Biologie. Chemie. Zeměpis A journal for science teachers and science education researchers

What is written about death in science textbooks?

Jana Poupová, Adéla Rozsypálková

Volume 35 (2026), issue 1 pp. 62–72 published online 29 April 2026 Czech

DOI https://doi.org/10.14712/25337556.2026.1.5

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Abstract

Death is a delicate topic that is taboo in today's society. It is necessary to start discussing it, both in family and at school. This paper deals with teaching about death. In the theoretical part, it summarizes basic biological information about death, the specifics of children's concept of death, points out difficulties associated with communication about death, and describes how death is taken into account in the Framework Educational Programme for Basic Education (2025). The paper also presents content analysis of biology textbooks published by Fraus, SPN, Prodos, Nová škola, and Taktik. The aim of this analysis was to determine whether death is discussed in these textbooks, what type of information is provided, and in what context it appears. The results show that botany, zoology, ecology, and geology textbooks present death primarily in an ecological perspective (death as a part of the food chain and functioning of the ecosystem) and also in an evolutionary perspective (extinction of species in the geological past of the Earth). Human death is discussed in human biology, especially possible causes of death (illnesses, poisoning, accidents, etc.) are mentioned. Dying itself and death as the end of an individual life are not described. Textbooks refer to the psychological or ethical aspects of dying and death only seldomly. Thus, while the analyzed biology textbooks emphasize the ecological and evolutionary role of death, they do not sufficiently discuss human death as a bioethically significant issue.

Keywords

Death · teaching about death · content analysis · biology textbook

How to cite

Poupová, J., & Rozsypálková, A. (2026). Co se píše o smrti v učebnicích přírodopisu?. Biologie-Chemie-Zeměpis, 35(1), 62–72. https://doi.org/10.14712/25337556.2026.1.5

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