INSECTS AND HUMANS: THE LOOK OF ELEMENTARY SCHOOL STUDENTS IN TEXTUAL PRODUCTIONS

Abstract

Biodiversity loss is current and worrying issue in all spheres of society, including the educational process. In this sense, study of insects is relevant due to the presence of these species to the maintenance of biodiversity on the planet. Thus, concerns about the conservation of species are essential in the educational context, requiring teachers to identify themes to be problematized with students by integrating the conceptual knowledge to the construction of reflections and attitudes that provide a differentiated and critical eye on what was studied. In order to analyze the look of the students of the 7th year of elementary school in relation to insects, 49 students performed textual productions about these animals. The texts were analyzed using content analysis, the categorized data and quantified by descriptive statistics tools, pointing out the main concepts of the insects by students. The results indicated a predominance of negative concepts related to insects, particularly cockroaches and flies, unlike the butterflies. Students demonstrated relevant prior knowledge about morphology, but the taxonomic classification was shown wrongly for specific animals. The adjacent data set analyzed the observations of activities throughout the school year indicated the urgency of addressing the issue of the insects associated with ecological relationships, as well as the inclusion of the human being in this area, making science education a fertile field for application teaching strategies that provide students reflection about the importance of the species for life on Earth.