The introduction of the concept of ecology (by Ernst Haeckel in 1866), which studies the relationships and interactions between organisms and their environment, have modified the relationship between humans and nature, including the perception of plants, particularly at the scientific and academic level. However, plants are not always understood by students as living beings and are subject to a lack of interest in contrast to animals (Holstermann & Bögeholz, 2007). Young pupils attribute human characteristics to animals, which justifies, among other things, their preference (Wandersee, 1986). Vegetation tends to be seen as a "background" and people often do not notice plants in their environment (Schneekloth, 1989; Wandersee & Schussler, 1999). However, solid botanical knowledge as well as a cyclical and even systemic understanding are necessary to understand prospective themes for the environment, ecology and sustainable development. As stated in the European Economic Community's strategy for education for sustainable development (Nations Unies, 2005, p. 8), explaining environmental problems "through the life cycle" makes it easier to understand them.

The concept of "development cycle" has been part of the scientific vocabulary since the beginning of the 20th century. Since 1977 the concept of "life cycle" has found a place in the French school curriculum unlike those of Germany. This term has only been introduced in the new curricula of Baden-Württemberg (2016) for grade 1 and 2 of the primary school (students 6/7 years old). In the programs of Catholic education in French-speaking Belgium (2000), the term is also used as well as in the core skills of the French community (2013). This raises the question of transposition in textbooks.

This paper is part of the EcoDiPlant project (Comparative studies in didactics of plant biology). In this project we study, on the one hand, the socio-cultural factors that influence students' conceptions of the life cycle of plants and the cycle of matter in ecosystems. On the other hand, we analyze the effect that these representations and different teaching approaches (Quinte, 2016) on students' arguments in the context of education for sustainable development. This second aspect will be investigated in collaboration with lower secondary teachers in France and Germany (in Baden-Württemberg and North Rhine-Westphalia). We will use the theoretical framework of “problematization” (Orange, 2012). Another focus in this project is the study of students’ interest in plants. We investigate the relationship between interest (or the lack of interest), the students’ construction of solid scientific knowledge and their arguments in sustainable development issues.

This paper focuses on the question how curricula and textbooks in 4 European regions are dealing with the life cycle of plants in secondary schools. Are they part of an ontogenetic (centered on the development of an individual) or phylogenetic (centered on the perpetuation of the species) logic? Are these themes related to environmental issues?

The study is based on two theoretical frameworks: 1) The “didactic transposition” (Chevallard, 1985; Martinand, 1986) which makes it possible to explain the transition from "scholarly knowledge" to "knowledge to be taught" and then to "taught knowledge". We will analyze here the transposition of the contents of the school curricula concerning these themes into the textbooks. 2) The “Conceptual Fields” of Vergnaud (1991), especially the “concepts in act”, which are implicitly used in the textbooks. These concepts will be identified in the present study.

This analysis compares the curricula and textbooks of France, Belgium, Baden-Württemberg and North Rhine-Westphalia (two Länder of Germany with different curricula).

Our analysis compares the curricula and textbooks of France, Belgium, Baden-Württemberg and North Rhine-Westphalia (two Länder of Germany with different curricula). The textbooks are chosen in line with the curricula in use: those from 2016 for the French and Baden-Württemberg programs, from 2008 for those in North Rhine-Westphalia. In Belgium, there are different networks with their own school programs. We study here that of Catholic education (2000) and analyze the pedagogical tasks. We have chosen five textbooks for France (Belin, Bordas, Hachette, Magnard, Nathan), three textbooks of the Gymnasium classes 5/6 (students age: 10/11 years) for Baden-Württemberg and North Rhine-Westphalia (the publishers Cornelsen, Klett and Schroedel have published versions in line with the curricula of each Land). At this school level, sexual reproduction of plants is studied in all the four regions. However, the education offered in France and in the two German Länder is disciplinary. This is not the case for Belgium. The comparative analysis of curricula and textbooks (Wiater, 2003) focuses in particular on the representation of the different stages and processes of the plant life cycle and their links with education for sustainable development. Thus, two axes of analysis will be proposed: 1) Organization of textbooks: here we compare the general organization of textbooks and their functions to identify similarities and cultural particularities. 2) Life cycle - stages and processes: What stages and processes of the plant life cycle are addressed in textbooks? In what order are they? Is the life cycle represented as a whole? If yes, in which way? In what context is this subject discussed? Are there links with sustainable development / environmental themes?

From an organizational point of view, French textbooks can be considered as collections of documents from which students can build their knowledge. Savaton (2005) notes that in the textbooks of the “Sciences of Life and Earth” in France, the texts have been reduced leaving more room for (colored) illustrations. Although there are methodological pages, experimentation and practical work, German textbooks are more knowledge resources with texts illustrated by images, photos and diagrams. From the point of view of the contents, we analyze the transposition of the elements of the school programs in the textbooks. The studied selection of textbooks shows a diversity of approaches to the presentation of knowledge. While school curricula have a relatively holistic approach to living things, textbooks in Baden-Württemberg separate the plants from other living things and address them in particular chapters. In other regions, textbooks are more focused on the principles of life, including plants as well as animals. Moreover, the plant life cycle is represented graphically in only one of the German textbooks we studied, but it is present in all the French textbooks and the Belgian pedagogical tasks. However, the starting or end point and the way of presenting the various stages of development can indicate whether the author adopts the point of view of the life history of an individual (ontogenesis) or that of the life cycle (phylogenesis) in the sense of the perpetuation of the species (Bautier et al., 2000). We noticed in fact a difference between the analyzed textbooks in the order they addressed the different stages and processes of the life cycle as well as the starting point they choose in the illustrations of it.

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