Explorando a diversidade de plantas no ambiente cotidiano do aluno: sequência didática para o ensino de Botânica

Abstract

Botany teaching, especially in Basic Education, faces a series of challenges. One of the most notable is the lack of enthusiasm among students for the subject. This is often due to uninteresting classes and the undervaluation of practical and field experiences in this area. Furthermore, while we tend to notice and highlight animals in nature, we often ignore the presence of plants. This attitude has been described as plant blindness (currently called plant unawareness) and also manifests itself in the school environment. In this sense, inquiry-based approaches can be promising in teaching this content since they provide greater student involvement in learning and developing critical thinking. This work proposes an inquiring approach to deepen the study of local plant diversity, complemented by a didactic sequence aimed at students in the 2nd year of high school in a state school in the interior of Minas Gerais. While applying this proposal, students had the opportunity to explore, observe, identify, and record information about different plant species, awakening their interest in botany and promoting awareness of environmental conservation. The results obtained with the application of the educational resource developed in this study highlight the potential of pedagogical practices that integrate theory and practice, contextualized to the students’ reality. Such practices demonstrate the ability to promote transformative learning aligned with contemporary challenges. In addition, the versatility of the educational resource developed stands out, whose proposed activities are independent and do not follow a rigid sequence. These characteristics give the teacher autonomy to select and apply the activities he or she considers most appropriate, in the desired order, adapting to the specific demands of his or her class and increasing its impact on the educational process.