{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,10]],"date-time":"2026-04-10T22:24:17Z","timestamp":1775859857937,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":54,"publisher":"Public Library of Science (PLoS)","issue":"4","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2022,4,27]],"date-time":"2022-04-27T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1651017600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100001871","name":"Funda\u00e7\u00e3o para a Ci\u00eancia e a Tecnologia","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["(H2020-SC1-FA-DTS-2018-2"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["(H2020-SC1-FA-DTS-2018-2"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100001871","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"name":"ARC by a posdoc grant of project RIVEAL - RIparian forest Values and Ecosystem services in uncertain freshwater futures and Altered Landscapes","award":["LISBOA-01-0145-FEDER-029790"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["LISBOA-01-0145-FEDER-029790"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["www.plosone.org"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["PLoS ONE"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Blue and green ecosystems are considered a key for the improvement of cities sustainability, providing numerous ecosystem services and habitat for many species. However, urban streams are still neglected and degraded, specially in southern European countries. One important step towards the rehabilitation of these ecosystems is the awareness of their importance by citizens. This study aimed to assess the effect of 1-year of activities (field and laboratory) of an environmental education project on primary school children, in improving their knowledge on urban stream ecosystems and their problems. We analyzed students\u2019 questionnaires before and after field and laboratory activities, drawings and group interviews. Initially, most children had incipient contact with rivers and streams, showing fears and lack of knowledge about them. As the project progressed, their perceptions changed, with a clear increase in the proportion of students recognizing the biodiversity associated to rivers (e.g., names of riparian trees, aquatic plants and invertebrates). Also, their fears decreased significantly, while their awareness to the impacts of artificialization and lack of riparian vegetation increased. Our results show that direct contact with nature have a positive role in the way it is understood by children, as well as promoting responsible and sustainable behaviors, being effective from the early primary-school years.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0266776","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2022,4,27]],"date-time":"2022-04-27T17:25:58Z","timestamp":1651080358000},"page":"e0266776","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.corrections_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":12,"title":["Effect of environmental education on the knowledge of aquatic ecosystems and reconnection with nature in early childhood"],"prefix":"10.1371","volume":"17","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0362-6802","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Maria Jo\u00e3o","family":"Feio","sequence":"first","affiliation":[]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9828-6179","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Ana Isabel","family":"Mantas","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4426-465X","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"S\u00f3nia R. Q.","family":"Serra","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0590-0046","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Ana Raquel","family":"Calapez","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7240-7967","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Salom\u00e9 F. P.","family":"Almeida","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[]},{"given":"Manuela C.","family":"Sales","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[]},{"given":"M\u00e1rio","family":"Montenegro","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[]},{"given":"Francisca","family":"Moreira","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[]}],"member":"340","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2022,4,27]]},"reference":[{"key":"pone.0266776.ref001","first-page":"191","article-title":"Sistema Urbano e Territ\u00f3rios em transforma\u00e7\u00e3o","author":"Marques, 2005 Marques TS","year":"2005","journal-title":"Geografia de Portugal\u2013Sociedade, Paisagens e Cidades, 2. C\u00edrculo de Leitores"},{"key":"pone.0266776.ref002","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2283","DOI":"10.3389\/fpsyg.2017.02283","article-title":"A framework to assess where and how children connect to nature","volume":"8","author":"M Giusti","year":"2018","journal-title":"Front. Psychol"},{"key":"pone.0266776.ref003","first-page":"1","article-title":"Influence of Urbanization Processes on the Dynamics and Scale of Spatial Transformations in the Mazowiecki Landscape Park","volume":"11","author":"E