THE CIRCULATORY SYSTEM OF VERTEBRATES AND INVERTEBRATES: AN EMPIRICAL RESEARCH TO INTRODUCE IN THE FOURTH CLASS THE TREATMENT OF ANIMAL MORPHOLOGY IN A COMPARATIVE KEY

It is now accepted and, indeed, required, from the literature that the student has to be an active protagonist of the construction of his knowledge, through the use of methodologies that are as close as possible to the research methods of scientific discoveries. In schools, contents of the scientific disciplines are too often presented by the teacher in the form of a lecture, and as students participate passively, they gradually lose interest in a discipline for which they initially showed great enthusiasm and without internalizing any useful content for their lifelong learning. To revive the interest in the discipline and the motivation towards the study of science, both in teachers and in pupils, it is necessary to abandon the transmission approach, which gives superficial knowledge and does not increase metacognition, through the use of the laboratory method, based on the scientific method. With this background my research, which wanted to test two experimental hypotheses, has come to life. The first hypothesis is to confirm the validity of a laboratory approach and the application of the scientific method in the teaching of biology, compared to the use of more traditional modalities, such as frontal lecture or group work based on texts. The second hypothesis checks whether it is possible and effective to treat the chosen topic, the circulatory system in vertebrates and invertebrates, inserting aspects that are usually not treated in primary school: such as comparative anatomy and histology (with the use of the optical microscope). The research involved two fourth grade of a Primary school in the north-east of Italy: one was used as an experimental group, through the use of the laboratory method, with the observation of various biological materials and histological preparations of the circulatory system, belonging to different species, while the other one as a control group. The results showed how the use of the laboratory approach in Primary school is possible and effective, also with the teaching of topics such as comparative anatomy and histology. This mode, in fact, makes the children feeling involved and made participants in the construction of their knowledge, which is extremely significant to increase motivation and, consequently, enthusiasm and interest in the discipline.