Most people meet insects with fear and disgust but this reputation is largely unfounded, as few insects pose health risks. In fact, many are beneficial and their absence would adversely affect human life; thus insect conservation is important but unpopular. We have begun addressing these concerns as part of a broader effort to establish an ongoing outreach partnership between graduate students at the University of Kansas and the Girl Scouts of Northeast Kansas/Northwest Missouri. To explore ways to advocate for insect conservation, we held an insect collecting activity at a Girl Scout summer camp and surveyed changes in attitudes towards insects afterwards. This activity positively changed reactions to insect encounters and increased confidence in identifying harmful insects but did not strongly reduce fears or increase curiosity towards insects. Beyond these proximate results, this project highlights the potential of Girl Scout troops as targets for informal science education that can benefit both academics and the broader community.

中文翻译：

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用女童军测试以目标为导向的推广活动的影响：一项活动可以改变对昆虫的态度吗？

大多数人对昆虫感到恐惧和厌恶，但是这种声誉在很大程度上没有根据，因为很少有昆虫会危害健康。实际上，许多都是有益的，而缺少它们会对人类的生活产生不利影响。因此，昆虫保护很重要，但不受欢迎。我们已开始解决这些问题，这是在堪萨斯大学的研究生与堪萨斯州东北部/西北密苏里州的女童子军之间建立持续的外展合作关系的更广泛努力的一部分。为了探索倡导保护昆虫的方法，我们在女童军夏令营举行了一次昆虫收集活动，并调查了其后对昆虫态度的变化。这项活动积极改变了对昆虫遭遇的反应，增强了人们对有害昆虫的识别的信心，但并没有极大地减少对昆虫的恐惧或好奇心。