As heroínas desconhecidas: construindo conhecimento científico sobre abelhas por meio da educação ambiental

Abstract

Science teaching, at the beginning of elementary school, provides support for the student to understand how the world and its transformations occur. This is made possible by means of contents that bring the student closer to scientific explanations about the world, the phenomena of nature and the recognition of the relationships between living beings. In this context, addressing and developing themes that involve animals, such as insects, is extremely important, as they inhabit almost all environments, are numerous and play significant ecological roles in the dynamics of ecosystems. Among them, the bees stand out as important pollinators that allowed success in cross pollination and increasing fruit production. However, the expansion of production areas and the growth of agriculture have threatened biodiversity and ecosystem services, including pollination. Faced with this scenario, it is necessary to reflect on social practices, in an environment marked by the permanent degradation of the environment and its ecosystems, environmental education appears as a necessary articulation. In this way, the work aims to raise awareness on elementary school students about the biological importance of bees, highlighting their relationship with man and their daily lives, seeking a deeper understanding of the theme, and propose a didactic sequence for teaching environmental education with bees and analyze textbooks on the subject. To obtain the educational product presented here, it was necessary to perform a series of activities, in which the subject was discussed and presented during six classes, arranged in three days for two sixth-year classes, for the analysis of didactic materials the criteria established by the author of this work were adopted. By means of what was worked in classrooms, it was remarkable that the school and the books are essential in the construction of the students' knowledge, as well as in the demystification of erroneous conceptions in relation to insects. Seeking to inquire into the existing anthropocentric views and present the ecological dimensions of this group, that is, it is necessary to shift the approach of the subjects related to the study of living beings from a vision strictly focused on human utilitarianism to one that considers and appreciates their relations with the environment. In this way, based on this understanding, actions will assume a new meaning, based on a more discerning understanding about living beings and the environment.