O processo de ensino e aprendizagem de botânica se dá majoritariamente através da utilização de livros didáticos e aulas teóricas, por vezes descontextualizadas do cotidiano dos estudantes da ...educação básica. O documento curricular vigente denominado Base Nacional Comum Curricular (BNCC) configura-se como um parâmetro para a elaboração do planejamento curricular em todas as etapas e modalidades de ensino. Entretanto, é possível notar diversas tensões e controvérsias no documento, como um “enxugamento” de conteúdos e um menor destaque atribuído às questões sociais, ambientais e temas transversais. Com o objetivo de mapear os sentidos e acepções atribuídos à botânica/biologia vegetal veiculados na BNCC, foi realizada uma análise de conteúdo a partir de descritores relacionados ao ensino de botânica. Os resultados apontaram pouca presença de um viés crítico das plantas, além de um aspecto utilitarista e morfofuncional. Urge a necessidade de reflexão sobre os retrocessos que a BNCC representa não somente no meio escolar e acadêmico, mas socioculturalmente também.
The current Common National Curriculum Base (CNCB) was approved to comprise a guiding document for the curricular construction of Brazilian elementary schools. Through a discursive textual analysis, ...this article analyzes the Zoology content of the CNCB from early childhood education to high school. The results indicate discourses from archaic 19th century zoology, of a morphophysiological and classificatory nature, the absence of this bioscience aimed at early childhood education and the lack of updated proposals for its teaching-learning process. We conclude that Zoology teaching as presented by the CNCB proposes strictly conceptual and linear content approaches, and does not promote quality scientific education.
Penetration of the heteroxenous protozoan Trypanosoma rangeli into the salivary glands of its invertebrate host Rhodnius domesticus has been investigated here using different approaches. Electron ...microscopy showed that epimastigotes coming from the insect hemocoel cross the basal lamina that surrounds the salivary glands and penetrate through the gland cells cytoplasm. After reaching the gland lumen, epimastigote forms remain adhered to the gland cell microvilli by their flagella, while metacyclic trypomastigotes are found swimming free in the saliva. Analysis by flow cytometry, western blotting and hemolytic activity allowed to demonstrate the presence in T. rangeli of a hemolytic molecule with antigenic cross-reactivity with murine perforin, which could be used by the parasites to reach the salivary gland lumen. This molecule, which we named as rangelysin, has 120 kDa molecular weight, is able to induce hemolysis only in acidic pH, and is produced by both trypomastigote and epimastigote forms.
Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) provide a promising means of creating custom‐tailored cell lines for cellular therapies. Their application in regenerative medicine, however, depends on the ...possibility that the maintenance and differentiation of cells and organs occur under defined conditions. One major component of stem cell culture systems is the substrate, where the cells must attach and proliferate. The present study aimed to investigate the putative cytotoxic effects of poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA)‐based matrices on the in vitro culture of mouse fetal fibroblasts. In addition, the PVA‐based hydrogels were used to determine the capacity of bovine induced pluripotent stem cells (biPSCs) to adhere and proliferate on synthetic substrates. Our results show that both cell types interacted with the substrate and presented proliferation during culture. The biPSCs formed new colonies when cell suspensions were placed onto the hydrogel surface for culture. These results may represent a new characterized xeno‐free clinical grade culture system to be widely applied in cell‐based therapies.
The advent of genomics, proteomics, and microarray technology has brought much excitement to science, both in teaching and in learning. The public is eager to know about the processes of life. In the ...present context of the explosive growth of scientific information, a major challenge of modern cell biology is to popularize basic concepts of structures and functions of living cells, to introduce people to the scientific method, to stimulate inquiry, and to analyze and synthesize concepts and paradigms. In this essay we present our experience in mixing science and education in Brazil. For two decades we have developed activities for the science education of teachers and undergraduate students, using microscopy images generated by our work as cell biologists. We describe open-air outreach education activities, games, cell modeling, and other practical and innovative activities presented in public squares and "favelas". Especially in developing countries, science education is important, since it may lead to an improvement in quality of life while advancing understanding of traditional scientific ideas. We show that teaching and research can be mutually beneficial rather than competing pursuits in advancing these goals.
