103 Turk. entomol. derg., 2008, 32 (2): 103-113 ISSN 1010-6960 Orijinal araştırma (Original article) İzmir’de Bilim Fuarı ve Eğitim Bilim Şenliği katılımcılarının böceklere bakışı Serdar TEZCAN 1 * 2 Nilay GÜLPERÇİN 2* Summary The outlook of the participants joining the Science Fair and Education and Science Festival in Izmir, Turkey on insects This study contains the results of two questionnaires carried out evaluate the viewpoints of participants on nature and insects. The first questionnaire was carried out at Science Fair with the participation of 2030 people in 2003 and the second one was conducted at Education and Science Festival with the participation of 913 people in 2004 in Izmir, Turkey. It was understood that according to the evaluation of participant profile, the rate of sexuality was equal; the rate of participants under 25 years old was over 90%; the rate of secondary level school students was 40-49%. When the viewpoints of the participants on insects with their tendencies were studied, it was also understood that among the participants; the rate of those who keep insects at home was rather low (22-23%); but despite the controversial criteria mentioned above the willingness of those who would like to keep insects and pets at home is rather high (56-57%). While the rate of those who would like to collect insects was 51-53%, the rate of those who would like to take part in the activities arranged on nature and insects is 65-70%. Whereas 37-38% of the participants felt afraid of the insects and hated them at the same time, 19-20% of them claimed that they have found them as lovely and interesting creatures. When these results were evaluated all together it was concluded that the participants demonstrated great interest in living creatures and nature and they all wanted to be in intimate contact with nature, that they all have been aware of the nature and insects, but they had been approaching this particular world cautiously. It is quite obvious that these activities which aim at making people appreciate the science and nature should be supported and promoted. Primarily education programmers and following them those who are engaged in the field of natural sciences and entomology 1 Ege Üniversitesi, Ziraat Fakültesi, Bitki Koruma Bölümü, 35100 Bornova, İzmir 2 Ege Üniversitesi, Tabiat Tarihi Araştırma ve Uygulama Merkezi, 35100 Bornova, İzmir * Sorumlu yazar (Corresponding author) e-mail: serdar.tezcan@ege.edu.tr