Ferramentas didáticas para disseminar a cultura da entomofagia

Abstract

The practice of entomophagy is widespread in the East. However, in the West this practice is not widely accepted by society, and to become a source of food used by the population requires knowledge and awareness of the subject. Proper access to knowledge is fundamental to the transformation of society. In this sense, the objective of this work was to conduct a survey of the perceptions of students and teachers of Dois Vizinhos-PR Basic Education about entomophagy, as well as to spread and promote the culture of this habit, through different teaching tools. For this, a previous survey was made through a semi-structured questionnaire. Subsequent lectures were developed in the classroom for students in the 1st and 3rd years of high school, at night, addressing the basic concepts of characterization and identification of insects; the main sociocultural aspects associated with the theme of entomophagy. Practical classes and quizzes were also developed, seeking to awaken in students the capacity for reflection and construction of ideas and attitudes. At the end I applied another questionnaire to evaluate the activities. It is possible to notice that there was a change in the perception of respondents about entomophagy, comparing the answers of the questionnaires before and after the application of the activities. Positive perception of the importance of insects as a food resource was evidenced in the near future. In total, 87% of participants showed insects as a food alternative for the future. 50% of people said that all activities together was what caught the most attention and 84.4% of respondents reported having eaten food containing insects, which have a pleasant taste. Finally, 100% of participants claimed that the activities added knowledge. With the end of the planned activities, it can be concluded that the use of different didactic tools contributed to the awareness and generated a change of opinion of the participants regarding the theme of entomophagy, which before the work application was characterized as negative.