20.03.2023

4th-grade students visit Paranapiacaba to discuss the different landscapes

By Gabriel Oliveira

The 4th grade (Y4) visited the city of Paranapiacaba (SP) to enrich their investigation about the Unit of Inquiry “Landscapes”. From the main tourist attractions, the students were able to observe the local landscape, analyzing the human effects of changing and conserving nature.

One of the pillars of the reflection instigated by the trip was the contrast between the rural and the urban. The first point of exploration was a trail inside the Atlantic Forest, where they got immersed in a place of environmental preservation. In Vila Inglesa de Paranapiacaba, the concepts seen in the classroom were revisited and deepened. The differences within the town itself were discussed starting from the urban organization, between what developed spontaneously, following the expansion of the village, and what was planned. The students problematized the issue of water supply, which, being dependent on the preservation of the local forest, goes through frequent problems.

The economic issue was linked to the Vila Ferroviária, considered an “open-air museum”, fundamental for the coffee economy and for the enrichment of São Paulo in the 19th century. The 4th-grade students reflected on the role of this period in the changes in the urban and rural landscape, and also on the influence of Portuguese and English immigration in the city’s culture.

Working with the definition of the Brazilian geographer Milton Santos that the landscape is “everything we see, what our vision reaches”, the students finished the Field Trip with the production of various drawings depicting what was observed.