Phenotypic Plasticity of Boldo Mirim (<i>Plectranthus neochilus</i> Schlechter) within Rach of Children from Second Degree of Elementary School

Abstract

Is it possible to promote the construction of knowledge about phenotypic plasticity expressed by plants among elementary school students?" To answer this question, it was proposed to carry out experiments together with second year students of elementary school using the plant popularly known as Boldo Mirim (Plectranthus neochilus Schlechter). The objective of present study was to describe the results of the experiment performed on cuttings of Boldo Mirim raised in two types of soil [plant compost + poultry manure (3:1) or earthworm humus + bovine manure (1:1)], two types of light source (20 W lamp or sunshine) at four intensity (10%, 30%, 50%, or 100%). This experiment was attended by 21 children with ages ranging from 10 incomplete years to 10 years old. The positive experimental results showed how the light source and the nutritional richness of the soil are important determinants of plant survival and growth. The negative results involving absence of root development in plants under artificial lighting (20 W lamp) instigated the children to elaborate a hypothesis to be tested explaining this. The children's drawings made after the planting and at the end of the experiments plus the answers obtained during group discussions revealed that they were able to build knowledge about the ability of plants to respond to environmental variables such as soil type and sunshine intensity, expressing phenotypic plasticity.

Environmental Perception of 5th Year Elementary School Students through Cultivation and Phenotypic Plasticity of Plants

“…The growth patterns of Boldo Brasileiro corroborated with the results obtained by other studies that involved Boldo Mirim (Rosal et al, 2011;Lima, 2017;Sodré et al, 2018;Lima, 2019;Sodré et al, 2019). Thus, the experiments developed in the present study can be reproduced in other schools to approach aspects of environmental importance through the expression of phenotypic plasticity expressed by plants in response to environmental variables.…”

“…Analyzes of soil composition revealed that the compound of earthworm humus + bovine manure presented a double of the percentage of carbon when compared to the soil containing plant compounds and poultry manure. As expected, these results confirm that soil type 1 contained more micronutrients than soil type 2, as observed by Sodré et al (2018).…”

“…Through environmental education, students can feel and understand the importance of the natural resources existing on the planet and the relationship with all living beings when they participate in activities that involve the observations of animals and plants. In addition, the results of experiments necessary to understand nature (Adams, 2009), such as phenotypic plasticity of plants due to environmental variation, will assist this understanding (Sodré et al, 2018;Sodré et al, 2019).…”

“…Experiments using a plant of the genus Plectranthus were useful for demonstrating for COLUNI's 2nd year of the elementary school student the ability of plants to respond to environmental variables and express phenotypic plasticity (Sodré et al, 2018). Therefore, we adapted the strategies developed by this study to answer the questions of the teacher.…”

“…The children prepared the type 2 soil. They knew that this latter soil had higher concentrations of the micronutrients compared to soil type 1, especially, phosphorus, and manganese due to the poultry manure (Sodré et al, 2018).…”