Environmental Education Activities Research Articles

A percepção da população Uruçuiense em relação ao uso de embalagens plásticas e aos efeitos no ambiente e saúde humana

Os plásticos em suas diversas formas estão cada vez mais presentes na vida do ser humano, inclusive em embalagens e utensílios domésticos. Tal utilização pode estar associada a danos ao meio ambiente, bem como à saúde humana, uma vez que materiais plásticos em contato podem migrar para água e alimentos. Por isso, o presente trabalho teve como objetivo conhecer a percepção da população da cidade de Uruçuí-PI em relação ao uso de embalagens plásticas e seus efeitos adversos à saúde humana e ambiental. A pesquisa foi realizada com 197 moradores da cidade de Uruçuí. No convite feito via WhatsApp, os participantes foram informados dos objetivos da pesquisa e concordaram com um Termo de Consentimento Livre e Esclarecido (TCLE). Para coleta dos dados, utilizou-se um questionário semiestruturado, criado na plataforma Google Forms. Os resultados obtidos evidenciam que a temática Educação Ambiental (EA) é trabalhada de forma superficial no ambiente escolar de Uruçuí-PI, e que assuntos relacionados às embalagens plásticas também não estão sendo discutidos de forma eficaz nas escolas e meios sociais. Observou-se que alguns participantes têm conhecimento das propriedades migrantes dos plásticos, mas desconhecem os compostos específicos e continuam a utilizar materiais plásticos em condições que podem ser prejudiciais à saúde. Conclui-se, portanto, que o uso de embalagens plásticas para armazenamento de alimentos precisa ser melhor abordado e que as instituições de ensino devem estimular ações de EA em todos os níveis, trabalhando de forma interdisciplinar esse tema que é de grande relevância para a saúde pública e ambiental.

Resource Review: Project Learning Tree PreK-8 Environmental Education Activity Guide

Given growing environmental concerns such as climate change, identifying high-quality environmental education materials that can be used by youth development professionals to meet their educational goals is critical. The Project Learning Tree (PLT) PreK-8 Environmental Education Activity Guide is designed for individuals to develop the knowledge and skills needed to make informed decisions and take action on environmental issues. The curriculum has activities that youth development professionals can use to teach a wide variety of environmental topics ranging from air quality to food chains, habitats, recycling, and watersheds, to name a few. In addition, as a high-quality environmental education curriculum, the guide assists those who desire to develop skills in youth such as critical thinking, communication, and civic engagement. This review of the PLT PreK-8 Environmental Education Activity Guide provides an overview of the curriculum and how the activities are structured and outlines considerations for its use by youth development professionals.

Perfil dos visitantes e seus impactos no Parque Estadual da Serra da Tiririca, RJ, Brasil

O Parque Estadual da Serra da Tiririca (PESET) recebeu em 2018 aproximadamente 155 mil visitantes e este grande número causa impactos antrópicos. Considerando a importância da conservação da biodiversidade e preservação dos serviços ecossistêmicos nos parques, foi realizado o levantamento do perfil dos visitantes bem como dos impactos antrópicos decorrentes da visitação. Entre 2017 e 2018, foram amostrados 449 visitantes e 28 funcionários através de questionários para obter o perfil dos visitantes e as atividades desenvolvidas durante a visita. A maioria dos visitantes era proveniente de Niterói e Rio de Janeiro (95%), possuíam nível superior incompleto ou acima (68%) e frequentavam o parque nos finais de semana e feriados (72%). Os visitantes não costumavam marcar visita (91%) e não conheciam as regras do parque (72%). O contato com a natureza (44%) e a prática de atividades físicas (26%) foram as principais razões das visitas. Visitantes com maior grau de escolaridade e motivados pelo contato com a natureza, prática de esportes ou atividades religiosas relataram menos impactos negativos durante a visita (P<0,0001). A utilização de atalhos e descarte/presença de resíduos sólidos foi o impacto mais observado/relatado. Recomenda-se ações de educação ambiental combinadas a práticas esportivas para os visitantes, especialmente nos finais de semana e feriados. Essas atividades devem ressaltar a importância de conhecer e respeitar as regras do parque. É importante que os planos de manejo incluam a caracterização do perfil dos visitantes e que este perfil seja monitorado ao longo do tempo, como parte integrante de um manejo adaptativo.

