GEEvH Grupo de Estudos em Evolução Humana1
1
© Photos: Arquivo da Câmara Municipal de Leiria GEEvH – Grupo de Estudos em Evolução Humana 1 , Ana Luísa Santos 1,2 1 Department of Life Sciences, University of Coimbra, Portugal, 2 CIAS – Research Center for Anthropology and Health, University of Coimbra, Portugal E-mail: [email protected], [email protected] Dance of the skeletons: teaching bioarchaeology to children and overall public Teaching Science Scientists have an important role in developing interfaces to transmit the scientific knowledge, produced in universities and research centers, to elementary/secondary students and/or general public. Although the role played by schools in the production and distribution of knowledge is irreplaceable, it is important to highlight the work of the media, science centers, museums, out-of-school programs and community educational initiatives in promoting new avenues of non-formal and informal education. The non-formal education is determinant to surpass many hiatus and scientific misunderstandings, contributing to the “scientific and technological literacy” (Honeyman, 1998: 1). GEEvH: Group of Studies in Human Evolution Since 2005, a nonprofit scientific association called Group of Studies in Human Evolution (GEEvH – Grupo de Estudos em Evolução Humana) - [http://geevh.jimdo.com/], housed at the Department of Life Sciences of the University of Coimbra, has developed a set of scientific and pedagogical workshops on the field of human evolution and allied sciences. More than 1678 students benefited from this knowledge in Portugal (Assis and Carvalho, 2012) and Conakry Guinea. Three major scientific branches determinant in the study of human evolution were targeted, namely: biology, biological anthropology and its sub-disciplines (e.g., paleoanthropology, bioarchaeology, and primatology) and archaeology (Table 1). Scientific branches Subdisciplines Workshop name Type of activity performed Biology Evolution: at the first we were one … Short theoretical presentation to introduce the main issues and concepts. Practical and interactive activities: hands-on experiments and/or informal games to apply the concepts learned. Biological Anthropology Paleoanthropology Fossils: our grandparents Primatology Monkey business Bioarchaeology Dance of the skeletons Archaeology Drawings and scribbles—Prehistoric art Table 1. Descriptive summary of the activities performed. “Dance of the Skeletons” : an informal approach to Bioarchaeology The workshop “Dance of the skeletons” aims : to introduce the role of the skeleton in the physiological balance of the human body, answering to questions, such as: What is the skeleton? // What are bones made of? How does the human skeleton develop during fetal life? // How many bones do children and adults have? What are the main function of the skeleton and joints? to introduce the field and laboratory work of the biological anthropologist, focusing on the type of information that can be retrieved from ancient bones (e.g., sex and age at death of the individuals, ancestry, diseases, etc.); to clarify the importance of recovering human skeletal remains from archaeological contexts to reconstruct past populations’ history and evolution. The practical component consists in a giant human roll-and-move game composed of questions about the biology and anatomy of the human skeleton that finishes in the simulation of an excavation in a sand box. Our challenge to you … Our experience led us to conclude that this type of approach is well accepted by the students (from elementary to high school) and teachers, constituting an optimal complement to the formal teaching. These workshops can be easily adapted; accordingly, we would like to invite you to develop these activities in your own country. References Assis S, Carvalho S. 2012. Evolutionism and the teaching of science: how Portugal has been “playing with the big tree of evolution”. Evolution: Education and Outreach, 5 (3): 445-452. Honeyman B. 1998. Non-formal and formal learning interactions: new directions for scientific and technological literacy. Connect–UNESCO International Science. Technology & Environmental Education Newsletter, 23 (1):1–16. Bone’s Dance: roll-and-move game comprised of several questions that finishes in the simulation of an excavation in a sandbox. Practicing excavation techniques in a sand box Acknowledgments: To all the students and teachers that accepted to play with us. Pest-OE/SADG/UI0283/2011
Transcript of GEEvH Grupo de Estudos em Evolução Humana1
PEst-OE/SADG/UI0283/2011 © Photos: Arquivo da Câmara Municipal de Leiria
GEEvH – Grupo de Estudos em Evolução Humana1, Ana Luísa Santos1,2 1 Department of Life Sciences, University of Coimbra, Portugal, 2 CIAS – Research Center for Anthropology and Health, University of Coimbra, Portugal
E-mail: [email protected], [email protected]
Dance of the skeletons: teaching bioarchaeology to children and overall public
Teaching Science
Scientists have an important role in developing interfaces to transmit the scientific knowledge,
produced in universities and research centers, to elementary/secondary students and/or general
public. Although the role played by schools in the production and distribution of knowledge is
irreplaceable, it is important to highlight the work of the media, science centers, museums, out-of-school
programs and community educational initiatives in promoting new avenues of non-formal and informal
education. The non-formal education is determinant to surpass many hiatus and scientific
misunderstandings, contributing to the “scientific and technological literacy” (Honeyman, 1998: 1).
