Students’ and student teachers’ decreasing interest in and knowledge of
science are, according to many national and international assessments,
alarming trends in the Nordic countries. This quantitative and
qualitative study of student teachers’ knowledge of core concepts and
processes in ecology confirms the low level of student teachers’
understanding of these issues, although a majority consider these issues
to be basic knowledge for their teacher competencies. Many of the
student teachers did not know what biosphere or succession is. They also
had difficulties in explaining what a seed contains and what its role
is in the plant’s lifecycle. Several student teachers also had
difficulties to explain why photosynthesis is important and how it
works. The increasing ecological and environmental illiteracy is
discussed as one of the implications for teacher education.