Beauty, memories and symbolic meaning: Swedish student teachers´ views of their favourite plant and animal

Figures & data

Figure 1. Most frequent answers to the question ‘What is your favourite animal?’ All other animals (N = 35) were chosen only once

Figure 2. Frequencies of answers to the question ‘Why is it your favourite animal?’ by category

Table 1. Example of categories of reasons for choosing favourite animal, in which the reason for the category chosen is marked in bold

Category	Example
Anthropomorphism	- Dog. I have a dog myself and it is my best friend! Gives so much love and accepts me just the way I am. [Hund. Har själv en hund och det är min bästa vän! Ger så mycket kärlek och accepterar mig precis som jag är.]
Emotion	- Dog. I have a dog myself and it is my best friend! Gives so much love and accepts me just the way I am.
Memory or history with	- Dog. I have a dog myself and it is my best friend! Gives so much love and accepts me just the way I am.
Ownership	- Dog. I have a dog myself and it is my best friend! Gives so much love and accepts me just the way I am.
Companionship to humans	- Dog. I have a dog myself and it is my best friend! Gives so much love and accepts me just the way I am.

Figure 3. Most frequent answers to the question ‘What is your favourite plant?’ All other plants (N = 47) were chosen only once

Table 2. Example of categories of reasons for choosing favourite plant, in which the reason for the category chosen is marked in bold

Category	Example
Symbolic meaning	- Wood anemone. It symbolises spring and a fresh start for me. When the wood anemone comes the spring has come, it becomes lighter and lighter and warmer and warmer outside. [Vitsippan. Den symboliserar vår och nystart för mig. När vitsippan kommer är våren i full gång, det blir ljusare och ljusare och varmare och varmare ute.
Season	- Wood anemone. It symbolises spring and a fresh start for me. When the wood anemone comes the spring has come, it becomes lighter and lighter and warmer and warmer outside.
Emotion	- Wood anemone. It symbolises spring and a fresh start for me. When the wood anemone comes the spring has come, it becomes lighter and lighter and warmer and warmer outside.
Ecological aspects	- Wood anemone. It symbolises spring and a fresh start for me. When the wood anemone comes the spring has come, it becomes lighter and lighter and warmer and warmer outside.

Figure 4. Frequencies of answers to the question ‘Why is it your favourite plant?’ by category, out of 183 students that mentioned at least one reason