Experimentação como uma ferramenta para o ensino investigativo de botânica

Abstract

Teaching Botany represents a significant challenge for educators, as it is often approached in a way that is disconnected from the students' reality. Furthermore, as in other Biology disciplines, it is full of terms that, for the most part, are unknown to students. Therefore, it is the teacher's responsibility to adopt approaches that facilitate and encourage learning, arousing students' interest and promoting the development of cognitive skills based on their active participation. An effective method for achieving this type of progress is Investigative Teaching, which is based on practical activities in which students are challenged to solve problems, formulate hypotheses and discuss concepts. Therefore, this work aims to develop a didactic product, this being a manual containing experimental practices, adapted for the investigative teaching of Botany, in order to make the teaching of botany more interesting and promote knowledge from an investigative approach, thus contributing to the development of student protagonism. The work was developed at the Escola Estadual Militar Tiradentes 2nd Sergeant PM Weliton Pereira Duarte, in a 1st year high school class. Five phases were followed: selection of content according to the BNCC, adapting practical class scripts for investigative teaching, surveying students via online form, application of the chosen script on photosynthesis, and evaluation of the methodology through a questionnaire similar to the survey initial. In this study, analysis of the initial questionnaire revealed that students demonstrated familiarity and receptivity to the educational method based on investigations and practical experiments. Even among those less familiar, there was interest and willingness to actively participate, indicating a readiness for experimentation and openness to educational innovation. The positive perception about the potential of investigative teaching was supported by the indication that this practice is not only interesting, but also engaging, highlighting the perceived effectiveness and contributing to a more stimulating and effective educational environment for student learning.