ABSTRACT
Chile is unique because of its diverse extreme environment, ranging from arid climates in the north to polar climates in Patagonia. Microorganisms that live in these environments are called extremophiles, and these habitats experience intense ecosystem changes owing to climate warming. Most studies of extremophiles have focused on their biotechnological potential; however, no study has examined how students describe extremophiles. Therefore, we were interested in answering the following question: How do schoolchildren living in extreme environments describe their environments and extremophiles? We performed an ethnographic study and analyzed the results of 347 representative drawings of participants aged 12-16 years from three schools located in the extreme environments of Chile San Pedro de Atacama (hyper-arid, 2,400 m), Lonquimay (forest, 925 m), and Punta Arenas (sub-Antarctic, 34 m). The social representation approach was used to collect data, and systemic networks were used to organize and systematize the drawings. The study found that, despite differences between extreme environments, certain natural elements, such as trees and the sun, are consistently represented by schoolchildren. The analysis revealed that the urban and rural categories were the two main categories identified. The main systemic networks were rural-sun (21,1%) for hyper-arid areas, urban-tree (14,1%) for forest areas, and urban-furniture (23,4%) for sub-Antarctic areas. When the results were analyzed by sex, we found a statistically significant difference for the rural category in the 7th grade, where girls mentioned being more rural than boys. Students living in hyper-arid areas represented higher extremophile drawings, with 57 extremophiles versus 20 and 39 for students living in sub-Antarctic and forest areas, respectively. Bacteria were extremophiles that were more represented. The results provide evidence that natural variables and semantic features that allow an environment to be categorized as extreme are not represented by children when they are focused on and inspired by the environment in which they live, suggesting that school literacy processes impact representations of their environment because they replicate school textbooks and not necessarily their environment.
Subject(s)
Extremophiles , Male , Child , Female , Humans , Chile , Ecosystem , Extreme Environments , Biotechnology , TreesABSTRACT
Llayta is a dietary supplement that has been used by rural communities in Perú and northern Chile since pre-Columbian days. Llayta is the biomass of colonies of a Nostoc cyanobacterium grown in wetlands of the Andean highlands, harvested, sun-dried and sold as an ingredient for human consumption. The biomass has a substantial content of essential amino acids (58% of total amino acids) and polyunsaturated fatty acids (33% total fatty acids). This ancestral practice is being lost and the causes were investigated by an ethnographic approach to register the social representations of Llayta, to document how this Andean feeding practice is perceived and how much the community knows about Llayta. Only 37% of the participants (mostly adults) have had a direct experience with Llayta; other participants (mostly children) did not have any knowledge about it. These social responses reflect anthropological and cultural tensions associated with a lack of knowledge on Andean algae, sites where to find Llayta, where it is commercialized, how it is cooked and on its nutritional benefits. The loss of this ancestral feeding practice, mostly in northern Chile, is probably associated with cultural changes, migration of the rural communities, and very limited access to the available information. We propose that Llayta consumption can be revitalized by developing appropriate educational strategies and investigating potential new food derivatives based on the biomass from the isolated Llayta cyanobacterium.
ABSTRACT
Through a methodology for describing and analyzing a process of social representations around the core theme disciplinary Blood Donation, assesses factors that shape social representations in the teaching-learning process of Medical Technology mention Clinical Laboratory, Hematology and Blood Bank the University of Antofagasta, in terms of their implications in the learning that is expected to develop. It is very important and necessary to provide knowledge and understanding about how students perceive cognitively concepts in the discipline of a professional nature of his career, because as far as we know how to build and manage information, it may devise strategies for how to combine and learn new concepts related to blood donation. We conclude that the meanings of the obtained data - structured and organized-identify as a allow elements of the social representation Donate Blood to the following words: life, pain, accidents, help, person, and love Finally validates the experience of knowing and methodological describe a social representation, from the social worlds with which our students enter our classrooms.
Mediante una metodología de descripción y análisis procesual de las representaciones sociales en tomo al núcleo temático disciplinario Donación de sangre, se evalúan elementos que estructuran las representaciones sociales en el proceso de enseñanza-aprendizaje de Tecnología Médica mención Laboratorio Clínico, Hematología y Banco de Sangre de la Universidad de Antofagasta, valorando su implicancia en el aprendizaje que se espera desarrollar. Es muy importante y necesario aportar conocimiento y comprensión acerca de la manera como los estudiantes perciben cognitivamente los conceptos en esta disciplina de carácter profesional de su Carrera, porque en la medida en que conozcamos cómo construyen y manejan la información, se podrán diseñar estrategias que favorezcan la manera de presentar, combinar y aprender nuevos conceptos relacionados con la donación de sangre. Se concluye que las significaciones de los datos obtenidos - estructurados y organizados permiten identificar como elementos constitutivos de la representación social Donar sangre a las siguientes palabras: vida, dolor, accidentes, ayuda, persona, y amor. Finalmente se valida la experiencia metodológica de conocer y describir una representación social, proveniente de los mundos sociales con los cuales nuestros estudiantes universitarios ingresan a nuestras aulas.
