Students’ views on Amazonian ethno-herpetofauna

Ethnoherpetology is the ethnoscience that studies the interactions of humans from different cultures with amphibians and reptiles. The present work aims to describe students' conception of ethnoherpetofauna. Semi-structured questionnaires were administered to students (n= 25) in the 7th year of Elementary School. In order to expand and improve the retention of the content covered in classes, a Didactic Sequence (SD) was carried out. The majority of research participants are unaware of or have never heard of the concept of Herpetology (96.0%), not being able to distinguish animals belonging to herpetofauna, such as amphibians. The majority demonstrated an aversion to these animals and considered them to be venomous and poisonous (23.0% frogs and 50.0% snakes). Despite this, the majority recognized the ecological importance of these individuals in the environment, mainly for the balance of the food chain (60.0%). The students pointed out that the main cause of the decrease in reptiles and amphibians in nature is the destruction of habitats (44.0%). It was observed that students' knowledge regarding Herpetology is based on myths and popular beliefs. Such erroneous information contributes to aggressive reactions (19.2%) of students to animals. The teaching methods and resources used were well accepted (80%), especially the exhibition of animals (reptiles and amphibians) preserved in formaldehyde (64%), thus facilitating the retention of the content. In view of this, we reinforce the need for more interventions in the area of ​​environmental education, which address the ecological importance of these animals and which help to conserve the environment.