Booth Id:
ANIM001T
Category:
Animal Sciences
Year:
2018
Finalist Names:
Cabezas, Sofia (School: Liceo No. 1 Jose Maria Campos)
Cassarino, Manuel (School: Liceo No. 1 Jose Maria Campos)
Abstract:
The main goal of this project is promoting conservation of Río Negro (Black River) fish diversity by helping people to know and identify local species. A practical and users-friendly tool was developed to transmit information to society, as a way to appreciate and preserve fishes, a profitable resource threatened by human activities. A mobile device app was created to help users to query information, report species records, and thereby establishing a feedback with databases. Information was collected by bibliography research and interviewing experts, for telling apart Orders, Families and Species. Then ID cards were designed, including physical characters, abundance index (for 74 species) and a warning sign indicating whether the fish may be caught. Dichotomous keys were used to diagram information. Database created is crucial for environmental education, oriented to future generations. Data collected was often disaccording with those provided by local environmental agencies (DINARA and MGAP), hence doubts emerged about the reliability of gathered information, and its possible causes. A group of computer sciences students was contacted in order to program de app. Project results were presented to high school students and happened to reveal interest in town hall authorities, who suggested using the app as a tourist resource for the area.
The team took part in State and National Sciences Fair in Uruguay and was invited to participate in a similar fair in Argentina. The next step is applying for grants to develop the app, so people can use it for free.