FOSSILS, CLIMATE CHANGE AND ENVIROMENT EVOLUTION, A DIDACTIC PROPOSAL FOR TEACHERS

FRANZONI, JIMENA; MARTIN, RODRIGO; LAINO, LEANDRO EZEQUIEL; FARIÑA, GONZALO

Campinas

Conferencia; 8th Quadrennial Conference of the International GeoScience Education Organisation (IGEO); 2018

International GeoScience Education Organisation

The present work details a workshop carried out during a training session for teachers at the University of Buenos Aires, Argentina. In Argentina, Earth Sciences have little space in the school curriculum, and also at teacher training institutes themselves. Because of this and considering the difficulties when it comes to teaching Earth Sciences, the workshop is thought with the aim of providing them a didactic proposal that works several concepts related to this area. Taking into account the difficulties in understanding the concept ofgeological time and the vast volume of media information on climate change (which can make scientific concepts confusing) it is suggested an innovative method to teach these concepts jointly, using paleontology as a teaching tool. The workshop included an activity in which students analyzed a hypothetical evidence of fossil records which are described in a set of cards (summary of newspapers notes). They have to make a timeline with these cards and gather them chronologically in three groups. After that, they used maps to analyze theinformation. Then, they are guided to draw a conclusion whether sea level is linked to temperature change. This proposal was built from a constructivist perspective, in which the spotlight is set on the student and where their previous ideas were inquired. Additionally, as it was a workshop for teachers, this work described the subsequent analysis of the proposed activity in which teaching tools used were identified. The guided dynamic of the activity allowed a fluent analysis of the past environment and the respective climate change that they indicated. At the end of the activity, we find startling the fact that there is little difference between the way of arguing that students and teachers used. The way of expressing ideas and justifying their answers was very similar. Because of the results, we find it extremely necessary to improve efforts in order to increase the number and quality of teacher training courses in the area of Earth Sciences for the region. Teachers were interested in the proposal and considered that the activity could be applicable to the classroom and motivating for the students.