Mind the gaps: from formal to informal education - from university to society

Education is an inalienable right of human beings and a fundamental requirement for individuals to have access to goods and services available in society. A formal education hierarchically structured with a chronologically graded ‘education system’, run from primary school through the university. In turn, informal education is a truly lifelong process and enables individuals to acquire attitudes, values, skills and knowledge from daily experience. This work shows how a group of university students enrolled in the graduation program of Biology and Geology at University of Minho, Braga, Portugal, can learn some biochemical subjects by creating 3D pieces. These are both relevant for students´ learning of the particular scientific topic under study but also for promoting and disseminating some informal knowledge about the same topic to different public. In fact, the created objects were exhibited in a public library during 15 days, on behalf of the celebration of The World Water Day, promoted yearly by the United Nations on the 22nd of March. Simultaneously, a set of hands-on activities designed for children between 6 and 10 years old and having as theme “Water – Value the Drop!” was promoted during a Saturday morning of the same week, in collaboration with an association of the undergraduate students enrolled in the degree of Applied Biology, at the same University.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Um 100 número de Scientiae em objetos do dia a dia

info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Da Universidade para a Comunidade - a água que é de todos

info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Modelling the In vitro growth of phytopathogenic filamentous fungi and Oomycetes: The gompertz parameters as robust indicators of propolis antifungal action

Propolis is a resinous mixture produced by honeybees, mainly from plant exudates. With a rich chemical composition including many phenolic compounds, mostly responsible for its biological properties, namely antimicrobial ones, propolis may be a promising alternative to synthetic pesticides. The study of propolis from the south of Portugal and of its potential against phytopathogenic agents are still very recent and different methodological approaches hinder a comparison of efficacies. In this context, we aimed to test the value of a mathematical model for the multiparametric characterization of propolis’ antifungal action on solid medium assays. An ethanol extract (EE) of a propolis sample harvested in 2016 from Alves (A16) was characterized in terms of phenolic composition and antimicrobial potential against five phytopathogenic species. A16.EE (500–2000 µg/mL) inhibited the mycelial growth of all the species, with Phytophthora cinnamomi and Biscogniauxia mediterranea being the most susceptible and Colletotrichum acutatum being the least affected. The Gompertz mathematical model proved to be a suitable tool for quantitatively describing the growth profiles of fungi and oomycetes, and its parameters exhibit a high level of discrimination. Our results reveal that propolis extracts may have potential applications beyond traditional uses, particularly within the agri-food sector, allowing beekeepers to make their businesses more profitable and diversified.FCT -Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia(UIDB/04050/2020

Do ponto ao espaço: contributo do croché para a matemática do planeta Terra

O projeto "Ponto a Ponto enche a Ciência o Espaço" assenta numa iniciativa intergeracional colaborativa e evidencia a relação entre a Biologia e a Matemática no âmbito da geometria hiperbólica. As atividades desenvolvidas têm por base uma Instalação em croché que recria um recife em coral e procuram proporcionar aos seus participantes ambientes interdisciplinares de ensino e aprendizagem ricos na diversidade, estimulantes e desafiantes, que lhes permitam desenvolver a sua capacidade para explorar, conjeturar e raciocinar logicamente. O tema da Geometria, neste caso particular da geometria hiperbólica, propicia o desenvolvimento dessas competências ao requerer a aprendizagem dos diversos conceitos geométricos, das suas relações e propriedades, aliadas a capacidades, entre outras, de visualização espacial, de raciocínio e de argumentação, identificadas como fundamentais (Vale, 2012).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Propolis: A complex natural product with a plethora of biological activities that can be explored for drug development

The health industry has always used natural products as a rich, promising, and alternative source of drugs that are used in the health system. Propolis, a natural resinous product known for centuries, is a complex product obtained by honey bees from substances collected from parts of different plants, buds, and exudates in different geographic areas. Propolis has been attracting scientific attention since it has many biological and pharmacological properties, which are related to its chemical composition. Several in vitro and in vivo studies have been performed to characterize and understand the diverse bioactivities of propolis and its isolated compounds, as well as to evaluate and validate its potential. Yet, there is a lack of information concerning clinical effectiveness. The goal of this review is to discuss the potential of propolis for the development of new drugs by presenting published data concerning the chemical composition and the biological properties of this natural compound from different geographic origins

Searching for chemical elements: a multidisciplinary activity in the 150th anniversary of the Periodic Table of Chemical Elements

