This document describes an educational program on plant science held in Portugal. It discusses using a children's story called "The Algae Who Wanted to Be a Flower" to engage young students in learning about plant evolution and diversity. Students interact with live plants in a botanical garden and classify plants into the five main groups. The goal is to help students observe plant diversity, understand evolution, and see plants as living things. The program uses an inquiry-based science education approach to facilitate learning through student questions and exploration.

1. SCIENCE
EDUCATION
ON PLANTS
EVOLUTION
Faculty of Sciences and Technology
University of Coimbra
PORTUGAL
actavar@bot.uc.pt
2nd
24-26
October
2014

2. Every life experience has a formative effect
… formal, non-formal or informal scenarios…
Direct contact to natural phenomena
(real life – out-of-school experiences)
stimulates
science-specific interests and
empowers
natural science teaching and learning
Nature around us as a starting point for Science kwnoledge

3. Very young visitors are apprentices’ beginners
PERFECT TIME
TO LINK
Children’s first thinking and reflection
to Nature
(importance of plants for life sustainability)
Nature around us as a starting point for Science importance

4. If we teach children to the variety and significance of
living things in the world as a reality,
you need not speak them of acceptance to any kind of
diversity, simply coexistence.
Nature around us as a starting point for Science sustainability

5. Nature as scenarios for Science
Motivation and emotional engagment as tools for Science
To acquire KNOWLEDGE and BEHAVIOR CHANGE IS EASIER with EMOTIONAL ENGAGEMENT
MOTIVATION
What is most important is that students feel the need to ask questions and find answers.
Not being told what protocol to follow.
IBSE as a method for Science
The Inquiry Based Science Education (IBSE) method is to take students on a journey.
The teacher or educator plays the role of facilitator who helps students climb their learning.
This can be done by flipping challenges and providing the student with useful and provocative questions.

6. Question/problem: HOW to engage young children to the world of plants,
regarding to WHAT they know and their curricula demands.
THE NEED IS STIMULATING !! The garden too!
Five bilingue editions Book
INQUIRE European Educative Project
2010-1013 (7ºPEC)
A story (a theather)
The algae who wanted to be a flower
was born
for very young children.
And after performed for any age!
How simple activities can lead to behaviour change to
support biodiversity conservation, reaching all people.

7. The algae who wanted to be a flower
Science Education outdoors on Plants Evolution and the identification of main
plants groups diversity, followed by applying new knowledge.
Simple and adaptable IBSE lesson
Natural Science Portuguese Curriculum:
• Current program on Biodiversity and Sustainability /
pre-school to 3rd basic level (ages 4-14).
Coimbra Botanic Garden’ Education Services:
• Education Program;
• Educators’ Training Course;
• INQUIRE Course: training teachers and educators on IBSE for a sustainable future.

8. Lesson uses formal or non-formal format:
- Inside classroom (exploring the story, the book, with plants or models)
- Outside classroom (in a journey through a botanic garden or park)
INQUIRE COURSE MANUAL: Training the trainers
Course on IBSE applied to Natural Sciences.
Lesson guide
to develop educative materials, composed of four
sections:
1. Overview of the lesson
2. Students activities
3. Teacher/educator guide
4. Evaluation questionnaire.
1. Overview of the lesson 2. Students activities

9. 3. Teacher/educator guide
4. Evaluation questionnaire.

10. IN: Manual do Curso de formação INQUIRE para Professores e Educadores. Coimbra 2013
(http://www.inquirebotany.org/uploads/files/FCTUC%20Portugal/FCTUC%20-%20manual%20do%20curso%20INQUIRE%20COIMBRA.pdf)

11. Abstract:
Student interact with plants, the protagonists of a story “The alga who wanted to be a flower” told
by teacher in the cold greenhouse, close to the “Botany” statue.
Knowing plants evolution and the distinct characteristic of the five main plants groups, singing the
plants evolution and regarding to hand five fingers, students go discovering, collecting and
classifying plants, individually or as part of a team, sharing and discussing their results in a plenary,
afterwards.
The main goal is to observe and to distinguish the plants diversity in the garden, identifying plants
of main five groups and recognize plants evolution, understanding plants as living beings.
As acquired competences this lesson pretends:
1. To provoke curiosity about plants, their diversity and evolution;
2. To use and enrich the observation capacity;
3. To explore and to develop the skills and tools to achieve the proposed goal;
4. To construct and apply new knowledge through evidences, about the five groups and their evolution;
5. To see, respect and preserve the plants as living beings.

12. OUTDOOR SCENARIO – University of Coimbra Botanic Garden
The Coimbra Botanic Garden’ cold-greenhouse. The “Botanica” statue surrounded by a diversity of
plants.
in a journey through a botanic garden or park

13. The “Alga-flower” evolution story created by a four
years old child.
The “Alga-flower” evolution exploration story:
hands-on in the Coimbra Botanic Garden’ cold-greenhouse.

