Botanical exsiccate as a teaching resource in the education of young people and adults

Abstract

This work proposes an alternative approach to teaching botany, aimed at Youth and Adult Education (EJA). The objective was to develop and apply a didactic sequence using exsiccates made with plants from the regional flora, aiming for a practical and engaging approach to teaching botany that could make learning more relevant and meaningful for students. The didactic sequence was applied in a class of the National Program for the Integration of Professional Education with Basic Education in the Youth and Adult modality (PROEJA) at the Instituto Federal Baiano, Campus Santa Inês. The research carried out had a qualitative methodological approach and was carried out through the elaboration, application and evaluation of the proposed pedagogical activities. For the didactic sequence, some exsicatas were created as a learning tool. During the process, botanical concepts and their relationship with the student context were explained. The herbal material was collected in the spaces most frequented by students. In this way, students were able to analyze, investigate and compare the characteristics of plants, being able to associate them with the species used in their daily lives, as well as perceive some of their adaptive functional attributes. The problematization presented, in order to encourage learning and formation of concepts, allowed active participation of students in the proposal execution processes. The problematizing and investigative act also allowed us to reflect on the ideals and propositions of active and meaningful learning methodologies.