Contribuição para o aprendizado de evolução biológica: conceito evolutivo de Fitness

Abstract

In the context of Evolutionary Biology, the term Fitness can be translated as “degree of aptitude”, or “adaptive value”, a central concept for understanding this discipline. This term refers to how much a characteristic or set of characteristics, biological and/or behavioral, can contribute to the ability of living beings to survive and/or reproduce. It is the extent to which a trait of the living being affects its reproductive success. The Theory of Evolution (ET) is recognized as the guiding paradigm of Biological Sciences and in national curriculum documents it is highlighted as the central axis of this Science. Despite this, this theory is neglected in classrooms, both for lack of mastery of content by teachers and students, and for philosophical-religious conflicts that exist between it and common sense. In the ideas of Brazilian common sense, there is a greater connection with religious explanations about the processes of life diversification and ET presents itself as a possibility of naturalistic and materialistic understanding of biodiversity. The present work aims to contribute to the understanding of undergraduates in Biological Sciences about ET, bringing the discussion about Biological Evolution using the evolutionary concept of Fitness. Based on the Theory of Meaningful Learning (TAS) a Didactic Sequence is elaborated in order to offer a pedagogical tool for use in Biology classes. In the application of this material, a survey of prior knowledge is carried out before the pedagogical intervention and another, of knowledge acquired after the activities. For this, the 22 volunteers individually prepare brainstorms and concept maps, in each of these two moments. After this stage, there is a dialogued expository class focusing on the history of ET construction. Then there is a discussion on a text that deals with the concept of Evolutionary Fitness and a game on the same theme is presented. For data analysis, the most frequent terms used by the participants are highlighted and it is noted that in the initial material the participants highlight Darwin's name and terms related to taxonomy. A possible condition of the predominance of terms linked to taxonomy is the fact that the participants are studying the subject Taxonomy and Phylogenetic Systematics during the period of the research. However, they are also studying Ecology and, despite this, have few terms related to this area, for example, the word Niche, appears in only two initial brainstorms and in two initial concept maps. In the final brainstorms and concept maps, there is an increase to nine citations of Lamarck's name, which before is only cited once, and terms like Use and Disuse go from one to four citations. Qualitative results indicate that the term Fitness still escapes the understanding of the participants, as it is only present in the final brainstorms, but absent in the final concept maps, indicating difficulties in relating this term to the concepts of evolution. However, the appearance of the term shows that subsumers may have been built, which could be used by the participants in other learning opportunities. Finally, concept maps are scored and categorized, both initial and final. Most concept maps show an increase in score and the few that show a decrease demonstrate the participants' lack of skill in building the maps. After a new analysis of the material, the recurrent presence of words and/or terms related to the construction of the evolutionary theory is noted, thus generating a new categorization regarding the presence of a social-historical context regarding ET. In half of the final concept maps there is some reference to historical contexts regarding the construction of this theory. Thus, the Didactic Sequence is effective in collaborating with the participants' understanding of the process of elaborating scientific knowledge.