How Spanish primary school students interpret the concepts of population and species

Abstract

This article presents research concerning the way in which primary school pupils in southern Spain interpret the concepts of population and species. The results show that, for the concept of population, there was an intense anthropocentrism in pupils’ responses, while for the concept of species, only animals were considered as living creatures. These interpretations influence the vision that the students will develop of ecosystems and biodiversity, as well as their respect and care for living beings. We propose some suggestions in order to improve the teaching of these concepts in primary education.

Keywords:

• population
• species
• living beings
• primary education
• interdisciplinary

Acknowledgements

This research has been possible thanks to the collaboration of the students and the professors of the schools ‘San José’ and ‘Hermanos Maristas’ of Granada, and ‘Sierra Nevada’ of Güejar-Sierra (Spain). The comments and help of José A. Hódar improved a previous version of the manuscript. David Nesbitt and Matilde Gordo Carmona kindly improved the English. This study was financed with a grant from the Iniciación a la Investigación del Plan Propio of the University of Granada, granted to the Author.