EDUCAÇÃO AMBIENTAL NA ESCOLA: CAMINHOS PARA DESENVOLVER A CONSCIÊNCIA AMBIENTAL NOS ALUNOS

A educação ambiental é uma das principais ferramentas para o desenvolvimento de melhores relações com a natureza, sendo a escola um importante meio de difusão. O presente artigo trata-se de uma pesquisa qualitativa, por meio de um estudo de caso na E.M.E.F “Duque de Caxias” na cidade de São Paulo, em que foram utilizados os instrumentos: entrevista e observação in loco para a coleta de dados. Os dados foram analisados à luz do método qualitativo com a finalidade de atender o objetivo da pesquisa que foi de identificar as ações e/ou projetos de educação ambiental desenvolvidos na escola “Duque de Caxias” e seu impacto no processo de conscientização ambiental dos alunos de uma turma do 8° ano do ensino fundamental. Os resultados mostraram que sim, a escola por meio de seus projetos e ações favorece o processo de conscientização de grande parte dos alunos.

Estudio sobre conocimiento de la biodiversidad faunística en niños de primaria de tres comunidades del Área Natural Protegida Laguna de Términos, Campeche, México

El dibujo ha sido empleado como una herramienta de análisis del conocimiento de los niños hacia su medio natural. El objetivo del trabajo fue analizar el conocimiento de niños de primaria hacia la diversidad faunística en comunidades del Área de Protección de Flora y Fauna Laguna de Términos (APFFLT) utilizando al dibujo como una herramienta exploratoria. Los dibujos fueron analizados con la técnica de análisis de contenido, agrupando los elementos gráficos en cinco categorías: animales, elementos terrestres, acuáticos, aéreos y antrópicos. Se analizaron 101 dibujos, identificando 648 animales de 83 especies: 35 mamíferos, 18 aves, 13 reptiles, 11 peces, cuatro invertebrados y dos anfibios. La mayoría de los elementos estuvieron representados en ambientes de selva y ríos (> 90%). Especies con las que se realizaron actividades de educación ambiental, como cocodrilo, manatí y tortugas, fueron las más representadas. Se concluye que existió una relación y conocimiento amplio de los niños hacia el ecosistema.

Vegetation and soil natural defense: an experiment with students of basic education

This article describes actions performed in the Development Plan of the municipal school Domingos Gonçalves Gomes, in the city of Campo Grande-MS. The aim was to analyze the importance of vegetation on rainfall interception from a sample of Inga Fagifolia (a tree popularly known as ingazeiro), searching an approximation between scientific research and students of basic education. For this, a rainfall monitoring was performed by means of digital rain gauge and handmade analogue rain gauges – made by the students themselves. Monitoring the rates of rainfall interception by vegetation allowed new discussions in the classroom based on the fundamental concepts of Geography, especially Landscape. This research took place during the autumn of 2017 and was elaborated by the students of the 9th grade of Elementary School. The findings pointed out to the effectiveness of the use of handmade rain gauges, manufactured with PET bottles (two liters), during the rainfall monitoring and indicated that the Ingazeiro specimen can retain up to 86.67% of rainfall. The students realized the importance of vegetation for the soil protection and the importance of scientific research for generation data that will help with planning and environmental management. Finally, we expect that this project will be maintained, motivating more students to study through practical environmental education activities.

Sustainability indicators for municipal solid waste management: A case study of the Recife Metropolitan Region, Brazil.

