O uso de fósseis como temática para a abordagem da paleontologia no ensino de ciências

Abstract

The central region of the state of Rio Grande do Sul is made up of several cities, rich in cultural, tourist, and fossil wealth. In them are constantly found many types of fossils, be these of animals or vegetables. In this sense, the teaching of paleontology is fundamental to help the understanding of these communities on the evolutionary events that occurred there, as well as the importance of the preservation and dissemination of the fossiliferous richness as a way of preservation. Therefore, this research aims to investigate how the teaching of paleontology occurs in schools in the city of Mata / RS, with primary and secondary school teachers and students as a target audience. This proposal is characterized as a case study. The data described were weighted from the quantitative and qualitative analysis. Its development took place in three distinct moments, the first one being a survey on the national academic production referring to the teaching of Paleontology, found from online databases. In the second moment, an intervention occurred in the schools of the municipality of Mata, as well as the application of questionnaires to the teachers of Sciences / Biology of the municipality. Afterwards, a pedagogical intervention was carried out based on the Arch of Maguerez, with the students from the 6th to the 3rd year / MS, about the paleontology in the municipality, its peculiarities, location on the geological time scale and visit the squares and the municipal museum. From the data found in the first study, it can be affirmed that there is little production referring to the teaching of paleontology, besides being arranged in magazines of related areas, since no specific space was found for publication and discussion of the theme. Already in the second text, it was verified that the students have a superficial understanding on the Paleontology, demonstrating insufficient knowledge about the reality in which they are inserted. However, after the pedagogical intervention it was possible to perceive the improvement of their conceptions. Regarding the third part of the study, it was verified that the teachers approach the paleontology in the classroom, but in a way that is not contextualized with the local reality, since they emphasize the importance of the preservation of fossils, but do not mention its use in teaching of paleontology. Therefore, it is hoped that the results obtained may stimulate another look at the teaching of paleontology, together with the development of ongoing teacher training processes, so that in addition to deepening the concepts, they are provoked to be part of the process of scientific dissemination, making are researchers of their own practice.