The present study compared Portuguese and Spanish children in the 6^th year of primary school in terms of their knowledge and live experience of animals from the Iberian Peninsula (IP) and the African savannah. A questionnaire was administered to 420 children from state schools, 215 from Portugal and 205 from Spain. The questionnaire included photos of eleven mammals from each region. The pupils had to identify them, to say if they had observed them live and where, and if they are native in the IP. The results showed a greater knowledge of both groups of the savannah species, also the ones most had seen live. However, the Spanish children had a better performance in the identification of the native mammals and which animals are native on IP, probably because these children are from a less urban zone, with more direct contact with some of the species presented. The school does not seem to play, in either group, an important role in the learning about native species. Boys from both countries performed better than girls on the issues under study. A high percentage of children from both countries think that several of the savannah species occur wild on the IP.

In the 1990s, the field of geoethics started its development, associated with a set of ethical principles that regulate the profession of geologists in their relationship with society and with nature. Given the importance of this field, but also its youth, 36 higher education students attending a Master’s of Geology course were surveyed (20 were from an educational branch and 16 were from a scientific branch). The questionnaire applied to them aimed to achieve the following goals: (a) to identify the knowledge of the respondents about this new field and to verify their position about the inclusion of geoethics in the curriculum, (b) to understand how they consider the importance of geological knowledge in political decisions and (c) to investigate possible differences in the thinking of the respondents, given the specificities of their educational branches. The study concluded that the field of geoethics is unknown to the majority of the respondents. However, the recognition of its importance was also verified, after getting familiar with the definition of the concept, as well as the need for its inclusion in formal education. The respondents also considered relevant the creation of a deontological code that could provide geologists with ethical guidance. They also considered that geology should influence political decisions, but they did not consistently recognise the limits of its influence, which seems to reveal the need of a deeper understanding of the specific nature of geological knowledge when compared with other sciences. Almost all the results were similar in both groups, but the students from the educational branch offered more elaborate answers about the issues present in the questionnaire.

Several studies in the Scandinavian and Anglo-Saxon countries have shown a decline in outdoor activities and contact with nature during childhood. In Latin countries, these studies are still missing. A total of 562 urban children from Lisbon (Portugal) and 303 of their parents took part in the present study, which mainly aimed to compare the intergenerational engagement in outdoor activities. The results showed a decrease in children’s outdoor activities during the weekdays, weekends and summer holidays. Activities like picking berries, collecting rocks and fossils or climbing trees appear to be rarely performed nowadays. Furthermore, the results suggested that schools are no longer playing a role in promoting outdoor activities and children are spending their leisure time indoors, using technological devices or going shopping. Finally, the decline in outdoor activities seems to affect boys and girls equally. Several implications are discussed and recommendations for parents, teachers and politicians are proposed.

Although meat was considered fundamental for human health in the past, in recent decades, it has come to be considered a poison. The present study involved 197 pre-service primary teachers from two Portuguese institutions: one in an urban context and the other in a smaller city. It aimed to ascertain the main diet of the participants and their perceptions and knowledge about the impact of meat consumption on human health, the environment and animal welfare. It also aimed to identify which type of meat was considered better and worse for health, how important meat consumption is for adults and children, and to determine whether the participants would consider it important to reduce meat consumption in their diets and the reasons for doing so. The study uses mainly a methodological quantitative approach, and a questionnaire was designed and applied. The participants showed their preference for an omnivorous diet with no restrictions, considering this diet the best for human health, but the worst for the environment and animal welfare. Although meat consumption was considered important for human health, most participants considered that it would be important to consume less meat. From the answers given for the open questions, it was concluded that some respondents had difficulties in justifying their answers, revealing a certain lack of knowledge about the subject, which has important implications for teacher training courses.

This study aimed to identify attitudes towards different uses of animals in two groups of students: 264 pupils from the 6th year of schooling and 199 from the 9th, using an adaptation of the Animal Attitude Scale – 10-item version. Inferential statistics was used to check differences between groups, and in each group considering gender and mammal pet owners. The effect size (r value) was applied to identify the magnitude of the differences found. The results showed positive attitudes about animal welfare, with the exception of meat consumption. The younger group favour zoos, since they think animals are better protected; the older group favours the inevitability of the use of animals in medical research. Girls and owners of mammals as pets tended to be more concerned about the impact of the uses on animals but these differences showed low or medium magnitude. The results may help the interconnection of animal welfare issues in environmental education, reinforcing non-anthropocentric approaches in this field.