GEEvH: Group of Studies in Human Evolution
Since 2005, a nonprofit scientific association called Group of Studies in Human Evolution (GEEvH – Grupo
de Estudos em Evolução Humana) - [http://geevh.jimdo.com/], housed at the Department of Life Sciences
of the University of Coimbra, has developed a set of scientific and pedagogical workshops on the field of
human evolution and allied sciences. More than 1678 students benefited from this knowledge in Portugal
(Assis and Carvalho, 2012) and Conakry Guinea.
Three major scientific branches determinant in the study of human evolution were targeted, namely:
biology, biological anthropology and its sub-disciplines (e.g., paleoanthropology, bioarchaeology, and
primatology) and archaeology (Table 1).
Scientific
branches Subdisciplines Workshop name Type of activity performed
Biology Evolution: at the first we were one … Short theoretical presentation to
introduce the main issues and
concepts.
Practical and interactive
activities: hands-on experiments
and/or informal games to apply
the concepts learned.
Biological
Anthropology
Paleoanthropology Fossils: our grandparents
Primatology Monkey business
Bioarchaeology Dance of the skeletons
Archaeology Drawings and scribbles—Prehistoric art
Table 1. Descriptive summary of the activities performed.
“Dance of the Skeletons” : an informal approach to Bioarchaeology
The workshop “Dance of the skeletons” aims :
to introduce the role of the skeleton in the physiological balance of the human body, answering to questions, such as:
What is the skeleton? // What are bones made of?
How does the human skeleton develop during fetal life? // How many bones do children and adults have?
What are the main function of the skeleton and joints?
to introduce the field and laboratory work of the biological anthropologist, focusing on the type of information that
can be retrieved from ancient bones (e.g., sex and age at death of the individuals, ancestry, diseases, etc.);
to clarify the importance of recovering human skeletal remains from archaeological contexts to reconstruct past
populations’ history and evolution.
The practical component consists in a giant human roll-and-move game composed of questions about the biology and
anatomy of the human skeleton that finishes in the simulation of an excavation in a sand box.
Our challenge to you …
Our experience led us to conclude that this type of approach is well accepted
by the students (from elementary to high school) and teachers, constituting an
optimal complement to the formal teaching.
These workshops can be easily adapted; accordingly, we would like to invite
you to develop these activities in your own country.
References
Assis S, Carvalho S. 2012. Evolutionism and the teaching of science: how Portugal has been “playing with the big tree of
evolution”. Evolution: Education and Outreach, 5 (3): 445-452.
Honeyman B. 1998. Non-formal and formal learning interactions: new directions for scientific and technological
literacy. Connect–UNESCO International Science. Technology & Environmental Education Newsletter, 23 (1):1–16.
Bone’s Dance: roll-and-move game comprised of
several questions that finishes in the simulation of an
excavation in a sandbox.
Practicing excavation techniques in a sand box
Acknowledgments:
To all the students and teachers that accepted to play with us.
Pest-OE/SADG/UI0283/2011
