Knowledge and perception of common local wild plant and animal species by children and their teachers - a case study from Switzerland

This study asked 241 primary children and their 13 teachers in the Canton of Berne, Switzerland, to identify 136 local plant and animal species, which were shown to them as pictures. Children's age, gender, and experiences with nature were recorded to test for associations with species knowledg...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published inInternational journal of science education Vol. 44; no. 8; pp. 1318 - 1335
Main Authors Jaun-Holderegger, Barbara, Lehnert, Hans-Joachim, Lindemann-Matthies, Petra
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published London Routledge 24.05.2022
Taylor & Francis Ltd
Subjects
Animals
Biology education
Case Studies
Charisma
Children
Conservation (Environment)
Correlation
Elementary School Students
Elementary School Teachers
Entomology
Environmental education
Flowers & plants
Foreign Countries
Gender Differences
Identification
Insects
Knowledge Level
Pedagogical Content Knowledge
Pictorial Stimuli
Plants (Botany)
Relatives
Science education
Students
teacher knowledge
Teachers
Switzerland
Online AccessGet full text

Cover

More Information
Summary:This study asked 241 primary children and their 13 teachers in the Canton of Berne, Switzerland, to identify 136 local plant and animal species, which were shown to them as pictures. Children's age, gender, and experiences with nature were recorded to test for associations with species knowledge. Teachers identified 52% of the plants and 61% of the animals, while their pupils only knew 17% and 41% of the species, respectively (class means). Plants with bright flowers like dandelion (Taraxacum officinale), edible fruits like strawberry (Fragaria vesca) or harmful ones like stinging nettle (Urtica dioica) were most identified correctly. Among the animals, charismatic mammals such as fox (Vulpes vulpes) and hedgehog (Erinaceus europaeus), but also insects like bumblebees (Bombus terrestris) were best known. However, many common bird species such as chaffinch (Fringilla coelebs) were largely unknown. Boys identified more animal species correctly than did girls. Contact with living beings, a green environment and support by family members fostered species knowledge of children, while their school education was rather insignificant.
ISSN:0950-0693
1464-5289
DOI:10.1080/09500693.2022.2076949