Janeczko","year":"2019","journal-title":"Sustain"},{"key":"pone.0266776.ref004","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"30","DOI":"10.1080\/03632415.2014.866507","article-title":"A Review of Urban Water Body Challenges and Approaches: (2) Mitigating Effects of Future Urbanization","volume":"39","author":"RM Hughes","year":"2014a","journal-title":"Fisheries"},{"key":"pone.0266776.ref005","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"18","DOI":"10.1080\/03632415.2013.836500","article-title":"A Review of Urban Water Body Challenges and Approaches: (1) Rehabilitation and Remediation","volume":"39","author":"RM Hughes","year":"2014b","journal-title":"Fisheries"},{"key":"pone.0266776.ref006","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"706","DOI":"10.1899\/04-028.1","article-title":"The urban stream syndrome: current knowledge and the search for a cure","volume":"24","author":"CJ Walsh","year":"2005","journal-title":"J. North Am. Benthol. Soc"},{"key":"pone.0266776.ref007","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1080","DOI":"10.1899\/08-186.1","article-title":"Twenty-six key research questions in urban stream ecology: an assessment of the state of the science","volume":"28","author":"SJ Wenger","year":"2009","journal-title":"J. North Am. Benthol. Soc"},{"key":"pone.0266776.ref008","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"673","DOI":"10.1108\/14777830610702511","article-title":"The role of stream ecosystems in urban planning: A case study from the stream Rekolanoja in Finland. Manag","volume":"17","author":"V Yli-Pelkonen","year":"2006","journal-title":"Environ. Qual.: an Inter. J."},{"key":"pone.0266776.ref009","first-page":"576","article-title":"The Value and Services of Urban Stream Polygnotou, Thessaloniki","volume":"2","author":"EA Athanasiadou","year":"2018","journal-title":"Proceedings"},{"key":"pone.0266776.ref010","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"75","DOI":"10.1007\/978-3-642-16707-2_6","article-title":"Biodiversity on the Urban Landscape","volume":"214","author":"K Szlavecz","year":"2011","journal-title":"Human Population: Its Influences on Biological Diversity, Ecological Studies. Ecological Studies Books Series Springer\u2013Verlag Berlin Heidelberg"},{"key":"pone.0266776.ref011","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"106980","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ecolind.2020.106980","article-title":"Urban stream Assessment system (UsAs): an integrative tool to assess biodiversity, ecosystem functions and services","volume":"121","author":"E Ranta","year":"2021","journal-title":"Ecol. Indic"},{"key":"pone.0266776.ref012","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1236","DOI":"10.1038\/s41467-019-09155-4","article-title":"Advancing environmental exposure assessment science to benefit society","volume":"10","author":"A Caplin","year":"2019","journal-title":"Nat. Commun"},{"key":"pone.0266776.ref013","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"S38","DOI":"10.1186\/s12940-016-0108-1","article-title":"Urban and transport planning, environmental exposures and health-new concepts, methods and tools to improve health in cities","volume":"15","author":"MJ Nieuwenhuijsen","year":"2016","journal-title":"Environ. Health"},{"key":"pone.0266776.ref014","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"134","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jenvp.2019.05.002","article-title":"The psychological and social benefits of a nature experience for children: A preliminary investigation","volume":"63","author":"RL Dopko","year":"2019","journal-title":"J. Environ. Psychol"},{"key":"pone.0266776.ref015","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"7730","DOI":"10.1038\/s41598-019-44097-3","article-title":"Spending at least 120 minutes a week in nature is associated with good health and wellbeing","volume":"9","author":"MP White","year":"2019","journal-title":"Sci. Rep"},{"key":"pone.0266776.ref016","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"21","DOI":"10.1080\/21711976.2019.1643663","article-title":"Effects of contact with nature on connectedness, environmental identity and evoked contents","volume":"11","author":"A Mena-Garc\u00eda","year":"2020","journal-title":"Psyecology"},{"key":"pone.0266776.ref017","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.3389\/fpsyg.2020.00276","article-title":"Connectedness to Nature: Its Impact on Sustainable Behaviors and Happiness in Children","volume":"11","author":"LF Barrera-Hern\u00e1ndez","year":"2020","journal-title":"Front. Psychol"},{"key":"pone.0266776.ref018","first-page":"1","article-title":"Proposing a framework for the restorative effects of nature through conditioning: Conditioned restoration theory","volume":"17","author":"LE Egner","year":"2020","journal-title":"Int. J. Environ. Res"},{"key":"pone.0266776.ref019","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"59","DOI":"10.1007\/s00038-009-0069-z","article-title":"Landscape and well-being: A scoping study on the health-promoting impact of outdoor environments","volume":"55","author":"A Abraham","year":"2010","journal-title":"Int. J. Public