<span>In the northwest of Córdoba, taxa of Cactaceae represent an important resource that contributes to the subsistence and daily life of local people, being winter particularly hard for people’s life and animal production, and it is almost impossible to grow rain-fed crops all year round. The aim of this work was to recover and systematize local botanical knowledge, emphasizing the diversity of cactus taxa used, associated management practices, and valorization of these plants by residents of the study area. Here we report a list of 13 native and naturalized taxa, with their vernacular names and their uses. We recorded 12 types of uses and six management practices. Finally, we found that locals valued cacti as important or very important for their usefulness as a subsistence resource (forage and food) and for their ornamental value (aesthetic and economic). Therefore, the botanical knowledge of some people on these taxa represents useful future information for the entire population and for persons dealing with management and conservation plans of arid environments</span>

Background and aims: The valuation, use and management practices of natural resources of small producers, in general rely on local ecological knowledge (LEK). In order to compare the communities of two physiographic units: Salinas Grandes and Serrano System, the study of LEK on cacti was discussed. M&M: We performed 21 interviews with key informants about diversity, uses and valuation. Results: On the one hand, in Salinas Grandes one use and management practice associated with traditions for each taxon were mentioned at least; on the other hand, less types of uses were mentioned by Serrano System's informants. Conclusions: In this place, uses related to tourism and commercialization highlight. Residents of Salinas Grandes, who live in extreme aridity conditions and have scarce herbaceous resources available, conserve knowledge linked to traditions which is necessary to ensure their social reproduction, and the Cactaceae appear as key resources for their subsistence. Those of the Serrano System, which have a greater diversity of forage resources, can offer other services and reorient their knowledge towards new activities. This suggest the flexibility of this knowledge (LEK), which allows adjustments to deal with contextual change situations.reSumen Introducción y objetivos: La valoración, uso y manejo de los recursos naturales por parte de pequeños productores se sustenta en el conocimiento ecológico local (CEL). Con el objeto de comparar entre sí las comunidades de dos unidades fisiográficas: Salinas Grandes y Sistema Serrano, abordamos el estudio del CEL sobre las cactáceas. M&M: Realizamos 21 entrevistas a informantes claves sobre diversidad, usos y valoración. Resultados: En Salinas Grandes nos mencionaron por lo menos un uso para cada taxón y formas de manejo asociadas a tradiciones; en cambio, los informantes del Sistema Serrano mencionaron menos tipos de usos y cobraron relevancia otros tipos relacionados al turismo y la comercialización. Conclusiones: Por un lado, los pobladores de Salinas Grandes, que viven en condiciones de aridez extrema y con escasos recursos herbáceos, conservan conocimientos ligados a tradiciones que son necesarios para asegurar su reproducción social, donde las Cactáceas aparecen como recursos claves para su subsistencia. Por otra parte, los del Sistema Serrano, que cuentan con mayor diversidad de recursos forrajeros, pueden ofrecer otros servicios y reorientan sus conocimientos hacia nuevas actividades, donde se evidencia la flexibilidad de estos saberes (dentro del CEL) que permite ajustes a las situaciones de cambio contextual. PalabraS clave

In the post-truth era, one challenge facing science education is the circulation of fake news that distorts the information available for decision-making on issues that have a scientific basis and are controversial for society. In this work, we aimed at designing a learning environment with the objective of equipping students with skills that allow them to deal with socio-scientific issues (SSI) in an infodemic context. To this end, we proposed an educational innovation through design-based research, which was oriented to the treatment of information disseminated in the media and social networks related to COVID-19. We divided this information into four major constructs: virus and disease dynamics; pandemic and environmental crisis; hygiene and protocols; and vaccines, potential solutions, and pharmaceutical industry. On the basis of the activities of the didactic sequence, which included class discussion, interviews with the immediate environment, audiovisual productions, and a final plenary, we identified criteria that students applied to trust or not trust the circulating information and a series of strategies to corroborate the information. In addition, framing COVID-19 as an SSI allowed the discussion of curricular content in science and on sociocultural dimensions that cross the pandemic. Based on the implementation of the teaching–learning sequence, we conclude that the proposed activities favored reflection on critical thinking and awareness of the responsibilities they have as potential disseminators and/or generators of information.