Abraham Trembley (1710–1784) and the Creature That Defies Classification: Nature of Science and Inquiry Through a Historical Narrative

Abstract

The chapter presents a historical narrative of a case study of the history of biology. The narrative tells the story of the studies on freshwater “polyps” (Hydra) conducted by the Genevan naturalist Abraham Trembley, in the first half of the eighteenth century. The historical narrative is part of the instructional resources of a teaching learning sequence (TLS) using an inquiry approach produced for biology teacher training courses and secondary school students. The objectives of the TLS are to facilitate the learning of conceptual, procedural and attitudinal contents related to the current knowledge on the reproductive biology and to foster the development of informed conceptions about the nature of science using an explicit and reflective approach. The authors used design-based research and the achievement of design principles to develop the narrative and the TLS. Considering the state of the art in the area, the narrative proposed here is an educational innovation that can be extended to similar contexts, promoting more engagement and motivation to learn science through an authentic and historical context and inquiry learning.