“PATAGOTITAN – O MAIOR DO MUNDO”: CIÊNCIA, EDUCAÇÃO E DECOLONIALIDADE EM UMA EXPOSIÇÃO DE DINOSSAUROS

Abstract

“Patagotitan - World’s Largest Dinosaur”: Science, Education and Decoloniality in a Dinosaur Exhibition. During three months, a dinosaur exhibition was held in the Central-South Zone of the city of São Paulo, Brazil. There were 21 educators serving tens of thousands of visitors from the general public, including 157 schools and 6528 students. The exhibition featured replicas of 14 species of dinosaurs found in Argentina and one dinosaur that inhabited southern Brazil, as well as six original fossils, originally from the Egidio Feruglio Paleontological Museum, located in Chubut, Argentina. Among these, the replica of the sauropod Patagotitan mayorum stands out, one of the largest dinosaurs described so far, estimated at around 37 meters in length. In this paper, we seek to report the potentiality of this type of exhibition with regard to dissemination, teaching and scientific literacy; the training of teachers in the different areas involved; and the importance of this event for education with a decolonial aspect, promoting awareness about Latin American scientific production. Keywords: Biology, scientific dissemination, decolonial education, scientific event, Geology, Museology.