14. INDOOR SCENARIO – Centro de Ciência Viva de Bragança
exploring the story, the book, with plants or models
Centro Ciência Viva de
Bragança
Oficinas Científicas - Biologia
no Planeta Terra
Scholl students
Centro Ciência Viva
de Bragança
Seniores
Centro Ciência Viva de Bragança
- Diversity of plants to explore

15. 3- Outcomes
2- Can you put alga, moss,
fern, pine, and flowering
plants in evolutionary order?
1- Botany in one hand!

16. Coimbra Botanic Garden cold-greenhouse.
Assimilating
knowledge through
multidisciplinary/
transdisciplinary
approaches.

17. Bibliography:
- Bromley, G., Regan, E., Kapelari, S., Dillon, J., Vergou, A., Willison, J. Bonomi, C., Paiva, I., Santos, J. & Tavares, A.C. (2013) O manual do curso Inquire, Projeto INQUIRE, 2013,
Coimbra, Portugal. Coimbra Inquire manual Course for teachers and educators. http://www.inquirebotany.org/uploads/files/FCTUC%20Portugal/FCTUC%20-
%20manual%20do%20curso%20INQUIRE%20COIMBRA.pdf
- Tavares, A.C. (2011) Um programa educativo sustentável: Jardim Botânico da Universidade de Coimbra (1997-2010). Monografia do Jardim Botânico de Coimbra. Departamento
das Ciências da Vida/Jardim Botânico /FCTUC. 2011. A Sustainable Educative Program in COIBG.
http://www.uc.pt/jardimbotanico/projetos/inquire/Modulo1/rec_teoricos/Um_PROGRAMA_EDUCATIVO_sustentavel_JBCOI_10.pdf
- Tavares, A.C.P. (2011) À descoberta do mundo das plantas: um roteiro do Jardim Botânico da Universidade de Coimbra. Editora Fonte da Palavra, Lda. 2011. (ISBN: 978-989-667-
078-8).Book on Coimbra Botanic Garden. http://www.fontedapalavra.com/ana-cristina-tavares.html
-Tavares, A.C. (2013) A alga que queria ser flor/The algae who wanted to be a flower Imprensa da Universidade de Coimbra. 2013. (ISBN: 978-989-26-0628-6). Published in 5
bilingual versions - Multilingual Book for young children on plants evolution. http://www.uc.pt/imprensa_uc/catalogo/descobrirasciencias/alga_flor
- Tavares, A. C., Silva, S., Santos, J., Paiva I., Oliveira J. & Bettencourt, T. (2013) Inquire at Coimbra Botanic Garden: Products and Process of an IBSE Educative Project. 5th WORLD
CONFERENCE on Educational Sciences (WCES 2013). Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 116: 4353-4356 (Elsevier ISSN: 1877-0428).
- Tavares, A.C. & Silva, S. (2014) The valuable role of educators. O/El Botânico, Revista da Associação Ibero-Macaronésica de Jardins Botânicos, 8:71-73.
http://www.elbotanico.org/revista8.html
- Tavares, A.C. (2014) The Alga Who Wanted To Be a Flower – An outdoors IBSE Model on Plants Evolution. Hands-on Science. Science Education with and for Society. Costa MFM,
Pombo P, Dorrío BV (Eds.), Hands-on Science Ntework, 2014, Pgs. 19-28. (ISBN: 978-989-98032-5-1). http://www.hsci.info/Book_HSCI_2014_lowresA4.pdf).
- Tavares, A. C., Silva, S. & Bettencourt, T. (2015) Advantages of applying IBSE method: the Coimbra Inquire Course case-study. 6th WORLD CONFERENCE on Educational Sciences
(WCES 2014), Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences. (ACCEPTED for publication-Elsevier ISSN: 1877-0428).
- Tavares, A. C., Silva, S. & Bettencourt, T. (2015) Advantages of Science Education Outdoors through IBSE methodology, in Inquiry-Based Learning for Science, Technology,
Engineering, and Math (STEM) Programs: A Conceptual and Practical Resource for Educators, Vol. 4, Emerald Group Publishing, pp. …-… (ACCEPTED for publication).
- Centro de Ciência Viva de Bragança:
https://www.facebook.com/195628014973/photos/a.10152853182539974.1073742023.195628014973/10152853182;https://www.facebook.com/pages/Centro-
Ci%C3%AAncia-Viva-de-Bragan%C3%A7a/195628014973 (visited 19-10-2014)
actavar@bot.uc.pt
24-26
October
2nd 2014