O protagonismo estudantil e a botânica: horta como veículo de aprendizagem

Abstract

Formal botany teaching in Brazil begins in the second year of elementary school, when students are around eigth years old, and is revisited several times until the third year of high school, when students are around 17 years old. . Even so, it is full of gaps, generated by several factors, among which are the difficulties in the teaching-learning process, often discouraging for both teachers and students, based on traditional, expository and decontextualized methodologies. Because of the enormous importance of this knowledge, as plants are the primary producers that make life on Earth possible, a very relevant and current topic in times of worsening environmental crises and the need for better awareness of society, it is necessary to improve methods used in this process. Thus, this work aimed to verify how the construction of a school garden, linked to practical classes, contributes to the amplification of interest and understanding about the contents of botany, in high school. In addition, the action sought to explore the various possibilities of connection with other areas of knowledge and contemporary reflections on healthy eating, food production, among others. The project was developed as an elective course based on the teaching of botany, at ECIT (Integral Citizen Technical School) João Goulart, in João Pessoa-PB. With eleven high school students. Bibliographic, quali-quantitative, interventional research and participant observation were used. For data analysis, it was divided into 6 categories: Affinity for botany; Teaching methodologies experienced pre elective; Students' perception of the methodologies experienced in the elective; Contextualization; Family context/personal experiences; and content. There was a significant improvement in student protagonism, in the contextualization and fixation of the content and in the interest on the part of the students.