The use of dioramas in teaching Amazon ecosystems

Abstract

Dioramas, scenes representing natural environments, stimulate students' artistic skills, allowing them to represent scientific concepts in a simplified and visually impactful way. Furthermore, they enrich the teaching-learning process in museums and schools, promoting dialogic and collaborative learning. The use of dioramas as a teaching strategy in science teaching plays an important role in understanding the biodiversity of different ecosystems, including the Amazon. To identify these relationships in regional contexts, this research evaluated the use of dioramas in teaching Marajoara ecosystems through an Investigative Teaching Sequence (SEI) in a school context. This is qualitative research, of the case study type, carried out in a public school in Salvaterra – PA, with 28 students from a 7th year elementary school class. Starting from a trail at RESEC Mata do Bacurizal and Lago Caraparú, the students created and displayed their own dioramas, after approaches in the classroom. The analysis of qualitative data took place based on the dioramas built, the exhibition for the class and the texts written by the students about the Marajoara ecosystems represented. The results indicate that the strategy included three axes of scientific literacy: 1) basic understanding of scientific terms and concepts; 2) understanding the nature of science and its ethical and political aspects; and 3) understanding the relationships between science, technology, society and the environment. It is concluded that dioramas are a powerful tool to promote scientific literacy and environmental sensitivity in a critical and investigative way.