What factors are related to environmental knowledge concerning the Wadden Sea ecosystem?

This study focuses on secondary school students’ environmental knowledge about the UNESCO World Heritage Site Wadden Sea. To determine the state of knowledge, 251 secondary school students (average age: 15.5 years) were surveyed using a previously developed knowledge diagnostic instrument. Connectedness with nature, subject interest in biology, different experiences with the Wadden Sea, and local proximity to this ecosystem were measured to determine whether environmental knowledge is related to these variables. The correlation analyses show a strong relationship between connectedness with nature and environmental knowledge concerning the Wadden Sea ecosystem and between subject interest and this environmental knowledge. T-tests conducted demonstrate the statistically significant relations between environmental knowledge and in-class, out-of-school with class, and informal experiences with the Wadden Sea. The relation between environmental knowledge and informal learning is significantly stronger than the relation between environmental knowledge and school-based experiences, providing evidence of the great potential of informal learning processes. In contrast, the local proximity to the Wadden Sea shows only a very small relation with this construct.