Environmental Awareness on the Importance of Plants at the Caxias do Sul Botanical Garden

Abstract

Plants are fundamental to life on earth constituting the base of the food chain, interacting with living beings and other components of ecosystems and contributing to the balance of these. Despite this, they are often not valued by men who, with their activities lead many species to extinction. Aiming to raise awareness about the importance of plants to human survival on the planet, developed from the project "Raising awareness of the importance of plants in sustaining life on the planet - The Botanical Garden Goes to School," a series of recreational activities of environmental awareness in Municipal Elementary School Caetano Costamilan in Caxias do Sul / RS in partnership with the Botanical Garden of Caxias do Sul. Initially, about 50 students in the 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th and 9th grades, answered a questionnaire about the importance of plants. Further, the students were divided into groups and performed the activities in the form of a didactic sequence: puzzle with an environmental message, pollination dynamics, making eco doll, sensory garden and species identification through images. Each group received a script that had questions about the importance and preservation of plants. At each stop learning groups should perform the activities and respond to the script using prior knowledge and knowledge gained through the activities. After the groups were brought together for information sharing. At the end, the initial questionnaire was reapplied. Data were analyzed quantitatively indicating that the students demonstrated an environmental awareness from the proposed activities.

http://dx.doi.org/10.18226/23185279.v2iss2p77