São Luiz do Paraitinga is chosen for 3rd-year students’ Field Trip

By Gabriel Oliveira

The Field Trip to the historical town of São Luiz do Paraitinga allowed the 3rd-grade (Y3) students to experience aspects they had only learned in theory during their studies in the Units of Inquiry “Cities” and “Natural Resources”. In addition to cross-curricular issues ranging from Science to the Arts, they saw up close the results of the 2010 flood. Encouraged to think critically, the students had the opportunity to understand the impact of human interference in nature and how these disasters can be prevented.

Guided by the Units of Inquiry, urban planning and the relationship between man and nature served as centers for reflection. São Luiz is, historically, a very important city. Being a transit area, born from the occupation of muleteers, the location enabled the students to notice the contrast. During the colonial period, the city stood out for going against the standard of that time, monoculture, and betting on polyculture as a production model. The contrast between São Paulo and São Luiz was evident, but during the field research, the students could notice the differences between the rural and the urban, between the new and the old. They developed the awareness that they are active agents of those spaces and were encouraged to engage in the search for a less destructive relationship with nature.

Another aspect of the experience was active listening, in which the students learned about the rich folklore of Luiz and made tiaras and top hats typical of the region’s carnival. By interviewing locals, the rescue of memory, an intangible asset, was mixed with the memories of the material reconstruction that the city went through after the 2010 flood. The sensitive listening to science was also highlighted. Evoking names like Saturnino de Brito and Aziz Ab’Saber, respect for the original forest, and city planning were addressed as a way to avoid environmental disasters.

Along with listening, the students saw and acted. At the Mirante de São Luiz they applied their knowledge about the cardinal points, and in the Paçoca and Pau a Pique Workshops local memory was worked on. During the Floating on the Paraitinga River, they observed the city from another perspective, seeing the riparian forest and houses affected by the flood. 

The trip to São Luiz do Paraitinga allowed the students to enrich their reflections on the different discussions started in class, besides learning about the historical and cultural aspects of the city.