Departamento de Biologia e Programa de Pós-Graduação em Etnobiologia e Conservação da Natureza, Universidade Estadual da Paraíba, Av. das Baraúnas, 351/Campus Universitário, Bodocongó, Campina Grande, PB, 58109-753, Brazil.
Programa de Pos-Graduação em Ciências Biológicas (Zoologia), Departamento de Sistemática e Ecologia da Universidade Federal da Paraíba, João Pessoa, PB, 58051-900, Brazil.
J Ethnobiol Ethnomed. 2020 Apr 25;16(1):21. doi: 10.1186/s13002-020-00374-4.
In addition to playing a key role in the dynamics of ecosystems, animal diversity, especially that of wild vertebrates, is intimately linked with human evolutionary history, which has resulted in diverse interactions that must be emphasized in formal education processes. We analyzed several methods of approaches used for biological education in order to teach about wild vertebrates and their conservation in urban and rural schools in the semi-arid region of Brazil.
Data were obtained via questionnaires applied to 990 students, of which 528 were urban and 462 rural, distributed among the seven grades/years that comprise the last two cycles of basic education in Brazil. The richness and diversity of the animals cited by the students were calculated, being the diversity using an adaptation of the equation for the Shannon-Weaver Index (H'). Data were analyzed using non-parametric descriptive statistics.
Mammals and birds had the greatest richness and diversity of animals cited as most-studied in science/biology classes, and also the most indicated as occurring in the studied region. Among mammals, large carnivores with a showy appearance and utilitarian value had the highest citation frequencies, while there was a tendency for limited recognition of faunistic diversity in the other groups mentioned. Almost 70% of the students stated that their schooling processes dealt with the conservation of wild animals; however, about 50% of the students in both urban and rural contexts did not express conceptual understanding about the conservation of nature.
The recognition of animal diversity, especially vertebrates, beyond just mammals and birds, as well as conceptual clarity about the conservation of nature, are fundamental factors for the development of critical awareness of fauna and its conservation, and where the processes of schooling have a preponderant role. Finally, the study contributes to the legitimization of Ethnobiology as an interdisciplinary field of knowledge, especially in its interface with education, in addition to pointing out the importance of optimizing efforts in approaches to biodiversity conservation in formal educational processes.
除了在生态系统动态中发挥关键作用外，动物多样性，尤其是野生脊椎动物的多样性，与人类进化史密切相关，这导致了各种相互作用，这些相互作用必须在正式教育过程中得到强调。我们分析了几种用于生物教育的方法，以便在巴西半干旱地区的城乡学校教授有关野生脊椎动物及其保护的知识。
通过向 990 名学生发放问卷获取数据，其中 528 名来自城市，462 名来自农村，分布在巴西基础教育的最后两个周期的七个年级/年中。计算了学生引用的动物的丰富度和多样性，多样性使用香农-威弗指数（H'）的改编公式计算。使用非参数描述性统计数据进行分析。
哺乳动物和鸟类的动物丰富度和多样性最高，被认为是科学/生物学课程中最受研究的动物，也是研究区域中最常见的动物。在哺乳动物中，具有华丽外表和实用价值的大型食肉动物的引用频率最高，而其他提到的群体中则存在对动物区系多样性认识有限的趋势。近 70%的学生表示他们的学校教育过程涉及野生动物保护；然而，城乡背景下约有 50%的学生没有表达对自然保护的概念理解。
认识动物多样性，特别是脊椎动物，不仅限于哺乳动物和鸟类，以及对自然保护的概念理解，是培养对动物及其保护的批判性意识的基本因素，而学校教育过程起着主导作用。最后，该研究有助于将民族生物学作为一个跨学科知识领域合法化，特别是在其与教育的接口方面，并指出在正式教育过程中优化生物多样性保护方法的努力的重要性。
