Abstract
There is a need for changes in school environments, in order to provide important knowledge and information on emerging issues that affect children and adolescents, such as parasitic diseases. This work had the objective of describing an alternative way for the teaching of Parasitology performed by undergraduate students in the Biological Sciences course. This study was carried out in the Vale do Jiquiriçá-Bahia region, where it investigated the opinion of the graduates, who had participated in the activity, and of teachers from different schools on the play methodology used. The study involved elementary and high school teachers, who, like the undergraduates, answered a questionnaire about the importance of play in the teaching of Parasitology. The proposal consists of explaining the content with the help of posters containing the information, followed by the participation of students in games with challenging situations. So far, six versions of the activity in schools have been carried out, covering a total of 19 themes, covering seven municipalities in the Vale do Jiquiriçá-Bahia, totaling 24 school communities and an audience that exceeds 8,000 spectators. A total of 55 licensees of different versions responded to the questionnaire, out of a total of 166 who participated. All respondents stated that their academic training was successful, either because they feel more confident when speaking in public, having helped to exercise their degree better, having learned the content more easily or by helping in the teaching-learning process. All 21 Science and Biology teachers who answered the questionnaires, said that the students were interested, either by showing greater interest in the topics, having learned the content or even when teaching what they learned by exchanging knowledge with each other. In the assessment of those involved, this activity is an important precursor of knowledge, as it promotes constructivist opportunities with significant learning evidence through playfulness, actively acting in the learning process and the possibility of changes in the food and personal hygiene actions of the school community.