A importância do ensino de etnobotânica na educação básica: uma revisão sistemática

Abstract

Humanity's interaction with plants has been happening since antiquity, using for medicinal purposes, food, conservation, material culture, in addition to its use as a symbol of worship, folklore, and others, and the study of this interaction is known as ethnobotany . Although ethnobotany is considered a relatively new scientific discipline, it is recognized for its important role in the development of scientific knowledge and peoples. Despite this, botany content is rarely presented in basic education, not directly inserted in official curricula. Objective: To describe the importance of teaching ethnobotany in basic education. Methodology: Deductive method, applied research, descriptive, exploratory, qualitative-quantitative approach, in addition to bibliographical research and integrative literature review. Carried out through Capes Periodicals, using the descriptors: “etbonotânica”, “education” and “teaching”. Results and discussions: Seven articles were selected for the research, from studies related to ethnobotany in the school environment in different regions of Brazil, presenting data that show how important the ethnobotany approach is for students to identify themselves through the verification of scientific knowledge along with traditional knowledge seen in everyday life, since all students have some knowledge about plants. However, this approach is generally negligent, presented mainly with theoretical content, for memorization. Final considerations: Ethnobotany is of paramount importance for greater school learning, especially regarding the subject of Science, where students with popular knowledge have greater ease in the content. It points to the need for more studies on the subject, as well as for a change in school curricula, seeking to include ethnobotany as a mandatory content not only in Science, but also in an interdisciplinary way.