Sowing health: environmental and food education in schools of Itaqui/RS

The objective of the work was to present and discuss the results of a university extension action developed with elementary school students, in two schools in the city of Itaqui/RS, seeking to instrumentalize and instigate, in a playful way, the importance of environmental and food education as means for improving health, quality of life and citizen training. The action was developed with students from the 4th and 5th year of elementary school (8to 11 years old), divided into two stages, the first focus in gonenvironmental education and the second on food education. In the first stage, a questionnaire was applied and a conversation circle was carried out together with practical activity of sowing lettuce in egg cartons containing substrate for seedlings, in the second stage, the construction of an “illustrative garden” was proposed, aiming to promote food education. The questionnaire showed that 80% off a milies are concerned with recycling packaging, that some families grow certain vegetables in their homes and that students are aware of the importance off ruits and vegetables for healthy eating, but only 50% consume daily. With the help of the conversation wheel and practical activity, students sowed lettuce in egg cartons and took it to their homes. With the organization of the “illustrative garden” it can be seen that the most well-known vegetables were: tomatoes, carrots, beets and lettuce. Therefore, the action was relevant for students / university and students / schools, as it deals with environmental and food education, in addition to forming links between educational institutions.