Abstract. Currently, environmental education of schoolchildren is becoming a priority in pedagogical theory and practice. This is related to the difficult situation on our planet: the rapid growth of the population, which means its food supply, the problem of supplying the industry with mineral raw materials, the energy problem and, of course, the pollution of the natural environment - all this is the earth threatens the existence of life in the face. One of the most important reasons for this situation is the environmental illiteracy of the population, the inability to foresee the consequences of their interference with nature.