Health"},{"key":"pone.0266776.ref020","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"324","DOI":"10.1016\/j.sbspro.2012.03.354","article-title":"Understanding Children Preferences of Natural Environment as a Start for Environmental Sustainability","volume":"38","author":"A Mahidin","year":"2012","journal-title":"Procedia\u2013Soc. Beh. Sci"},{"key":"pone.0266776.ref021","volume-title":"Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-deficit","author":"R. Louv","year":"2010"},{"key":"pone.0266776.ref022","first-page":"188","volume-title":"Growing up in citiesMIT Press","author":"K. Lynch","year":"1977"},{"key":"pone.0266776.ref023","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"112","DOI":"10.7721\/chilyoutenvi.22.2.0112","article-title":"Biophilic Boulder: Children\u2019s Environments That Foster Connections to Nature","volume":"22","author":"V Derr","year":"2012","journal-title":"Child Youth Environ"},{"key":"pone.0266776.ref024","article-title":"Children\u2019s Independent Mobility: an international comparison and recommendations for action","author":"B Shaw","year":"2015","journal-title":"Policy Stu. Inst"},{"key":"pone.0266776.ref025","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"3","DOI":"10.1016\/j.pedn.2017.08.027","article-title":"Does Access to Green Space Impact the Mental Well-being of Children: A Systematic Review","volume":"37","author":"R. McCormick","year":"2017","journal-title":"J. Ped. Nurs"},{"key":"pone.0266776.ref026","article-title":"Childhood and nature: A survey on changing relationships with nature across generations","author":"England Marketing","year":"2009","journal-title":"Report to Natural England"},{"key":"pone.0266776.ref027","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1885","DOI":"10.3389\/fpsyg.2016.01885","article-title":"Contact with nature and children\u2019s restorative experiences: An eye to the future","volume":"7","author":"S Collado","year":"2016","journal-title":"Front. Psychol"},{"key":"pone.0266776.ref028","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"101381","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jenvp.2019.101381","article-title":"Psychological benefits of a biodiversity-focussed outdoor learning program for primary school children","volume":"67","author":"DJ Harvey","year":"2020","journal-title":"J. Environ. Psychol"},{"key":"pone.0266776.ref029","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1079","DOI":"10.1177\/0013916519860868","article-title":"Can an Outdoor Learning Environment Improve Children\u2019s Academic Attainment? A Quasi-Experimental Mixed Methods Study in Bangladesh","volume":"52","author":"M Khan","year":"2020","journal-title":"Environ. Behav"},{"key":"pone.0266776.ref030","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2","DOI":"10.12688\/emeraldopenres.12960.1","article-title":"Reconnecting with nature: Developing urban spaces in the age of climate change","volume":"1","author":"S. Lehmann","year":"2019","journal-title":"Emerald Open Research"},{"key":"pone.0266776.ref031","first-page":"58","article-title":"The Project Approach in early childhood education for sustainability: Exemplars from Korea and Australia","author":"O Ji","year":"2014","journal-title":"Research in Early Childhood Education for Sustainability. I. Persp. Prov."},{"key":"pone.0266776.ref032","first-page":"149","article-title":"Children\u2019s social and spatial exclusion in the city. The need for an internal look","volume":"6","author":"I. Tsevreni","year":"2015","journal-title":"I.J. Crit. Ped"},{"key":"pone.0266776.ref033","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"109","DOI":"10.1080\/00958964.2016.1256260","article-title":"New approaches to facilitate learning from youth: Exploring the use of Photovoice in identifying local watershed issues","volume":"48","author":"V Chanse","year":"2017","journal-title":"J. Environ. Educ"},{"key":"pone.0266776.ref034","first-page":"Springer","volume-title":"Encyclopedia of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Clean Water and Sanitation","author":"MJ Feio","year":"2021"},{"key":"pone.0266776.ref035","first-page":"141","article-title":"The performance of biological indicators in assessing the ecological state of streams with varying catchment urbanisation levels in Coimbra","volume":"31","author":"AI Arco","year":"2012","journal-title":"Portugal. Limnetica"},{"key":"pone.0266776.ref036","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1173","DOI":"10.1007\/s11252-019-00892-4","article-title":"Effects of variations in water quantity and quality in the structure and functions of invertebrates\u2019 community of a Mediterranean urban stream","volume":"22","author":"SRQ Serra","year":"2019","journal-title":"Urban Ecosyst"},{"key":"pone.0266776.ref037","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"337","DOI":"10.14195\/978-989-26-1624-7","volume-title":"Rios de Portugal. Comunidades, Processos e Altera\u00e7\u00f5es (Ch15).","author":"MJ Feio","year":"2019"},{"key":"pone.0266776.ref038","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.3389\/fpsyg.2020.00511","article-title":"Biophilia and Biophobia as Emotional Attribution to Nature in Children of 5 Years Old","volume":"11","author":"P