Urbanization, for many children, results in limited contact with nature. The term “extinction of experience” is sometimes used in reference to this concern. For children, the result may be a loss of knowledge about biodiversity. This study investigated this concern by comparing knowledge of biodiversity in two groups of children: one group with “contact with a forest;” one group with “no contact with a forest.”
Four public schools in Northeastern Brazil participated in this study. Two of the schools were close to a forest (≤500m); two were far from the forest ((≥5.000m). Children from all four schools were similar in terms of socioeconomic and educational status. The curricula used by the four schools were also similar. One class per grade (1st-5th) from each school participated in the study. There were 110 children in the “contact with a forest” group; 157 in the “no contact with a forest” group. All of the children drew pictures depicting what they knew about a forest. Coding of items in the children's pictures was based on six categories: native animal, non-native animal, domestic animal, human component, plant component, and abiotic component. Statistical analysis then tested for differences in the categories between the two groups of children.
The drawings made by the children in the “contact with a forest” group showed greater knowledge of native animals than drawings from the other group. These results suggest that the knowledge urban children get from textbooks is less than the knowledge they can get from observing native animals in a forest setting. Other results suggested that contact with a forest did not affect the children's knowledge of vegetation. This may be due to urban children having more opportunities for seeing plants in such places as city squares, streets, and backyards. Results also showed that children in the “no contact with a forest” group included more human elements in their drawings than the group with contact with a forest. The researchers suggest that “the lack of contact with a forest led to a distortion of knowledge.” They note that, while urban children naturally include human elements in their drawings, children with contact with a forest do so to a significantly less degree.
These findings highlight the importance of urban children having contact with natural environments -- such as forests -- so that they can become more knowledgeable about biodiversity and its importance to environmental conservation.
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