[Excerpt] 2019 is the 150th anniversary of the Periodic Table of Chemical Elements and has therefore been proclaimed the "International Year of the Periodic Table of Chemical Elements (IYPT2019)" by the United Nations General Assembly and UNESCO [1]. A working tool very useful to various professionals and in diverse scientific areas, this table would not exist if someone had not distributed and ordered the chemical elements according to the value of their atomic weights. The father of the Periodic Table, the Russian chemist Dmitri Mendeleev (1834-1907), was so visionary that his Table allows housing not only the known chemical elements at that time but also the ones still unknown that came to be discovered or synthesized. When we come across this Table, with so many chemical elements, we ask ourselves how we use them and where we can find each of them, in our real world

What is Science made of

Science education, which deals with the sharing and communication of science contents, processes and results with people not belonging to the scientific communities, is being increasingly considered a matter of national concern and a priority in the educational agendas of several countries. Promoting and enhancing scientific literacy of citizens is currently a major mission to modern societies, as it is believed that it will contribute to promote and train for a better informed, as well as a more conscious, critical and committed citizenship (Fiolhais, 2011). But the education for this scientific literacy is also a great challenge as target individuals may be very diverse, either in terms of age or in what concerns knowledge backgrounds, and can range from children to adults within the general public. The language, the format and the way this communication/ education is made should obviously take into consideration the public profiles to which is addressed, being as clear, accurate and demystified as possible. Also, several studies have geared to the view that scientific literacy is best taught by seeing science education as “education through science” as opposed to “science through education.” (Holbrook and Rannikmae, 2009) Although science and technology are ubiquitous in our everyday lives, their role and impacts are not perceived equally by all citizens. For a large part of the population, science, in particular, is still something unknown, often complex, strange and distant — being seen as something intangible for those not directly related to the scientific arena. For others, scientists are still seen as a distracted figure wearing a white tap and glasses fully dedicated to the pursuit of knowledge, though this image is gradually disappearing from the nowadays collective imagination. And what is Science made of? Is it possible to get a clear, precise and instantaneous response? Probably not! Much of what happens in science and in scientific research is still seen by many as pure magic, something transcendental. However it is important to discredit such stereotypes, throwing light on scientists´ work, science tools as well as on the human skills and qualities that make science happens. With this goal, we idealized and prepared an exhibition entitled “What is Science made of", aiming to create a new relationship between science and the general public, in an appealing, innovative and challenging way. "What is Science made of" is a set of twelve images, each one starting from a common laboratory object. The images represent a group of words expressing concepts and values that ideally mirror the relationship between science and scientists. In this work we justify the choice of the twelve words, describe the design and assembly of the set of images as well as its exhibition and the public receptiveness and reactions to such initiative.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Portuguese propolis: a potenial source of environmentally friendly fungicides

"2nd Propolis Conference Special Issue"The need to increase food production to feed an increasingly growing world population has led to an intensive use of pesticides. Globally, 4.6 million tons of chemical pesticides are sprayed into the environment every year1 . Out of the total consumption of pesticides, 17.5% are in the form of fungicides. However, pesticides have undesirable characteristics, such as the development of pathogen resistance and long degradation periods, and negative impacts on the environment, like soil and water pollution, bioaccumulation in the food chain, toxicity to non-target organisms and public health problems2 . Therefore, new environmentally friendly natural products, which are effective, safe, biodegradable and leave no harmful residues are needed. Propolis is a natural resinous mixture made by honeybees (particularly Apis mellifera L.) from various plant sources and processed with salivary secretions. More than 300 different compounds have been identified so far in propolis, including several bioactive compounds such as flavonoids and phenolic acids and derivatives, which are characteristic of plant secondary metabolism and are related with diverse biological properties like antimicrobial and antioxidant activities3 . In this work we evaluated the antifungal activity of ethanolic extracts (EE) from Portuguese propolis samples against phytopathogenic fungi species responsible for considerable damage in several economically important crops. Results showed that different propolis samples have different fungitoxic efficiencies but also that different species exhibit different susceptibilities. Globally, these findings suggest that propolis EE can be explored as source of biofungicides for application in a more sustainable agriculture management. In order to evaluate this propolis application, its phytotoxicity will be studied using in vitro flax plants (Linum usitatissimum L.).This work is supported by: European Investment Funds by FEDER/COMPETE/POCI– Operational Competitiveness and Internationalization Programme, under Project POCI-01-0145-FEDER-006958 and National Funds by FCT - Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology, under the project UID/AGR/04033/2013