Students' familiarity and initial contact with species in the Monte desert (Mendoza, Argentina)

Abstract

This study investigates how familiarity and initial contact with species can be explained by social-demographic variables in an arid environment of Argentina. Our main objectives were to investigate which species children are familiar with, and analyse the effect of place of residence, sex and age on students' knowledge and initial contact with species. In total, 1746 students between 7 and 18 years old participated in the study, from 25 urban and 19 rural schools. Students were asked to write down ten animals and ten plants, and to indicate where they had seen them for the first time. Children were able to name an important number of species but they were mostly acquainted with exotic ones. Familiarity with species and the use of different sources of information can be explained by interactions between the studied factors, while place of residence was not as significant as we expected. Sex was an important explanatory variable, likely influenced by differences in roles and children activities' preferences. It is necessary to improve the knowledge on native species, particularly those with conservation problems by using information sources close to nature, without neglecting the knowledge of the exotic species that children showed more familiarity from everyday life. Nates, J; Lindemann-Matthies, P (2012). Students' familiarity and initial contact with species in the Monte desert (Mendoza, Argentina). Journal of Arid Environments, 82:98-105. ABSTRACT This study investigates how familiarity and initial contact with species can be explained by social-demographic variables in an arid environment of Argentina. Our main objectives were to investigate which species children are familiar with, and analyse the effect of place of residence, sex and age on students' knowledge and initial contact with species. In total, 1746 students between 7 and 18 years old participated in the study, from 25 urban and 19 rural schools. Students were asked to write down ten animals and ten plants, and to indicate where they had seen them for the first time. Children were able to name an important number of species but they were mostly acquainted with exotic ones. Familiarity with species and the use of different sources of information can be explained by interactions between the studied factors, while place of residence was not as significant as we expected. Sex was an important explanatory variable, likely influenced by differences in roles and children activities' preferences. It is necessary to improve the knowledge on native species, particularly those with conservation problems by using information sources close to nature, without neglecting the knowledge of the exotic species that children showed more familiarity from everyday life.

Fauna and conservation in the context of formal education: a study of urban and rural students in the semi-arid region of Brazil

“…Previous studies involving relationships between students and animals highlight some issues related to the aforementioned perspectives, including school learning about fauna that tends to be dissociated from real situations, contributing to conceptual misunderstanding and limited knowledge [6]; science and biology curricula should include some content related to local biodiversity, with more emphasis on endangered species, and not be limited to exotic animals [8]; and formal education, in general, devotes little time to the study of biodiversity, which occurs almost exclusively by means of information through decontextualized schemes and images [7]. Therefore, the search for a conceptual understanding of biodiversity and its conservation needs a curriculum that is based on a more contextual, systematic, and interdisciplinary perspective [9].…”

El Conocimiento Didáctico Del Contenido 'Diversidad Biológica': Su Transposición Educativa

“…La distribución fue binomial con una función de identidad de vínculo de tipo "Logit". El procedimiento general de análisis y procesamiento de los datos fue realizado según lo indicado por Bermudez et al (2012) y Campos et al (2012).…”

“…En este sentido, menos de la mitad de los alumnos (46.0 %) nombró las diez especies animales solicitadas. Los resultados del presente estudio están en desacuerdo con los publicados por Campos et al (2012), quienes encontraron que animales domésticos (como el perro y el gato) y exóticos (como el león) fueron los más elegidos por niños y adolescentes. En relación con las especies vegetales, el algarrobo fue la especie más mencionada, seguida por el espinillo, el sauce, el pino, el piquillín y el siempre verde (Figura 1).…”

“…La tendencia a nombrar más especies nativas por estudiantes de escuelas públicas también fue significativa para las tres y cinco primeras especies mencionadas (p < 0.001). Estos resultados podrían explicarse por dos razones: (a) que las escuelas públicas estudiadas fueron más efectivas que las escuelas privadas en la promoción del aprendizaje de la flora argentina, o (b) que los adolescentes que asisten a escuelas públicas tienen un conocimiento ecológico más profundo debido a su estilo e historias de vida (Campos et al, 2012).…”

“…Algunas de las nociones sobre el contenido de la diversidad biológica (Díaz et al, 2006) son: (a) utilizar los términos "biodiversidad" y "número de especies" como sinónimos, dejando de lado otros componentes (genes, poblaciones, grupos funcionales, comunidades y unidades de paisaje) y atributos (abundancia relativa, rango, distribución espacial e interacciones) (Bermudez y De Longhi, 2008;Bermudez et al, en prensa); (b) reconocer y valorar especies principalmente animales y, en menor medida, vegetales de contextos cercanos, generalmente ricos en especies exóticas (Campos et al, 2012;Cardoso-Silva y de Oliveira, 2013;Schwarz et al, 2012); y (c) centrarse en "animales amigables" como los grandes mamíferos y en "plantas atractivas", con flores grandes, coloridas y perfumadas (Campos et al, 2012). En este marco, los objetivos del presente trabajo son evaluar (a) el conocimiento de especies nativas de plantas y animales, (b) el reconocimiento de componentes y atributos de la diversidad biológica, (c) la influencia de la gestión escolar (escuela pública o escuela privada) y el género (varón o mujer) en las especies nativas conocidas por estudiantes de nivel secundario de la provincia de Córdoba (Argentina); y (d) analizar el concepto de biodiversidad que se desarrolla en manuales escolares de los primeros tres cursos de la escuela secundaria de Argentina.…”