Students' knowledge on the African giant mollusk Achatina fulica in a public school in the Recife metropolitan region

Marcos Souto Alves; Ângelo Giuseppe Chaves Alves; Renata Manzi de Souza

Students' knowledge on the African giant mollusk Achatina fulica in a public school in the Recife metropolitan region

2007

Marcos Souto Alves | Ângelo Giuseppe Chaves Alves | Renata Manzi de Souza

The African giant mollusk Achatina fulica Bowdich, 1822 was introduced into Brazil in 1988 as a substitute for the European escargot Helix sp. This action did not induce the expected results and the gastropod has become an invasive species according to records in 23 Brazilian states. The presence of A. fulica has been reported to many towns in the state of Pernambuco. This work was carried out in order to evaluate, from an ethnoscientific approach, student knowledge about this giant African mollusk in a public school of Cabo de Santo Agostinho (Pernambuco). The Collective Subject Discourse (CSD) technique was applied to the data obtained. The pupils' discourse revealed the existence of previous knowledge about A. fulica, especially on the following issues: disease transmission, taxonomy, environmental impacts brought about by the introduction of exotic species, and the process of ingress and growth of the mollusk in the human body. The authors emphasize the need of considering students' previous knowledge in order to plan and implement educational strategies related to wildlife conservation and exotic species management.

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