Biodiversity in immersion exhibitions in science museums: implications for museum education

Abstract

This article examines the way in which biodiversity is presented in two immersive exhibitions of science museums: one from Biodome/ Canada and other from Zoobotanic Foundation/FZB/Brazil. The research methodology was qualitative and it analyzed the texts and objects of the exhibition. The theoretical framework deepened in the concept of biodiversity and environmental museography. We identified the presence of almost all approaches to biodiversity in both exhibitions, with special attention to the conservational one; the evolution approach was found only in FZB. We also verified that the environmental museography of the exhibitions is more ecocentric then anthropocentric and even less biocentric. The educational implications of these results are discussed, trying to analyze the educational role of the science museums.