Fantasy movies as favorable scenario for biodiversity conservation

Our objective was to evaluate the viability of using fantasy movies as didactic resource to boost pro-environmental education in young students. Therefore we chose the movie Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them to test the hypothesis that fantasy movies contribute to environmental education in schools. The study was divided in two phases: (i) elementary-school students watched the movie and (ii) participated in an educational activity related to the Cerrado biome (Brazil). Based on our data students who participated in the two phases of the experiment significantly increased their knowledge about biodiversity ecology Cerrado biome features environmental impacts and animal trafficking. Students who only watched the movie who only participated in phase ii or who did not participate in the activities did not record the same results. Our study is the first to use the script production plot scenarios space characters and audio effects of a fantasy movie as strategy to develop environmental education in basic education. In addition it is a good example about this movie’s potential to approch conservation issues related to different natural resources.