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Advisor(s)
Abstract(s)
The Portuguese curriculum includes the issue of endangered species but it
omits the reintroductions of endangered or already extinct species. Therefore, this study
aimed to verify and compare the position of 435 students, attending the 4th (n1=210, age
average 8,8) and the 9th year (n2=225, age average 14,3) of schooling, about the
hypothetical reintroduction of three emblematic mammals from the Iberian fauna in
Portugal: the wild goat, the bear and the lynx, which has a very different situation in this
country. To this end, a questionnaire was applied, also demanding the reasons of their
choice. The students of both groups supported the reintroductions with percentages that
were very similar, but the reasons for their support had a different frequency. In a very
general way, the older students gave more personal and ecological arguments and the
younger produced more arguments centred on the animals and on the human being.
However, the incidence of ecological arguments was lower than expected, due to the
fact that students from the 9th have approached throughout schooling, more precisely at
the 3rd, 5th and 8thyears, several ecological issues. Some misconceptions about the utility
of the animals for humans, especially in the case of the wild goat, and their
dangerousness, in the case of the bear and lynx, were also detected. Because this issue
has proved to be very controversial in countries that have already started a
reintroduction policy of some species of their fauna, we support its discussion during
schooling, in Science Education and Environmental Education, for a better
understanding of the reasons for and against the reintroductions that may allow reducing
the importance of empathy for an animal as the most important one.
Description
Keywords
Animals’ reintroductions Students’ perceptions about animals Science education
Citation
Almeida, Vasconcelos, Torres, S. Moutinho: How is the reintroduction of extinct animals regarded through age? A comparative study with students from two distinct school levels ESERA 2013 ConferenceVolume: Science Education Research for Evidence-based Teaching and Coherence in Learning. Part 9 (co-ed. Graça Carvalho & Marianne Achiam), (pp. 76-83) Nicosia, Cyprus: European Science Education Research Association. ISBN:978-9963-700-77-6., DOI:10.13140/2.1.4121.7606