THE PERCEPTION OF STUDENTS OF THE 4TH YEAR OF FUNDAMENTAL EDUCATION IN THE MUNICIPALITY OF RIO DE JANEIRO ABOUT INSECTS AS A BASIS FOR THE FORMULATION OF AN ENTOMOLOGY CURRICULUM

Abstract

Popularly, insects are related to diseases, said to be disgusting, harmful, or dangerous and animals that do not belong to this class are mistaken with them. For the elimination of the existing prejudgment, it is necessary to know the level of prior knowledge so that goals can be defined in this sense. The objectives of this work were to survey what 4^th-grade students from elementary school of public schools in the city of Rio de Janeiro know about insects, what concepts they bring about them, and what may be influencing this judgment. Through a questionnaire, we conclude that they know little, cannot distinguish them from other classes of animals, and bring negative and aggressive concepts reproducing the familiar conceptions. We propose that at the time of elaborating an entomology curriculum, student perceptions should be taken into account since they are influenced by cultural conceptions.