Olivos-Jara","year":"2020","journal-title":"Front. Psychol"},{"key":"pone.0266776.ref039","author":"R Core Team","year":"2020","journal-title":"R: A Language and Environment for Statistical Computing"},{"key":"pone.0266776.ref040","article-title":"FactoMineR: An R Package for Multivariate Analysis","volume":"25","author":"S L\u00ea","year":"2008","journal-title":"J. Stat. Softw"},{"key":"pone.0266776.ref041","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.1007\/978-3-319-24277-4","volume-title":"ggplot2: Elegant Graphics for Data Analysis","author":"H. Wickham","year":"2016"},{"key":"pone.0266776.ref042","volume-title":"Growing Up in an Urbanising World","author":"L. Chawla","year":"2002"},{"key":"pone.0266776.ref043","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1080\/14733285.2016.1190812","article-title":"Experiencing nature and children\u2019s conceptualizations of the natural world","volume":"14","author":"S Collado","year":"2016","journal-title":"Child. Geogr"},{"key":"pone.0266776.ref044","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"228","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ufug.2016.06.014","article-title":"The role of green spaces and their management in a child-friendly urban village","volume":"18","author":"M Jansson","year":"2016","journal-title":"Urban For. Urban Green"},{"key":"pone.0266776.ref045","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"312","DOI":"10.1080\/09500693.2011.608387","article-title":"Non-anthropocentric Reasoning in Children: Its incidence when they are confronted with ecological dilemmas","volume":"35","author":"A Almeida","year":"2013","journal-title":"Int. J. Sci. Educ"},{"key":"pone.0266776.ref046","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2244","DOI":"10.1016\/j.sbspro.2010.03.316","article-title":"How to help children understand and respect nature?","volume":"2","author":"SS Veselinovska","year":"2010","journal-title":"Procedia Soc. Behav. Sci."},{"key":"pone.0266776.ref047","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.4324\/9781315673103","volume-title":"Children, Nature and Cities: Rethinking the Connections","author":"C Freeman","year":"2018"},{"key":"pone.0266776.ref048","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"62","DOI":"10.7721\/chilyoutenvi.25.3.0062","article-title":"The Influence of Culture on Children\u2019s Relationships with Nature","volume":"25","author":"A Donnell","year":"2015","journal-title":"Child. Youth Environ"},{"key":"pone.0266776.ref049","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"483","DOI":"10.12957\/childphilo.2018.30037","article-title":"Nature gives and nature takes: A qualitative comparison between Canadian and German children about their concepts of \u2019nature\u2019","volume":"14","author":"P Aslanimehr","year":"2018","journal-title":"Child. Phil"},{"key":"pone.0266776.ref050","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"364","DOI":"10.1080\/14733285.2019.1673880","article-title":"Rewilding education? Exploring an imagined and experienced outdoor learning space","volume":"18","author":"C. Bates","year":"2020","journal-title":"Child. Geogr"},{"key":"pone.0266776.ref051","article-title":"Education outside the classroom as upstream school health promotion: \u2018adding-in\u2019 physical activity into children\u2019s everyday life and settings","author":"P Bentsen","year":"2021","journal-title":"Scand. J. Public Health"},{"key":"pone.0266776.ref052","first-page":"107","article-title":"The value of outdoor learning: Evidence from research in the UK and elsewhere","volume":"87","author":"J Dillon","year":"2006","journal-title":"Sch. Sci. Revi"},{"key":"pone.0266776.ref053","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"119","DOI":"10.1007\/s10648-015-9355-x","article-title":"Gender Gap in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM): Current Knowledge, Implications for Practice, Policy, and Future Directions","volume":"29","author":"M-T Wang","year":"2017","journal-title":"Educational Psychology Review"},{"key":"pone.0266776.ref054","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"4609","DOI":"10.1073\/pnas.1914221117","article-title":"Historical comparison of gender inequality in scientific careers across countries and disciplines","volume":"117","author":"J Huang","year":"2020","journal-title":"PNAS USA"}],"container-title":["PLOS ONE"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/dx.plos.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.0266776","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2022,4,27]],"date-time":"2022-04-27T17:27:08Z","timestamp":1651080428000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/dx.plos.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.0266776"}},"subtitle":[],"editor":[{"given":"Luiz Ubiratan","family":"Hepp","sequence":"first","affiliation":[]}],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2022,4,27]]},"references-count":54,"journal-issue":{"issue":"4","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2022,4,27]]}},"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.0266776","relation":{},"ISSN":["1932-6203"],"issn-type":[{"value":"1932-6203","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2022,4,27]]}}}