Municipal solid waste (MSW) management in Brazil faces major challenges in order to meet the requirements proposed by the National Solid Waste Policy, which has been in force since 2010 and complicates decision-making, especially in small municipalities. In this context, sustainability indicators are important support tools that help in setting out performance actions for municipal sustainable development. The main objective of this article is to evaluate the four sustainability dimensions (social, environmental, economic, and legal/institutional) using sustainability indicators for MSW management in the Recife Metropolitan Region (RMR) in Northeast Brazil. To do this, the progress of the region was evaluated against the principal goals and guidelines proposed by solid waste plans and by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. It was found that some progress has been achieved in recent years, such as the closure of dumps, a reduction of the per capita MSW mass collected, and an increase in the coverage rate for solid household waste collection. However, selective collection and financial autonomy still fall well short of the region's goals. According to the results of this study, municipalities in the RMR require more environmental education and joint actions involving government, the private sector, and the general population.

Environmental Education and Perception about the Environment by High School Students and Teachers

The philosophies and epistemologies that guide the environmental thought of a certain educational community influences its actions in favor of the environment, including the absences of these actions, thus the political-pedagogical propositions that guide the environmental education actions are also strongly affected. In this context, the actions in environmental education in the town of Presidente Kennedy (Brazil) are analyzed as well as the perceptions/actions regarding environment, considering specifically the high school students of the town. The analysis will occur from semi structured interviews with two important professionals that act in the field and also from a questionnaire with open-ended questions applied to a group of second year students. The data were analyzed from Bardin (2010) content analysis. The project indicates that the way of thinking the environment, represented by conservatism, and the traditional perspective of environmental education maintain the actions and can contribute to the maintenance of indifference to the theme that addresses what is broadcasted by the media in a superficial, uncritical and little contextualized way.

Biocaching na Rede das Aldeias do Xisto

A aplicação das novas tecnologias de informação, comunicação e localização aos domínios da educação ambiental, da floresta autóctone e das plantas invasoras, no contexto de paisagens rurais integradas em produtos turísticos de expressão nacional e internacional, configura o referencial para esta reflexão, a qual pretende, por um lado, apresentar uma breve síntese do quadro teórico e conceptual através de uma revisão de literatura e, por outro, explicitar a metodologia e analisar os primeiros resultados após a implementação (no segundo semestre de 2018) do projeto “Biocaching Portugal” nas quatro unidades de paisagem da Rede das Aldeias do Xisto (Serra da Lousã; Serra da Açor; Zêzere; Tejo/Ocreza). Este, por sua vez, tem o propósito de utilizar o arvoredo notável e as plantas invasoras como âncora para induzir a descoberta e fruição da paisagem, mas também como pilar para ações de sensibilização e educação ambiental no território.

Práticas de extensão na olericultura orgânica em Dourados-MS

A extensão rural como ferramenta de transformação econômica e social contribui com a melhoria dos sistemas de produção agropecuária por meio das ações de incentivo à sustentabilidade das comunidades no campo. O desenvolvimento de projetos para aplicação prática da extensão fortalece os vínculos entre a universidade e a comunidade rural, além de beneficiar ambos com rica troca de conhecimento e experiências. Nesse sentido, este trabalho objetivou organizar um evento de extensão a partir das demandas levantadas nas propriedades rurais dos associados da Agrovargas – Associação de Produtores de Vila Vargas, em Dourados-MS. Ferramentas do diagnóstico rural participativo – DRP foram aplicadas em duas propriedades com foco na produção orgânica de hortaliças para, em seguidas, definir-se os temas abordados em um dia de campo. Na prática, demonstrou-se o preparo de caldas visando ao controle fitossanitário em sistemas orgânicos e a técnica da compostagem, tanto caseira como em leiras. Adicionalmente, foram apresentadas aos produtores opções de cultivos não convencionais que agregam valor ao seu sistema de produção, quais sejam a araruta, o gengibre, a ora-pro-nobis, açafrão e o taro. A difusão dos conteúdos explorados na ação de extensão gerou impacto positivo na comunidade. Nesse sentido, percebe-se que as ações que integram o ensino e a extensão contribuem sobremaneira para a melhoria do sistema de produção orgânica de hortaliças no âmbito da agricultura familiar.

