Unraveling the microbiological world: practical experiences in public high schools in Brazil

Abstract

Microbiology plays a fundamental role in studying the importance of microorganisms in the human body, environment, food and in other aspects covered by this science. Finding a connection between microbiology and everyday life is not an easy task. This study aimed to insert two microbiology practices (inoculation of microorganisms from common objects and Gram staining) for High School students from two Brazilian public schools and to evaluate the importance of these practices in the development of these students' scientific knowledge. In total, approximately 65 students from High School classes were included in the actions developed by this study. After the practices and application of the surveys, it was possible to obtain interesting data about the students' perception as 85% of the students said they were very interested in the practice’s contents. The practical activities provided students with the opportunity to observe and study microorganisms in a controlled environment and have the potential to awaken the student's interest in learning this subject.