Melhoria na aprendizagem de botânica através do estudo de plantas medicinais no ensino médio em uma escola de Patos – PB

Abstract

Botany is the area of biology that studies plants in all their aspects, be them morphological, physiological, ecological, evolutionary, economic and, specifically, taxonomic. Vegetables are essential organisms for the maintenance of life on Earth, but despite the great importance of these living beings, teaching them presents numerous difficulties. So, for a change in the teaching and learning of botany in high school, were held at EEEFM Rio Branco, Patos - PB, field and theoretical classes, investigative practices using medicinal plants as a teaching strategy. A semistructured questionnaire (pretest) was applied before the pedagogical actions and another questionnaire (posttest) after the intervention actions. In addition, a blog and a botanical collection with emphasis on medicinal plants were produced with the aim of facilitating the teaching and learning of vegetables, restoring popular wisdom and arousing curiosity for digital information and communication technologies. Initially, it was realized that the students did not have effective knowledge about the diversity of medicinal plants, demonstrated by the pretest analysis. After the intervention classes, they were able to gain a better understanding of the variety of plants with medicinal properties, as evidenced by the greater number of citations and species diversity in the posttest. The blog produced under the name "Raizeiros das Espinharas" and the botanical collection on plants with medicinal potential provided an interaction between the teacher and the students and among themselves, because, through cooperative work, it resulted in a dynamic and productive learning of Botany. The contact with the plants to make the botanical collection and during the making of the photos by the students, using their cell phones, to build the blog, allowed them to increase their knowledge about the topic addressed. Thus, the blog and the botanical collection on medicinal plants constituted an educational tool that boosted the interactive construction and socialization of knowledge, through the authorship and collaboration of the students. Therefore, the project provided the teaching of Botany in a contextualized, practical and investigative way, offering students opportunities for participation and experience in various daily experiences