Biomonitoring of air pollution: a dichotomous key for lichen species identification

Biomonitoring has been seen as complementary analysis to physicochemical methods and as a low-cost alternative, mainly for regions lacking air pollution control programs. Despite being the most widely used bioindicator for this type of pollution, lichens are not easily identified and this methodology is restricted to groups of expert researchers. Accordingly, the aim of the present study was to analyze lichen diversity in urban and industrial areas, in order to elaborate a dichotomous key to identify the listed species, based on easily visualized features. Lichens with leaf stalks belonging to family Parmeliaceae and genus Parmotrema were the most abundant, which are known for their resistance to air pollution. The study sites generally presented low lichen diversity, which may also have been influenced by the degree of vegetation around them. This result reinforces the importance of green areas for mitigating air pollution in urban environment. The dichotomous key elaborated for the lichen species found aims to support research, environmental education and management activities, and may expand the use of lichens as air-quality bioindicators.

The Impact of Environmental Education Activities on Primary School Students’ Environmental Awareness and Visual Expressions

The aim of this research is to improve environmental awareness in primary school students. For this purpose, the study was carried out within the scope of action research pattern from qualitative research patterns. The study group was determined by selecting easily accessible samples. The study group consisted of second year students attending a state primary school in Gungoren District of Istanbul in the 2018-2019 academic year. The data of the study were obtained by the students’ environmental pictures, observation forms and semi-structured interview forms. The data obtained were analyzed by content analysis. According to the findings of the research, it is determined that students who received environmental education, draw pictures enthusiastically and reflecting environmental awareness, also after interviews students gain awareness toward environment, empathized with nature and draw highly esthetically appreciated pictures.

The perceptions of high school students on the habitat of the crab Ucides cordatus (Linnaeus, 1763) (Crustacea: Decapoda: Ucididae) in northern Rio de Janeiro State, southeastern Brazil

The study evaluated the perceptions of high school students (15 to 22 years old) on the value and ecosystem services (ES) provided by mangroves in the Paraíba do Sul River estuary, which is the habitat of the crab Ucides cordatus in northern Rio de Janeiro State, southeastern Brazil. One of the schools, Colégio Estadual Ercilia Muylaert de Menezes (CEEMM), is located in a rural area close to the mangroves, while the other school, Colégio Estadual Benta Pereira (CEBP), is located in an urban area 50km from the mangroves. The CEEMM students (n= 62) mainly attributed economic value to the ecosystem, while the CEBP students (n= 67) attributed ecological value. Students of both schools recognize the provision of services relating to commercial fishing of the crab U. cordatus as the main ES provided by the mangroves. The value of direct use (crab fishing) can encourage ecosystem conservation, however, it should not be the only resource considered for this purpose. We recommend that both schools implement environmental education activities to consolidate student knowledge about mangrove dynamics and its importance as an environment that supports and regulates coastal areas.

Participação da comunidade na gestão e em ações de proteção da biodiversidade vegetal em áreas protegidas

A vegetação de caatinga é fundamental para a sobrevivência da população do semiárido, pois capta as águas pluviais armazenando-as em reservas subterrâneas, utilizadas nos períodos de estiagem. Entretanto, vem sendo devastada por atividades antrópicas inadequadas. Áreas protegidas têm sido criadas para proteger fragmentos dessa vegetação, estimular atividades educativas e inserir a sociedade na gestão ambiental. Este estudo objetivou caracterizar a participação da comunidade na gestão e nas atividades relacionadas à preservação e ao uso sustentável da biodiversidade vegetal de uma unidade de conservação, aplicando uma abordagem qualitativa e técnicas como observação participante, grupo focal, entrevistas semiestruturadas e análise de conteúdo. Os resultados mostraram que essa participação cidadã existe, mas, geralmente, é meramente simbólica ou restrita a aconselhamentos por parte dos membros do conselho gestor, ao invés de efetiva ou colaborativa. Além de prevista na legislação em vigor, a participação social é fundamental para o alcance dos propósitos de criação de espaços legalmente protegidos, cabendo políticas públicas de educação ambiental que promovam o empoderamento comunitário e elevem a participação cidadã. Foi sugerido um modelo de rede de cooperação para auxiliar na governança e na promoção de ações de educação ambiental com elevação da participação social nesses espaços.

