Violeta and the Rara Violeta and the Rara

Outdoor Science to Explore the World

Acknowledgements

First of all, thank you.... Thank you to my mother and father, for their eternal support and nourishing love. Thanks to my brother Marcelo, for encouraging me to connect with my talents unfolding so freely yours. Thanks to my colleague Christian, for his patient understanding. and wise vision. Thanks to Barbara Saavedra, for believing in my work and transmitting to me her strength and security helping me so to face this sweet challenge without hesitation. Thank you to Peter Feinsinger and his Chicken, for his selfless and loving. commitment to education for the care of the nature and human. of our magical Latin America. I especially thank those so creative names, which help to soften the relationship with sophisticated equipment, names that. I have incorporated in this book as part of the own language of the EEPE.

And of course, thank you very much for all the knowledge, suggestions, guidelines and examples embodied in the Guide, Principles and practice of teaching ecology in the courtyard of the school by Natalia Arango, María Eugenia Chaves and Peter Feinsinger that published in the year 2009 with the support of the Institute of Ecology and Biodiversity. (IEB). and the Senda Foundation Darwin. (FSD)

Finally, thanks to life and the universe for being here, now.

Everything was going well in her first days back to school. The reunion with her friends, games recess and evenings in the greenhouse with the school eco group had very happy Violeta. However, everything changed when Professor Salvatierra, in the Natural Sciences class, he told them that during that year they were going to work on the in the "scientific skills".

She didn’t know why, but Violeta had her stomach squeezed when she heard her teacher speak about the "scientific method" and even more so when told them that the next day they had to take your first scientific task. Yes. Well, she liked to learn new things, this time she thought only of numbers, tables and words rare that she could never pronounce.

During recess, as she spent her disillusionment sitting on the stool under the mayten, a little bird sat next to him. It was very strange, his eyes were red, round and large and when she chirped it sounded like a rattle.

—You’re a little weird, but cute just the same —Violeta spoke to her amicably..

—Rare —said the bird.

—¡Ah! you’re female...

—Yes, but I’m also a rare, a native bird from Chile, my scientific name is Phytotoma rare and my personal name is Lihuén, means light in Mapuche language. —explained the little bird.

—Scientific name! No please! I don’t want anything with science, very complicated for me

—claimed Violet very upset.

—But calm down, there is no reason to get angry, I can help you —said kindly the rara

—My friend Peter, an American ecologist, taught me a very entertaining and simple way of understand and apply the scientific method. Since then, I am researching everything what surrounds me, I have learned a lot. Let me tell you more...

Since time immemorial you human beings have been interested in what happens around you, as all you need to live and stay healthy, to be able to grow, learn and play they get it from the environment that surrounds them your ancestors, as your grandparents, greatgrandparents and even the oldest humans on our planet, were able to survive on earth thanks to their curiosity and enormous desire to know what was happening around them, which motivated them to explore their environment and learn from it, and thus solve the different situations that life presented them day by day.

For example, women who collected food for their families knew where and in what moment they could find the richest and most fleshy fruits.

They also knew how to collect them without damaging them and how to keep them for a while without being spoiled. The hunting men knew in what place and time they could find their prey and what were the best elements of nature to make tools, spears and arrows. And, of course, the girls and boys knew exactly what materials to make dolls and balls to play with and from which branch it was safer to hang and swing.

The key was, and still is, to try without fear of error and be attentive to the results to be able to learn. Over time, individual learning and discovery were accumulating and transforming into knowledge. So, today you know what it takes to grow potatoes, rice, tomatoes and apples, or how they can communicate between faraway places, or when a comet will pass through our sky, or what are the effects of its actions on our planet and how to take care of; it in addition to many other knowledge that has driven the development of humanity.

One way to acquire knowledge is through research, that is, by seeking information in different parts to be able to answer any question that surrounds our or to solve any problem that comes our way. And to get the information it is necessary to follow an orderly set of steps, that is, to use a method.

Scientists, for example, use the scientific method as a tool to carry out their research and get the information they need to answer your questions.

Unfortunately, many people believe that everything related to science and research is something complicated and boring, or that it is the stuff of crazy geniuses, without realizing that curiosity, the desire to explore and learn how things work, is something natural in human beings,