Biologisk mångfald i svenska läroböcker för skolår 6-9

This article presents a study of how different aspects of biodiversity, related to human activities, are described in six textbooks in Biology for secondary school in Sweden. It discusses the opportunities the books provide for pupils to attain the goals of the syllabus. The textbooks have been analyzed by using a quantitative content analysis with qualitative elements. The analysis has been undertaken in terms of four different aspects of biodiversity: utilitarian aspects, economic aspects, ethical aspects and aesthetic aspects. These are found in the parts of the books dealing with systematics, plants, animals, fungi, microbiology, biotechnology, the cell, ecology, etology, genetics, evolution and environmental care. The results show a variation between the textbooks in how biodiversity is defined, as well as in the proportions of the texts dealing with the issue. It is also found that the books contain faults and questionable formulations with regard to biodiversity. Finally, plausible effects of the pupils´ goal-attainments are discussed in relation to the structure, formulations and contents of the books