Abstract:

This investigation is part of the research project “Syntropic Environmental Education in public schools in the interior of São Paulo: a proposal for action research and encouragement of volunteering through the themes of Health Education, Food and Nutritional Security and Citizen Science”. One of the purposes of Citizen Science (CS) is to fertilize scientific knowledge with other knowledge, in order to provide a meeting between the knowledge codified, systematized and elaborated by scientists and the knowledge organized by culture. This research seeks to identify CS indicators present in Syntropic Environmental Education (SEE) activities developed and carried out by teachers in a school in the interior of São Paulo/Brazil. This is qualitative research, based on the collection of documentary data, through a Google Forms questionnaire and reports on activities carried out at the school. These data were organized and analyzed with a focus on content analysis, as proposed by Bardin. The project developed by the school was about “Food Re-education”, which is a co-created project as it included the participation of the school community.

Throughout 2022, the school's 18 teachers carried out with Elementary School I students a total of 44 activities based on and encouraged by the project developed at the school, 27 of which presented one or more CS indicators. In this way, five CS indicators were identified in SEE activities carried out at school and the frequency with which they appear: Scientific Investigation (17), Socio-environmental Awareness (9), Contact with Nature (9), Encouragement of partnerships (5) and Participation of the school community (3). When teachers addressed the issue of scientific investigation in activities, they mostly carried out scientific observation, such as: Observation and classification of garden animals; Leaf observation; in between others. The “Socio-Environmental Awareness” indicator related care for the environment and environmental awareness in that they proposed activities on: A well-cared for plant; Making a healthy food basket; Tour about the environment at the Agricultural College, among others. The “Contact with Nature” indicator proposed activities that motivated children’s contact and reconnection with nature, carrying out activities in green spaces and about the Environment. In the “Encouraging partnerships” indicator, the children were attended by speakers and also by a student's parent who helped with planting. The indicator “Participation of the school community” was the one that appeared least frequently and in some specific activities, such as encouraging family participation in the activity of producing the basket with healthy foods.

It is concluded that when SEE is addressed at school, through CS and seeks to encourage students to carry out scientific research and partnerships with experts and the surrounding community. The participation of the school community in these activities must be encouraged more efficiently. Thus, SEE aligned with CS can provide the training of subjects who are more aware and concerned about socio-environmental issues and who seek to contribute to a new world view, based on reconnection with nature.

Keywords:

Citizen Science Indicators, Scientific training, Qualitative research.