Nourishing with biodiversity: A proposal for a didatic transposition for the teaching of Non-conventional Food Plants

• Grant number: 21/14475-7
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• Start date: February 01, 2023
• End date: February 14, 2024
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Education - Educational Teaching and Learning
• Principal Investigator: Fernanda Franzolin
• Grantee: Flávia Martho Landinho
• Host Institution: Centro de Ciências Naturais e Humanas (CCNH). Universidade Federal do ABC (UFABC). Ministério da Educação (Brasil). Santo André , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 16/05843-4 - BIOTA-FAPESP Program in basic education: possibilities for curricular integration, AP.BTA.TEM

Abstract

The Brazilian territory has a rich biodiversity due to the existence of climatic diversity and territorial extension. However, floristic diversity is still little disseminated in the school environment in relation to its nutritional potential, and these plants with nutritional potential are called Non-Conventional Food Plants (in Portuguese PANC). In addition to this, Brazilian food is monotonous due to a low variety of consumed species and a high consumption of ultra-processed food. Therefore, this project aims to carry out the didactic transposition of data from research on biodiversity related to the Non-Conventional Food Plants and investigate: 1) how this didactic proposal is accepted by both teachers and students; and 2) how it can influence the interest and knowledge of these students in the final years of elementary school regarding plant diversity. It is a project linked to and within the purposes of the Thematic Project "The Biota-FAPESP program in basic education: possibilities for curriculum integration" (Project 2016/05843-4), related to Biota-education. Data on acceptability will be qualitative and collected through semi-structured interviews that will be transcribed for further codification and categorization. The collection of data on students' interests and knowledge will take place before and after using the material, through questionnaires. It is expected that this project generates a didactic contribution with the potential to promote the appreciation of species from Brazilian biodiversity and their use in food, and that allows for an understanding of their acceptability and possible impacts on interests and knowledge.