Paleontología y su didáctica: diseño y aplicación de actividades basadas en yacimientos cretácicos y sus fósiles para alumnos de Educación Primaria

Abstract

This work evaluates and presents benefits of including content about Palaeontology in Primary Education. It is justified the interest which would be provided, for both children and society as a whole, when including Palaeontology as a didactic topic. After consulting references about the background of the didactics and outreach of this science, and the experience obtained by participating in fieldwork, and the outreach sessions and activities in the Cretaceous sites of the Hoces de Beteta and Tamajón (Cuenca and Guadalajara, centre of Spain), a specific didactic proposal has been developed in this work. It includes various palaeontological disciplines in which the content of ten activities are based on. These activities have been designed considering the Extremely Intense Interests and the Multiple Intelligences Theory. After putting the didactic proposal into practice, it has been concluded that the palaeontological sites are not only a scientific resource, but also a didactical tool, and that the transmission of palaeontological content considering the Extremely Intense Interests and the Multiple Intelligence Theory should be beneficial for the teaching-learning process in Primary Education, and that all of this would has a positive effect on society by raising awareness about the importance of the protection of Palaeontological Heritage and put into value of the Geoconservation.