PLANT CLASSIFICATION AND BIODIVERSITY WHAT RELATIONSHIP IN TEXTBOOKS OF MOROCCO

Abstract

Biodiversity is rapidly declining worldwide. The main cause of the loss of biodiversity can be attributed to the influence of human beings on the world’s. To protect biodiversity we need to understand it. An informed understanding of plant diversity and resources has never been more important. Environmental surveys and effective conservation strategies depend upon detailed knowledge of plants. To communicate such knowledge accurately and effectively, training is required in plant taxonomy, the discipline devoted to plant diversity, relationships and nomenclature. In Morocco, plant taxonomy is addressed in different levels of pimary and secondary education. Textbooks, didactical reference tool for pupils and teachers, also address this issue. The purpose of this paper  is to present the results of the analysis of pedagogical approaches used by these textbooks. The methodology used  is content analysis both in the text and in images. The analyzes show that there is dominance of the functionalist classification and negligence of the utility of species. In textbooks, there is use of ecological criteria, relating to reproductive and vegetative and negligence of genitic and biochemical criteria. The pedagogical styles are often informative and explanatory. The classification of plants is not linking in an explicit way with biodiversity. Results show that pedagogical approaches fail to develop the necessary skills to classify plants include in particular the kinship between species and to classify living species in their taxa. Such pedagogical approaches does not allow the development of critical thinking required in any action of the Environmentel education.