Raptor pellets as evidence in an inquiry-based teaching. Students’ perceptions on what they have learnt and felt

Abstract

In this paper we try to make the best use of raptor pellets in science education, which are usually used in the classroom to teach students to dissect and classify their content (bones, hairs, feathers, etc.), through the design of an Inquiry-based activities sequence. From an authentic problem (disappearance of the Iberian imperial eagleof Doñana National Parkand and changes in their diet) and the search for evidence-based explanations, scientific contents about trophic networks and knowledge about how the practices of science work are learned. The evaluation of the sequence after implementing it with Secondary School students, in terms of students perceptions about their learnings and emotions felt, shows that it has had an influence on them, since they: perceive that the sequence is contextualized in a real problem, they express the greater learning obtained with the sequence as the utility of the raptor pellets as evidence for scientists to draw conclusions, and they recognize having mainly felt interest and concentration as the most remarkable emotions associated with the sequence. In conclusion, it is exciting to learn biological contents by inquiry. Teachers and students must be aware of these emotions so that they do not go unnoticed.