A dataset from a survey on children's knowledge of entomology in Yucatan, Mexico
Description
Yucatan, Mexico is a region where vector-borne diseases are commonly found. It is crucial for children to be able to distinguish between dangerous arthropods and those that are beneficial to the environment and humans. The study's goal was to assess schoolchildren's knowledge of entomology. Data were collected between October 2023 and June 2024. An intervention study was conducted in basic education schools. At the beginning of the study, a visual diagnostic test was applied to measure the children's knowledge about insects and arachnids. The intervention consisted of giving talks about the biology of arthropods, with emphasis on those that suck blood and transmit pathogens. In addition, the schoolchildren, accompanied by entomologists, collected arthropods in the school yard and observed them under a microscope. After the intervention, the same visual diagnostic test was applied to evaluate change in knowledge of entomology.
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An intervention study was conducted in basic education schools. Contact was established with the headteachers of four basic education schools (primaries) of the Secretariat of Public Education of Yucatan, Mexico. The objectives of the project were explained. The headteachers and teachers agreed to participate voluntarily and gave their consent to the study. While the headteachers consented on the schoolchildren's behalf. The data described here were collected using a visual diagnostic test. The images of the arthropods that appear in the tests were taken from the entomological collection of the Laboratorio de Arbovirología of the Centro de Investigaciones Regionales Dr. Hideyo Noguchi, Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán. The tests (Figure 1 y 2) were completed by 4th and 5th grade students from basic education schools (primary). In the first item, we presented the children with figures of arthropods and asked them to identify which ones were insects and arachnids. In the second item, we displayed figures of insects and arachnids and instructed them to draw a line connecting each arthropod with its common name. The visual diagnostic test was applied before and after an educational intervention to evaluate the knowledge of schoolchildren about entomology. The intervention also included collecting arthropods in the school yard. The entomologists divided the students into groups and collected arthropods in the schoolyard. The arthropods were collected with entomological forceps and placed in 25-ml plastic tubes, to which 70% alcohol was added. The tubes were labeled with the date, school, and grade level. To finish the activity, the children observed the arthropods under stereoscopes (Carl Zeiss Microlmaging GmbH®).
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Funding
Consejo Nacional de Humanidades, Ciencias y Tecnologías (Conahcyt), México
The study was supported by Conahcyt under the Grant: CF-2023-I-678 “Entrenamiento de niños en entomología e inventariar la entomofauna local de Yucatán: con énfasis en la entomología médica”.