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National News
National News
Brazil
Susanna E. Sichel
In this year’s update we would like to report on an education
and outreach program for secondary school teachers in Brazil.
The program was funded by Fundaçâo de Amparo a Pesquisa
do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (FAPERJ) as part of a larger effort
to support Diffusion and Informal Education in the areas
of Science and Technology in the State of Rio de Janeiro,
Brazil (Oct. 2007/Oct. 2008). The pilot study included the
development of classes and activities for secondary school students
in the areas of oceanography and geology. I led a team
of co-PIs and associates in producing a CD titled “An Invitation
in Oceanography: For Divulgation in Schools,” which is
designed in a simple way for biology, geography and science
teachers. The CD, with material in Portuguese, was provided
to approximately 200 schools in Brazil. The CD has 30 classes
in PowerPoint, including: What is Oceanography, Historical
Review, The Planet Earth, Marine Geology, Origin of Ocean
Basin, Water Pollution, Marine Ecology, Water Waves, Water
Circulation, Pollutions, and Future of the Ocean.
We selected four cities for the pilot study: Arraial do Cabo,
Nova Friburgo, Cachoeira de Macacu, and Teresopolis. Arraial
do Cabo (population 25,248) was chosen because we received
significant logistical support and infrastructure from the Institute
of Ocean Studies Almirante Paulo Moreira (IEAPM),
which is a military organization as part of the Brazilian Navy.
IEAPM is a full partner in the enterprise, offering their oceanography
museum, auditorium and transportation for students
and teachers. We received interest from 30 schools (20% private)
that sent their teachers to our program. Initially, the local
teachers attended a presentation on the goals of the project,
definition of terms, and strategies for the future. Following the
activity, teachers received products such as class materials in
CD-ROM on topics of local geologic and oceanographic interest,
such as changes in the coastal processes and erosion,
distance of the continental platform, prevailing wind direction.
We emphasized the importance of ocean currents in the
region and how the rise of cool and productive waters make Arraial
do Cabo unique as a site for studying meteorological and
oceanographic processes. IEAPM will lend us a vessel to take
the school teachers to the ocean for one day of oceanography.
They will learn how to collect samples including water samples,
read water temperature, pH, salinity, etc.
The other three cities in our pilot study offered an additional
challenge in that they are not located at the coast. In Nova Friburgo
(population 178,300), all 49 state public schools and 20
private schools received the CD, as well as one university with
a Geography program. In Cachoeira de Macacu City (population
48,543), the CDs were given to all 63 schools, both private
and public. In Teresopolis (population 147,000), a city located
in the coastal mountains, teachers from three schools participated
in the program. The first-year activity was organized to
emphasize the ecology of the region and the water cycle from
their natural spring sources along its many small rivers and
lakes, which eventually flow to the ocean. Teachers expressed
the greatest interest in examples of local geology and oceanography
that could be used in their science courses.
In conclusion, our project “Invitation to Oceanography: Divulgation
in Schools” was well accepted. The teachers who had
the chance to participate were impressed by the program. The
main challenge for the project was the limited number of people
working on it, at part time due to limited funding, and the
large amount of time involved with visiting school by school to
explain the project. Our next goals are to distribute the CDs
in Rio and Niteroi, first to the top 10 private schools as well
as in several public schools. We are also giving out the CDs in
universities that offer geography and biology degrees.
Updated news: IR’s national correspondent in Brazil, Susanna
Sichel, and collaborators at several universities in Brazil,
France, and USA have been funded by Petrobras for a major
geological study of the St. Peter and St. Paul system on the
Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Look for a first report from this project in
next year’s Newsletter.
Figure 1: Teacher workshop in Teresopolis.
InterRidge News 30 Vol. 17, 2008