support the findings. In line with the results of the findings obtained in the study, it can be said that the perception of gifted primary school students regarding the concept of upcycling is to design a new product and re-create it and ensure useful use again. In order for students to have a more accurate perception of the concept of upcycling, it can be suggested that students should be given training on this subject.