Drawings as a tool to assess the effect of environmental education on children – the case of the Blonde Capuchin Project in Northeast Brazil

Environmental Education (EE) is key for biodiversity conservation. We aimed to evaluate the effect of an EE activity on students by evaluating their drawings. The EE activity was part of the Blonde Capuchin Project actions, which focuses on the research and conservation of the endangered blonde capuchin monkey, Sapajus flavius. The activity was comprised of four steps and lasted four hours in each school. We analysed 348 drawings made by children from eight schools in rural areas close to forest fragments inhabited by Blonde capuchins in two municipalities in Northeast Brazil, Igarassu-PE and Mataraca-PB. The children made the drawings during the intervention in each school, specifically in steps 1 and 4 of the activity. We scored the drawings using a rubric to account for the presence of components (biotic and abiotic) and interactions (e.g., human-environment and non-human animal interactions). As an outcome of the EE activity, we found a possible increase in knowledge and awareness through the evaluation of the drawings. Thus, when resources are limited, we encourage the performance of short-term EE activities and the analysis of drawings as a tool to measure their immediate effect.