Learning About Bird Species on the Primary Level

Animal species identification is often emphasized as a basic prerequisite for an understanding of ecology because ecological interactions are based on interactions between species at least as it is taught on the school level. Therefore, training identification skills or using identification books seems a worthwhile task in biology education, and should already start on the primary level. On the primary level, however, complex interactions could not be taught but pupils are often interested in basic knowledge about species. We developed a hands-on, group-based and self-determined learning phase organized in workstations. About 138 pupils (2nd-4th graders) participated in this study. The two groups received an identification treatment with six different bird species. These were presented either as soft toys or as taxidermy specimen. Both groups scored similar prior and after the treatment (posttest 1) and with a delay of 6-8 weeks (posttest 2). More complex general linear modeling revealed a significant influence of prior knowledge, treatment and of grade (2nd, 3rd or 4th grade) on the first posttest while in the retention test gender differences emerged. We suggest that soft toys may be of equal value for teaching species identification on the primary level compared to natural taxidermic specimen, especially when considering pricing, insensitivity to handling, and contamination with agents used for preservation.