Conhecimento ofiológico de professores de biologia do Ensino Médio

Abstract

Biology teachers play an important role in environmental education in ophiology , as snakes have their importance questioned as they are involved in a number of myths and misconce ptions about their morphology and ecology. Therefore, this study aims to investigate knowledge in ophio logy in high school biology teachers, verifying which variables may influence their performance. Data were collected between September and October 2018, making a total of 61 teachers from the city of Fortaleza, Ceará. Most teachers (69%) failed to identify basic components of snake feeding, stating that they eat fruits; others identified the Jibóia as venomous snake (31.2%) and did not know that the Surucu cu is a venomous snake (67.3%); moreover, some teachers were unable to say what measures could safely be taken in the event of a snake accident. It was possible to verify that teachers with more time of formation and residents of the urban zone ob tained better results than the others. The lack of knowledge about basic aspects of the ecology and physiology of snakes can be associated with problems in the formation of these teachers and even in the didactic material used to teach the classes. Finally , this study recommends a new curricular proposal aimed at improving teachers' Environmental Education capacity together with a revision of textbooks, since these teachers are located in an area where people have a lot of contact with snakes which wou ld improve perceptions of these animals and help reduce the number of accidents.