IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v10y2018i4p1000-d138507.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

A Study on the Spontaneous Representation of Animals in Young Children’s Drawings of Plant Life

Author

Listed:
  • José Domingo Villarroel

    (Faculty of Education Bilbao, University of the Basque Country, UPV/EHU, 48940 Lejona, Spain)

  • Alvaro Antón

    (Faculty of Education Bilbao, University of the Basque Country, UPV/EHU, 48940 Lejona, Spain)

  • Daniel Zuazagoitia

    (Education and Sport Faculty, University of the Basque Country, UPV/EHU, 48940 Lejona, Spain)

  • Teresa Nuño

    (Faculty of Education Bilbao, University of the Basque Country, UPV/EHU, 48940 Lejona, Spain)

Abstract

Previous research indicates that complex biological concepts may be successfully introduced in preschool age, provided that suitable educational interventions are designed for the initial stages of education. In this regard, there is evidence that a basic understanding of the issue of the ecological interactions among organisms may be achieved in the preschool years. With this in mind, this research project tests the assumption that recognising the fact that plants and animals are not isolated creatures, but live engaged in constant interactions in nature, may begin to be understood in early education. To that end, this study examines the content of free drawings that a sample of 328 children aged four to seven years of age, undertook when explaining their understanding of plant life. Data regarding the type and frequency of the depictions of animals found in the children’s graphic explanations on flora is collected and read in conjunction with participants’ gender and academic level. The results show that a substantial proportion of the children in the sample spontaneously drew illustrations of animals in their graphic explanations concerning vegetable life and, more significantly, some pictures show plants and animals engaged in clear contact. This is the case, despite the fact that the drawing activity had been focused solely on the issue of plant life and no indication linked to depicting other kinds of living things mentioned during the activity. The conclusions discuss the data collected in connection with the growing number of research projects that study the question of how young children begin to embrace the fundamental biological concepts that pave the way to the understanding of natural phenomena and make the public capable of making responsible choices when it comes to sustainability issues.

Suggested Citation

  • José Domingo Villarroel & Alvaro Antón & Daniel Zuazagoitia & Teresa Nuño, 2018. "A Study on the Spontaneous Representation of Animals in Young Children’s Drawings of Plant Life," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(4), pages 1-11, March.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:10:y:2018:i:4:p:1000-:d:138507
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/10/4/1000/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/10/4/1000/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. José Domingo Villarroel & Xabier Villanueva, 2017. "A Study Regarding the Representation of the Sun in Young Children’s Spontaneous Drawings," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 6(3), pages 1-11, August.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Ilargi Zaballa & Maria Merino & José Domingo Villarroel, 2021. "Children’s Pictorial Expression of Plant Life and Its Connection with School-Based Greenness," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(9), pages 1-13, April.
    2. Xabier Villanueva & José Domingo Villarroel & Alvaro Antón, 2018. "Environmental Awareness and Its Relationship with the Concept of the Living Being: A Longitudinal Study," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(7), pages 1-10, July.
    3. Hortensia Morón-Monge & Soraya Hamed & María del Carmen Morón Monge, 2021. "How Do Children Perceive the Biodiversity of Their nearby Environment: An Analysis of Drawings," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(6), pages 1-19, March.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Jon Ander Garibi & Alvaro Antón & José Domingo Villarroel, 2021. "Information about Human Evolution: An Analysis of News Published in Communication Media in Spanish between 2015 and 2017," Publications, MDPI, vol. 9(3), pages 1-10, July.
    2. Mehmet Mart & Ahmet Simsar & Gulden Uyanik, 2022. "The Playground Perception of Syrian Refugee Children," Child Indicators Research, Springer;The International Society of Child Indicators (ISCI), vol. 15(1), pages 349-372, February.
    3. Xabier Villanueva & José Domingo Villarroel & Alvaro Antón, 2018. "Environmental Awareness and Its Relationship with the Concept of the Living Being: A Longitudinal Study," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(7), pages 1-10, July.
    4. Ilargi Zaballa & Maria Merino & José Domingo Villarroel, 2021. "Children’s Pictorial Expression of Plant Life and Its Connection with School-Based Greenness," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(9), pages 1-13, April.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:10:y:2018:i:4:p:1000-:d:138507. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.