The website "Edevo-Darwin's Biota-Education' as an engaging tool for elementary school students with biodiversity and its conservation

• Grant number: 22/12957-7
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• Start date: November 01, 2022
• End date: August 31, 2023
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Education - Specific topics in Education
• Principal Investigator: Nelio Marco Vincenzo Bizzo
• Grantee: Rebeca Verônica Ribeiro Viana
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Educação (FE). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 16/05843-4 - BIOTA-FAPESP Program in basic education: possibilities for curricular integration, AP.BTA.TEM

Abstract

The BIOTA-FAPESP program is a major initiative for Brazil's biodiversity studies. Its educational relevance, however, hasn't been yet recognized. Within Brazil's context, when biodiversity education is considered, even though schools and their communities are immersed in contexts of biological and cultural megadiversity, a significant scientific knowledge production associated that doesn't necessarily penetrate the school spheres. Within this context, the thematic project "The Biota-Fapesp program in basic education: curricular integration possibilities" is inserted, with the proposal of using the Biota-Fapesp program's database as pedagogical materials to discuss biodiversity and its conservation. The thematic project proposes as a dissemination product the construction of the Biota-Education do Edevo-Darwin website that will make didactic and support materials available to teachers and students. The main goal of the website is to work as a pedagogical tool to engage students with biodiversity and its conservation. Therefore, it's justified the investigation of possibilities of using the website as an engaging tool to supply the gaps identified in specialized literature. The present proposal intends to use the database generated by the website to investigate the attitudes and perceptions of students related to biodiversity and its conservation; to follow challenges and potentialities related to the use of the website in different contexts; to identify changes related to students' engagement to biodiversity and its conservation after the use of the website. Finally, considering the importance of engaging teachers in the use of the website, a teacher's course about biodiversity, evolution and genetics using the tools available at the website will be developed and offered remotely All project team will be involved and a partnership with prof Gregory Radick (Leeds University-UK) has been signed. This collaboration has allowed a recent 49.962 (sterling pounds) grant approval - UK Research and Innovation that will fund the participation of 20 Brazil's basic education teachers to attend a workshop in London (UK).