The development of values and attitudes starts in early childhood, so school is one of the
important factors influencing this process. Due to a lack of knowledge and poor understanding,
various myths in biology can emerge and persist amidst an overwhelming amount of
information, affecting both individual and societal behavior. To effectively dispel and prevent
these myths, it is first necessary to understand them. In this master's thesis, the focus is on
skepticism toward science, particularly in four key areas: COVID-19 and vaccination, climate
change, GMOs, and the debate between evolution and creationism. The role of education and
scientific self-efficacy is also discussed. The research aimed to explore whether there are
connections between students' knowledge of biology and their susceptibility to various
biological myths. The study sought to determine the general level of biology knowledge after
primary education, how students assess their own biology knowledge, and their attitudes
toward selected myths in biology. The study also investigated whether there are statistically
significant differences in attitudes toward myths among students who rate their biology
knowledge differently, among students with different final grades in elementary science
subjects, among students enrolled in different high school programs, and between male and
female students. The findings indicate that students generally have a good understanding of
biology, both locally and globally. Students rated their knowledge lowest in areas like
microbiology, human anatomy, and evolution, while rating their knowledge highest in animal
biology and topics like photosynthesis and cellular respiration. Students expressed the most
skepticism towards GMOs, followed by vaccination, evolutionary theory denial, and lastly,
climate change denial. The data showed that students who rate their own biology knowledge
lower tend to be more supportive of statements denying climate change and evolutionary
theory. Students with lower average grades in elementary science subjects were more likely to
agree with statements denying climate change, expressing skepticism toward GMOs, and
denying evolutionary theory, compared to students with higher average grades. Differences in
attitudes toward climate change denial and evolutionary theory denial were observed based on
the high school program students attended, although no statistically significant differences
were found in attitudes towards skepticism of vaccination and GMOs. Gender did not have a
significant impact on students' attitudes toward biology myths. However, it was noted that
female students showed greater support for conspiracy theories, whereas male students more
frequently agreed with statements denying climate change. Female students also had higher
average grades in Biology and other science subjects in elementary school and rated their
biology knowledge higher than male students. The research suggests that the level of biology
knowledge acquired in elementary school affects students' susceptibility to biology myths, in
proportion to the amount and depth of knowledge gained in specific areas of biology.
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