Games as a motivating strategy in the teaching of marine invertebrate zoology

Abstract

The development of new tools that enrich the teaching of biology represents one of the greatest challenges for teachers today. Facing this scenario, the use of didactic resources is a strategy of great relevance in the learning process, whether it is stimulating curiosity and interest among students, or offering new guidelines to the dynamic ‘teaching-learning’. The objective of this work was to: i) develop a didactic game: “Invertebrate Trail” and ii) evaluate the contribution of the use of this game in learning about marine invertebrates. The proposal was developed with high school students from a public school in the suburb of Salvador in the second year of high school, with students from 15 to 17 years of age. Initially, a lecture on the phyla of marine invertebrates was given, presenting theoretical and expository contents with the following groups: Porifera, Cnidaria, Platyhelminthes, Nematoda, Mollusca, Annelida, Arthropoda and Echinodermata. Then, a questionnaire was applied to verify the degree of assimilation of the contents by the students. Subsequently, the game was played, and finally a post-questionnaire. As a result, the game proved to be a good teaching tool, enabling a complement to the learning of Biological Sciences.