Abstract

Introduction.  High school students are not strangers to the accumulation of information transmitted day by day on different media regarding environmental problems. Under this context, students shape social representations of climate change.

Methodology.   The research was conducted from a qualitative perspective, following the processual approach to social representations. The following techniques were used to collect written and verbal information from students: free evocation, associative chart, narrative drawing, and a scale of attitudes. The information obtained was triangulated, the textual testimonies and the frequencies of responses were analyzed, and the results were systematized and interpreted.

Results.  It is observed that the students’ social representations contain poor scientific knowledge, notions and opinions abound in them, and they also have and reflect a sense of favorable attitudes towards the environment.

Discussion.  The results are like those obtained in other investigations, and some mistaken notions about climate change (consequences-causes) persist and even increase as people grow older. In addition, the prevalence of several confusions in their social representations is observed, for example, between weather and climate and the hole in the ozone layer due to climate change. Unlike other studies, in this research, the influence of environmental education in shaping favorable attitudes towards the environment is perceived in the students’ testimonies.

Keywords: Social representations; climate change; environmental education; students; high school