The COVID-19 pandemic has shown that sustainable actions to preserve biodiversity are critical to preventing new microorganisms from harming human health. In this sense, education and encouraging young people’s interest in local biodiversity are crucial to promoting its preservation and sustainability. This research studied the biodiversity interests of 14–15-year-old students in São Paulo State, focusing on the links between biodiversity and human health. The criterion of maximum variation was used to constitute a heterogeneous sample of students. Students answered a four-point Likert questionnaire. The items in this questionnaire were divided into categories related to the interest of young people in biodiversity, and these were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics (Wilcoxon test). Categories of biodiversity linked to “health or human utility” were of higher interest to young people than those with no links to human benefits, such as “diversity of organisms”. These findings, along with the literature, showed that young people are interested in biodiversity issues associated with human health. Therefore, teaching biodiversity should reflect on new possibilities for making a more sustainable environment and promoting social and environmental justice, fundamental aspects of promoting and guaranteeing human health.
Background The centrality of evolution to the biological sciences is recognized by many authors. Given the importance of evolution to biology, we intend to understand if, and how, science and biology teachers teach about biodiversity from an evolutionary perspective. In the first part of the research (Study 1), teachers from all geographic regions of Brazil (n = 147) answered a questionnaire containing both open-ended and Likert scale items in order to compare biodiversity-related contents to evolution. Considering the results obtained, a second study sought to analyze what challenges and possibilities Brazilian teachers who were enrolled in a continuing professional development course find in their classroom practices and the teaching materials they use when approaching cladograms while teaching about the diversity of organisms, as well as the experiences they had with cladograms during their education. These teachers responded to open-ended questionnaires concerning their experiences when learning and teaching about cladograms. Results Findings in Study 1 revealed that the concepts with the least emphasis among teachers were those related to macroevolution and phylogenetics. We found in Study 2 that teachers recognize cladograms as an important biological representation. In general, they approach it in biology and science classes, but often not relating it to topics concerning biodiversity. Teachers reported using multiple resources for teaching about cladograms, but textbooks were the most used teaching material. However, teachers reported that textbooks do not approach the theme sufficiently enough and mentioned it as a challenge. They also reported learning about phylogenetic content during teacher education but did not discuss aspects regarding teaching about cladograms. Conclusions These findings suggest that it is important that teacher education courses and new teaching materials consider the importance of cladograms and the specificities of phylogenetics within the teaching context.
O ENSINO DE TEMAS RELACIONADOS À BIODIVERSIDADE É DE GRANDE IMPORTÂNCIA PARA SUA CONSERVAÇÃO, SENDO OS LIVROS DIDÁTICOS IMPORTANTES FERRAMENTAS UTILIZADAS PELOS PROFESSORES. PORTANTO, O OBJETIVO DESTE PILOTO É CARACTERIZAR, POR MEIO DE ESTATÍSTICA BÁSICA E INTERPRETAÇÃO QUALITATIVA, COMO A BIODIVERSIDADE É ABORDADA EM UMA COLEÇÃO DOS ANOS FINAIS DO ENSINO FUNDAMENTAL, E APRESENTAR REFLEXÕES PARA A ELABORAÇÃO DE MATERIAIS SOBRE O TEMA. NO GERAL, ANIMAIS, ESPECIALMENTE, MAMÍFEROS, FORAM OS ORGANISMOS MAIS TRABALHADOS PELA COLEÇÃO. COM RELAÇÃO À ABORDAGEM SOBRE OS SERES VIVOS, PLANTAS, FUNGOS E MICRORGANISMOS SÃO TRABALHADOS A PARTIR DE UMA PERSPECTIVA UTILITARISTA, E A EVOLUÇÃO NÃO É TRABALHADA COMO UM EIXO NO CONTEÚDO DE BIODIVERSIDADE. VERIFICAMOS A NECESSIDADE DE MODIFICAÇÕES NA MATRIZ DE ANÁLISE UTILIZADA, PARA QUE OS GRUPOS DE MICRORGANISMOS SEJAM DIFERENCIADOS. RECOMENDAMOS AINDA QUE MATERIAIS FUTUROS ABORDEM O VALOR INTRÍNSECO DA BIODIVERSIDADE, UTILIZANDO, PARA TAL, A EVOLUÇÃO COMO UM EIXO NORTEADOR DO ENSINO DESTE CONHECIMENTO.
UM DOS POSSÍVEIS DESAFIOS A RESPEITO DO ENSINO DE EVOLUÇÃO APONTADOS PELA LITERATURA É O DE LIDAR COM POSSÍVEIS CONFLITOS QUE POSSAM ACONTECER ENTRE CONCEPÇÕES RELIGIOSAS DOS ESTUDANTES E O CONHECIMENTO CIENTÍFICO ENSINADO EM SALA DE AULA. ASSIM, O OBJETIVO DESTE TRABALHO É COMPREENDER SE, AO RESPONDEREM PERGUNTAS SOBRE A TEORIA EVOLUTIVA, ESTUDANTES DO ENSINO MÉDIO UTILIZAM DISCURSO RELIGIOSO NO LUGAR DO CIENTÍFICO. PARA TAL, DURANTE ENTREVISTAS SEMIESTRUTURADAS SOBRE SEUS CONHECIMENTOS SOBRE EVOLUÇÃO, FOI ANALISADO SE ELES MOBILIZARIAM ASPECTOS RELACIONADOS ÀS SUAS CRENÇAS, E SE CONSEGUIAM EXPLICAR A VISÃO DA CIÊNCIA SOBRE A EVOLUÇÃO. AS ENTREVISTAS FORAM TRANSCRITAS E ANALISADAS ATRAVÉS DA ANÁLISE DE CONTEÚDO. FOI POSSÍVEL PERCEBER QUE OS ESTUDANTES, AINDA QUE TENHAM RELATADO POSSUIR CRENÇAS RELIGIOSAS, CONSEGUIRAM MOBILIZAR SUAS CONCEPÇÕES A RESPEITO DA VISÃO DA CIÊNCIA SOBRE EVOLUÇÃO, MOSTRANDO QUE É POSSÍVEL QUE OS ESTUDANTES, INDEPENDENTEMENTE DE SUA VISÃO DE MUNDO PARTICULAR, COMPREENDAM ASPECTOS DA TEORIA EVOLUTIVA.
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