The use of ludic activities to spread the importance of the Paleontological Park of Itaboraí, Rio de Janeiro state, Brazil

Abstract:

Established within the Itaborai basin in 1995, Sao Jose’s Paleontological Park was created aiming the preservation of local history, outcroppings, and fossils uncovered during the prospecting for limestone. To further the local community’s understanding of the Park’s significance, a number of activities were developed and implemented utilizing well-known games. These games were adapted to a teachable level targeting different age groups and divided as follows: (1) Domino game - connection between images and texts about the basin’s history, researchers, and biota; (2) Memory game - fossil images helped the community become familiar with the biota that inhabited the area more than 60 million years ago; (3) Puzzles - artistic images of fossils discovered in the basin; (4) Board game - named “Evolution of life on Earth”, this game highlighted some of the changes occurred throughout the basin’s evolution; (5) In the Lab with a Paleontologist - this was the activity drawing most of the interest. Plaster casts simulating rock were prepared. The objective was to uncover the fossil sample inside the rock utilizing proper paleontological tools. All activities achieved the desired goal and draw great interest from teens and children. The suggested activities may be applied and adapted to different scenarios.

Keywords: Ludic games; Itaboraí basin; Sao Jose’s Paleontological Park