L’objectif de cette étude est d’examiner la nature des conceptions naïves de la pollution chez l’enfant au travers du dessin du paysage. La méthode « dessine-puis-explique » a été utilisée auprès de 100 enfants marocains âgés de 7 à 12 ans et scolarisés en zone urbaine (expérience 1), et auprès de 60 enfants marocains âgés de 9 à 12 ans et scolarisés en zone rurale (expérience 2). Les enfants devaient dessiner un paysage non pollué, puis un paysage pollué et expliquer comment ils avaient marqué la pollution. Les résultats montrent une progression graduelle avec l’âge d’une conception non différenciée à une conception différenciée tenant compte d’un nombre croissant de causes et conséquences de la pollution. Les enfants ruraux considèrent moins souvent certaines sources de pollution que les enfants urbains. Ces résultats sont discutés en référence aux travaux sur les conceptions naïves et le développement conceptuel, ainsi qu’en termes d’implications pédagogiques.

The purpose of this study was to examine children's naive conceptions of pollution, as reflected in their drawings of a polluated landscape. Unlike previous studies that have used interviews and questionnaires to assess children's conceptions of air and water pollution, the present study used drawing to examine children's views on environmental pollution. We used the « draw-and-explain » technique with 100 school-aged children (7–12 years) who were living in urban areas in Morocco (Study 1), and with 60 school-aged children (9–12 years) who were living in rural areas in Morocco (Study 2). Children had to draw a normal and then a polluated landscape, and explained what they drew. The results showed a significant change with age in the number and in the type of graphic changes introduced by children to draw a polluated landscape. There was also a significant effect of the living area (urban/rural) on these measures. The young children (7–8 years) mostly constructed non differentiated conceptions (where pollution equated dirt) whereas the older children demonstrated richer and differenciated conceptions which included an increasing number of causes and consequences of pollution. Rural children introduced less numerous changes in their drawings of the polluated landscape, and their differenciated conceptions of pollution included less numerous sources of pollution than those of urban children of the same age. These findings suggest that the drawing of a polluated landscape is a valuable source of information to study children's naïves conceptions of environmental pollution. We discussed our results in reference to previous works on naive conceptions and conceptual change, as well as their implications for environmental education in school-aged children.