A lack of engagement with the natural environment can reduce awareness of issues surrounding environmental and biodiversity conservation. Therefore, to increase students’ awareness, science teachers should develop activities related to biodiversity, bringing students into closer connection with the natural environment. This study evaluated the ability of 115 Brazilian university students’ to identify native and alien wild mammals. Patterns in university students’ ability to identify species were predicted by a combination of variables (university-level, age, gender, experience linked to countryside, family farming, fishing, and hunting). Students correctly identified alien mammals more frequently than native mammals. We found distinct groups of species in function of students’ experience (university-level, age group, fishing, and hunting). In addition, we found that the correct identification of native species was mainly associated with older male students who go regularly to the countryside, and participate in activities linked to farming, fishing, and hunting. Our findings support those from previous studies that show fieldwork classes are essential to increase the contact of an increasingly urbanized society with the local natural environment. We suggest that inclusion of fieldwork is necessary for the development of university students’ awareness regarding the richness of native mammal species and consequently, the importance of their conservation.
O tema futebol pode ser trabalhado em várias disciplinas curriculares, assim como pode ser facilmente aliado a outras temáticas. Neste trabalho buscou-se: (a) identificar os vertebrados representados em mascotes de futebol no Nordeste brasileiro; (b) investigar a percepção de futuros professores de Ciências sobre as temáticas Educação Ambiental, fauna nativa e futebol e; (c) propor oficinas aliadas à essas temáticas para o ensino de Ciências. A pesquisa teve início com o levantamento de informações sobre mascotes de animais nos times de futebol de maior expressão no Nordeste do Brasil. Posteriormente, verificou-se que os futuros professores utilizariam as oficinas propostas ao ministrarem aulas de Ciências. Desse modo, este estudo mostrou como aproximar temas do cotidiano como o futebol à fauna nativa e Educação Ambiental em sala de aula. Espera-se que professores tenham acesso às oficinas propostas a fim de contextualizar conceitos biológicos sobre vertebrados nativos a partir de mascotes em times brasileiros de futebol.
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