Human embryonic stem cells (ESC) lines to be used for cell therapies must be created and maintained under strict conditions, excluding the use of undefined supplements. Two key steps in the creation ...of a new embryonic stem cell line are adherence to the substrate and derivation towards the formation of a primary colony. The bovine parthenote embryo model was used to test different matrices of gelatin nanofibers and gelatin/galactomannan films to be used for ESC derivation and culturing. Gelatin/galactomannan films were made in two concentrations of galactomannan, 0.1 and 0.3%, in an aqueous solution of gelatin and tested for gel cytotoxicity using cumulus cells (CCs). CCs showed normal cell morphology, with no sign of lysis or degeneration in any of the matrices tested. Inner cell masses of parthenote blastocysts (
n
=116) were placed onto the gel matrices for culture. There were three or four repeats for each matrix. Our results showed a good rate of inner cell mass (ICM) adherence on the gelatin/galactomannan films (41%–44%) and one derivative of the gel nanofiber (17% adherence to the substrate). These results encouraged us to try new gelatin formulations to increase the rates of derivation and cell proliferation under defined culture conditions to comply with good manufacturing practice directives for the potential therapeutic use of ESCs.
The use of animals in teaching situations is one of the methods of animal experimentation that has been institutionalized in the scientific context of the eighteenth century, when it was believed ...that animals had no soul or feel pain. Today, new knowledge about the physiology of animals brought to the ethical implications of the scientific experiments on animals, they show that the basic model of organization of the nervous system of humans and vertebrate animals is qualitatively the same. This study aimed to investigate the conceptions of Biological Sciences and Biomedicine students at a federal institution of higher education in the State of Rio de Janeiro on the use of animals in teaching situations during graduation. The results show that the university community remains hostage to the vivisectionist paradigm when the use of animals is recurrent and unjustifiable, and teachers and students are unaware of the ethical and legal implications of the use of animals in teaching situations during science education.
A linha de pesquisa em CienciArte, denominação que evoluiu numa trajetória de 30 anos de atividades unindo ciência e arte, vem sendo desenvolvida no Instituto Oswaldo Cruz/Fiocruz desde 2000. Ela ...testemunha a união de duas culturas, a fim de que ambas possam partilhar e contribuir com elementos essenciais ao ensino e à educação. Suas atividades assumem o pressuposto de que a associação da arte à educação científica possibilita ao ser humano desenvolver novas intuições e compreensões através da incorporação do processo artístico a outros processos investigativos, construindo um discurso sobre a relação entre arte, ciência, atividades humanas e tópicos relacionados a atividades multidisciplinares e multiculturais. Neste texto descrevemos a trajetória histórica da linha de pesquisa, a disciplina que dela derivou, incluindo relações entre conteúdos, referências e atividades diversas desenvolvidas. Essas abordagens atenderam aos mais diversos critérios de inclusão vinculados aos campos de atividade profissional de um ou mais componentes do grupo de estudos e práticas. Versaram sobre temas em ciência, saúde e arte evidenciando a aplicação do paradigma CienciArte e expressando a apropriação do conteúdo debatido ao longo dos anos. Uma figura síntese com a linha do tempo dessas ações mostra seus principais fatos. Entremeamos o texto com quatro "interlúdios" referentes a propostas que trabalhamos nos processos educacionais que conduzimos com CienciArte: (i) o manifesto CienciArte, (ii) as treze categorias cognitivas propostas pelo casal Root-Bernstein no livro Centelhas de gênios, (iii) a letra da música A ciência em si, de Gilberto Gil e Arnaldo Antunes, e (iv) a modelagem 5D com metaformação, de Tod Siler. Destacamos os referenciais teóricos que embasam a proposta, muito calcada na prática freireana de oficinas dialógicas. Temos convicção de que a linha de pesquisa atinge seus objetivos promovendo o diálogo entre a ciência e a arte, reforçando o conceito "ArtScience", ou, em português, "CienciArte".
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