Abstract:

Focusing the attention on the environment, living organisms, biodiversity, and human impact on nature is becoming increasingly vital. Addressing these topics within the school environment is essential for developing pupils’ awareness of their impact on the ecosystems and implementing behaviours aimed at their protection. This stimulates active citizenship that responds to the goals of Agenda 2030: to lead society towards sustainability to satisfy the needs of the present without compromising those of future generations.

The project aimed to develop a “biological” curiosity about fish and their behaviour using playful and learning-by-discovery methodologies. In this context, the research hypothesis that guided the project was as follows: "Can an active and experiential teaching approach to teaching scientific-biological skills be more effective for learning and bringing out curiosity and interest in science than a transmissive method?".

To test this hypothesis, we conducted experimental research involving two third-grade primary classes: a control and a pilot class. The topics discussed were the same for both classes. We designed various activities in games and workshops, some with the help of doctoral students and university professors.

It was necessary to introduce fish general biological concepts to the children and discover the different types of habitats and ecosystems where they can be found. These topics were carried out through different station activities, each focusing on a specific concept and utilising living animals. The students were stimulated to investigate through guided questions and instructions.

Furthermore, trough discussions and comparisons, the students analysed the concept of migration, the importance of maintaining biodiversity, and anthropic structures impact on these migrations. To let the pupils understand how humans can lower their impact on fish migrations, innovative technologies such as the “climbing ladder” were introduced.

Finally, it was fundamental to let the children practise their new biological skills. After dividing the students into groups, each group was assigned a migratory fish to research.

Using their ICT skills and equipment, the children conducted the research trying to find different aspects of interest and following some guidelines – question: “How is the fish?”, “Why does it migrate?”, “Which is the migratory route?”, “What are the possible obstacle it could find on its way, and how can the man lower his influence on this migrations?”. At the end of the research, each group presented their findings about the assigned fish and all the other groups were responsible for evaluating their classmates’ results.

The research yielded marginally divergent results between the two classes; in fact, the pilot class performed slightly better than the control class in the final test, the aim of which was to bring out the pupils' scientific discovery skills. At the same time, it emerged that an experiential and laboratory-based teaching of biology promoted lasting, meaningful and conscious learning in the pilot class, characterised by an increased interest in the discipline and the emergence of a feeling of respect for nature.

Keywords:

Primary school, fish, migration, ICT skills, climbing ladder.