Student Knowledge and Attitudes on Deforestation
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You have probably heard that rain forests are disappearing. About 150,000 square kilometers vanish every year. But do most people understand why that matters?
You design a questionnaire with factual and opinion questions about deforestation. You give it to a random sample of 26 sixth-grade students at one school. You also send it over the internet to a non-random sample of students worldwide. Then you score the factual answers and compare the results.
In this survey, 67% of factual responses were correct. Most respondents knew that tropical and temperate are the two types of rain forests. Most did not know the top three resources forests provide.
Hypothesis
The hypothesis is that the majority of responses to the factual questions about deforestation on our questionnaire will be correct.
Method & Materials
You will choose a topic, develop a statement of purpose, write a review of literature, develop a hypothesis, develop a methodology, develop a questionnaire, draw a random sample, give the questionnaire to the sample, analyze the data, write a summary and conclusion, and apply the findings to the world outside the classroom.
You will need a topic, a statement of purpose, a review of literature, a hypothesis, a methodology, a questionnaire, a random sample, data analysis tools, and a summary and conclusion.
Results
The survey found that a majority of the students knew much about deforestation and that 67% of the responses to the factual questions on our questionnaire were answered correctly. This shows that students are aware of the importance of deforestation and the need to conserve our forests.
Why do this project?
This science project is interesting and unique because it surveys students from all over the world and provides insight into what students know and feel about deforestation.
Also Consider
Experiment variations to consider include surveying different grade levels or surveying students in different countries.
Full project details
Additional information and source material for this project are available below.Related video
These videos explain the science behind this project and demonstrate key concepts used in the experiment.
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