Children’s Ideas About The Rainforests And The Implications For Course Design — IELTS Reading Answers

The plight of the rainforests has largely been ignored by the media.

“In the face of the frequent and often vivid media coverage, it is likely that children will have formed ideas about rainforests”

The passage opens by stressing 'frequent and often vivid media coverage', so the claim that the media has largely ignored the rainforests is directly contradicted.

Children only accept opinions on rainforests that they encounter in their classrooms.

“In the face of the frequent and often vivid media coverage, it is likely that children will have formed ideas about rainforests — what and where they are, why they are important, what endangers them — independent of any formal tuition”

'Independent of any formal tuition' means children form ideas from media coverage too, contradicting the claim that they accept only opinions encountered in classrooms.

It has been suggested that children hold mistaken views about the 'pure' science that they study at school.

“Many studies have shown that children harbour misconceptions about 'pure', curriculum science”

'Many studies have shown that children harbour misconceptions about pure, curriculum science' confirms the suggestion that such mistaken views have been reported.

The fact that children's ideas about science form part of a larger framework of ideas means that it is easier to change them.

“These misconceptions do not remain isolated but become incorporated into a multifaceted, but organised, conceptual framework, making it and the component ideas, some of which are erroneous, more robust but also accessible to modification”

The framework is described as 'more robust but also accessible to modification', supporting the claim that this organised structure makes children's ideas easier to change.

The study involved asking children a number of yes/no questions such as 'Are there any rainforests in Africa?'

“Secondary school children were asked to complete a questionnaire containing five open-form questions”

The questionnaire contained 'five open-form questions', not yes/no items such as the rainforests-in-Africa example, so the statement misdescribes the research method.

Girls are more likely than boys to hold mistaken views about the rainforests' destruction.

“More girls (70%) than boys (60%) raised the idea of rainforest as animal habitats Similarly, but at a lower level, more girls (13%) than boys (5%) said that rainforests provided human habitats”

Girls exceeded boys on animal-habitat answers (70% versus 60%), but the passage never compares how many of each sex held mistaken views about the rainforests' destruction.

The study reported here follows on from a series of studies that have looked at children's understanding of rainforests.

“These observations are generally consistent with our previous studies of pupils' views about the use and conservation of rainforests, in which girls were shown to be more sympathetic to animals and expressed views which seem to place an intrinsic value on non-human animal life”

'Consistent with our previous studies' establishes that this research continues earlier work on pupils' views about rainforest use and conservation.

A second study has been planned to investigate primary school children's ideas about rainforests.

“The aim of the present study is to start to provide such information, to help teachers design their educational strategies to build upon correct ideas and to displace misconceptions and to plan programmes in environmental studies in their schools”

The passage describes the present study's aims but never mentions a planned second study of primary school children's ideas about rainforests.

What was the children's most frequent response when asked where the rainforests were?

“The commonest responses were continents or countries: Africa (given by 43% of children), South America (30%), Brazil (25%)”

The commonest location answers were continents or countries, with Africa named by 43%, ahead of South America (30%) and Brazil (25%) — answer M.

What was the most common response to the question about the importance of the rainforests?

“Responses to question three concerned the importance of rainforests. The dominant idea, raised by 64% of the pupils, was that rainforests provide animals with habitats”

The 'dominant idea, raised by 64% of the pupils, was that rainforests provide animals with habitats', matching option E's point that animals would lose their homes.

What did most children give as the reason for the loss of the rainforests?

“The fourth question concerned the causes of the destruction of rainforests. Perhaps encouragingly, more than half of the pupils (59%) identified that it is human activities which are destroying rainforests, some personalising the responsibility by the use of terms such as 'we are'”

More than half (59%) identified 'human activities' as the cause, some saying 'we are', which matches option G that people are responsible.

Why did most children think it important for the rainforests to be protected?

“In answer to the final question about the importance of rainforest conservation, the majority of children simply said that we need rainforests to survive”

The majority 'simply said that we need rainforests to survive', so their reason for protecting them was human survival — answer P.

Which of the responses is cited as unexpectedly uncommon, given the amount of time spent on the issue by the newspapers and television?

“Only a few of the pupils (6%) mentioned that rainforest destruction may contribute to global warming. This is surprising considering the high level of media coverage on this issue”

Only 6% mentioned global warming, which the writer calls 'surprising considering the high level of media coverage', matching option J.

Which of the following is the most suitable title for Reading Passage 1?

1. AThe development of a programme in environmental studies within a science curriculum
2. BChildren's ideas about the rainforests and the implications for course designcorrect
3. CThe extent to which children have been misled by the media concerning the rainforests
4. DHow to collect, collate and describe the ideas of secondary school children
5. EThe importance of the rainforests and the reasons for their destruction

“The aim of the present study is to start to provide such information, to help teachers design their educational strategies to build upon correct ideas and to displace misconceptions and to plan programmes in environmental studies in their schools”

Option B mirrors the passage's twin focus: children's rainforest ideas and how teachers should use them to design environmental programmes.