A Visitor Assistance System Based on LoRa for Nature Forest Parks

Ecotourism activities are attracting more people each day, including national forest parks. Unfortunately, the number of incidents involving visitors to natural parks grows at the same pace. Among the most prevalent risks inside forests are getting lost and the occurrence of natural disasters. In this work, we propose a system for monitoring and assisting visitors of forest parks, based on a low power wide range wireless network, LoRa. The proposed visitor assisting system is composed of mobile terminals that communicate between them and with fixed infrastructure, using a protocol designed for exchanging visitor locations data. The infrastructure consists of wireless gateways distributed on the trails, the totems. User terminals, the mobile nodes, work collaboratively through a Delay and Disruption Tolerant Network (DTN), to cope with the possibility that the gateway infrastructure does not cover the whole trail. In addition to improvements and gains for minimizing risks, the proposal also brings contributions to the preservation of the environment, raising awareness of the influence of human presence in the natural environment and to the development of environmental education actions.

Back to basics: Gaps in baseline data call for revisiting an environmental education program in the SAVA region, Madagascar

Environmental education programs are critically important for raising awareness about global and local environmental concerns, by providing the knowledge, tools, and means for young and old generations to cope with current challenges. Of the greatest importance is the implementation of environmental education programs in biodiversity hotspots where environmental crises are high and resources to fund mitigation programs are low. Madagascar is one such priority hotspot, featuring intensive wildlife-human conflicts due to shrinking natural environments. The Duke Lemur Center-SAVA Conservation Initiative has been conducting environmental education activities in the SAVA region, northeastern Madagascar, since 2011. These activities have been aimed at increasing awareness of local and global environmental issues and at stimulating the involvement of local school students. Our initiatives have predominantly supported teacher trainings to provide teachers with environmental education content, examples, and recommendations on how to integrate activities into their regular curricula, commonly referred to as a “cascade approach”. Due to logistical hurdles, including high teacher turnover rates, however, these interventions have not been monitored to assess their efficacy. Thus, to better inform current and future interventions, we designed and implemented classroom-based surveys to gather baseline data on the basic knowledge of SAVA students and their perceptions of the environment. We identify informational gaps in surveyed schools, including those located in large towns vs. villages, and those with trained vs. untrained teachers. Based on these results, we make recommendations for future environmental education efforts in the region, including activities that could address real-life environmental problems and decision-making solutions.

Legal Regulation of the Preservation of the Culture of Ukrainian Peasantry: Current Situation and Prospects for Improvement

This article investigates the current state of legal regulation of preserving the culture of Ukrainian peasantry as a carrier of Ukrainian identity, culture and spirituality of the nation. The necessity to revive and preserve the peasant as a landlord, bearer of morality and national culture is reflected in the scientific approaches of legal scholars in the field of agrarian, land and environmental law of Ukraine. In the process of analysis of a number of sources of agrarian, land, environmental law, normative legal acts of a programmatic nature, the existence of significant legal defects in the specified field was revealed (declarative nature of legal provisions, legal gaps, lack of complexity of legal regulation, inefficiency of legal norms). As a result, degradation of the spiritual, environmental, legal culture of the peasants occurs.
 The authors found that the effectiveness of a number of legal acts, aimed at the legal regulation of the culture of Ukrainian peasantry, the social development of the village and the revival of social cultural and material infrastructure, is low. The measures identified in them to overcome the crisis in the social sphere of the village have practically no proper mechanisms of implementation.
 In view of this, the authors substantiate ways to improve the legal regulation for the preservation of the culture of Ukrainian peasantry. The key to preserving the peasantry as a carrier of the national culture of Ukrainian people, according to the authors, is a integrated solution to the peasant's social problems. This direction of state policy should be implemented through organizational, legal and socio-economic measures aimed at ensuring employment and reducing unemployment, expanding the network of cultural institutions in the countryside, improving the level of education of rural youth, the development of environmental awareness, education, legal and advisory activities.
 Increasing the standard of living and life of Ukrainian peasantry, the authors associate with the need for its financial and economic support with the use of funds from the State and local budgets for the implementation of cultural and educational activities in the countryside, leisure activities with the promotion of agricultural producers. An important guarantee of preserving the culture of Ukrainian peasantry is to increase the legal responsibility of officials of state authorities and local self-government for making decisions that limit or violate peasants' rights.

