Percepção ambiental sobre morcegos por estudantes dos 4º e 5º anos do Ensino fundamental I de uma escola do município de Niterói, estado do Rio de Janeiro

Abstract

Studies in the area of environmental perception are important for understanding thoughts and possible conflicts about something, such as for bats. There are different aspects of study in the area, as well as several concepts of perception. Authors like Merleau-Ponty, Marin and Pedrini have brought important contributions to the present study, which is qualitative in articulation with the quantitative data treatment. The present research sought to analyze the environmental perception about bats of 24 students from the 4th and 5th years of Elementary School I of a private school in the city of Niterói, Rio de Janeiro. For the data collection, semi-structured questionnaires were used, applied before and after a workshop, which was elaborated after the analysis of the drawings and the answers to the first questionnaire. In the workshop we used as resources, images and videos about bats during the lesson and didactic models during the dynamics. The research was carried out after the authorization of the direction of the school, by organizing a schedule of activities according to the availability of the teachers and the authorization of the parents from the free and informed consent term. The analysis of the data of the questionnaire and the speeches during the workshop allowed the categorization of four types of perception in general: cognitive perception; zoophobic perception; stereotyped perception; and affective perception. The students who participated in the research have a broad environmental perception about the eating habits of bats. However, we noticed that they did not relate the eating habits of bats to the ecological roles played by them and their environmental importance. Another subject on which they have shown a broad perception concerns the reproduction of bats. The students related the presence of bats to natural environments such as caves and forests, often ignoring the presence of these animals in their daily life, since they live in urbanized areas. This study made possible the following conclusions: the workshop that was carried out in this study was an instrument of environmental education, in which students were able, after the workshop, to understand the relation of bats to their ecological roles and the importance of these animals to the environment; the workshop also had an important role of environmental awareness, with change in relation to the perception of bats. Environmental perception works such as the present study are important because they help in understanding what people think and feel, serving as a starting point for activities in environmental education, conservation and even in the area of science education.