Desenvolvimento de um jogo investigativo sobre evolução do cérebro humano no ensino médio

Abstract

The present study presents an investigative board game for high school students that addresses dietary changes that allowed human ancestry to acquire the calories needed to support a growing brain with more energy-consuming neurons. This question has been debated among researchers of Evolutionary Biology and Human Physiology and at least three factors are consensual in the literature. Throughout the evolutionary trajectory, the human diet began to incorporate more meat, the foods in general were processed by tools and cooking. The investigative game developed in this TCM was called "Neurônios têm fome de Q?", and was developed in the molds of the games "Célula adentro" and "Fome de Q?", already widely tested among students of basic education. Both are board games in which students cooperate to solve a problem situation. This initiative could help teachers teach an aspect of human evolution that can be used in various contexts of biology teaching. In addition, by using a participatory and investigative strategy, students are led to weigh evidence and to better understand the role and methods of science in shaping current knowledge.