Identifying Geographic Dengue Fever Distribution by Modeling Environmental Variables

During 2012-2015, the municipality of Guarulhos, inserted in the Sao Paulo Metropolitan Region (the 4th largest metropolitan region in the world), recorded about 7540 cases of dengue fever. Given this situation, the work presented a prediction of the geographical distribution of this disease, using dengue fever occurrence records and environmental variables, through the MaxEnt distribution modeling. As the main result, it was observed that about 10% of the territory of Guarulhos presented high suitability for the disease occurrence (> 0.7). Areas with around ~900 inhabitants/ha inserted in regions with a mean surface temperature between 18 oC and 25 oC, inadequate household water storage, irregular disposal, and absence of waste recycling services may increase the risk of dengue transmission in prolonged drought periods. Finally, the work contributes to the development of public health strategies indicating areas for mitigation and environmental education actions in Guarulhos.

Impacts of anthropogenic activities and calculation of the relative risk of violating surface water quality standards established by environmental legislation: a case study from the Piracicaba and Paraopeba river basins, Brazil.

The nonparametric test of Kruskal-Wallis and relative risk were used to evaluate surface water quality allowed to an identification of the most degraded water bodies in Piracicaba River and Paraopeba River basins, two important hydrographic basins in Brazil. Total manganese, dissolved iron, and fecal contamination indicator were considered the most relevant parameters for the characterization of water quality in the basins. The Peixe River, in Nova Era, and Pedras Creek, in Betim, were considered the most impacted water bodies in the Piracicaba River and Paraopeba River basins, respectively. The analysis of violations and the relative risk confirmed that both basins are subject to impacts resulting from economic activities. On comparing the relative risks, the Paraopeba River basin showed a higher risk of violation for 5-day biological oxygen demand (BOD5), total manganese, total phosphorus, total suspended solids, and turbidity, while the Piracicaba River basin showed a higher risk of violation for fecal contamination indicator. The release of domestic sewage and industrial effluents, mining activities, and diffuse pollution from agriculture and pasture areas were responsible for the surface water quality deterioration in these basins. The results show the need for investment in basic sanitation, improved treatment efficiency for industrial effluents, adequate soil management, riparian vegetation preservation, and environmental education actions.

Best Practices and Constraints in Geopark Management: Comparative Analysis of Two Spanish UNESCO Global Geoparks

Spain is an international reference for geoparks and geoconservation polices, and it is the second country in the world with the highest number of UNESCO Global Geoparks (UGGps), after China. Additionally, Spain was one of the four countries involved in the establishment of the European Geoparks Network (EGN) in 2000, the first geoparks network. Based on this prominent role of Spain, the present research had the aim to analyse and characterize the process of establishment, development, and management of two Spanish UGGps. This study also intended to identify important aspects of the operation and management that can be a reference to other geoparks. As geological heritage is one of the essential requirements of any geopark, geoconservation has particular importance in the geopark management, requiring experts in the geopark staff. Equally important is that the management structure can effectively ensure an integrated development of the territory, connecting the geopark staff, the whole community, and the stakeholders. A good cooperation of the management team with the administration of protected areas that might exist within a geopark is also noteworthy, because park managers have extensive experience in the implementation of nature conservation and environmental education actions, activities that can certainly benefit any geopark.