Resumo

MONROY-ATA, Arcadio  e  VAZQUEZ-BENITEZ, Balbina. Xerophytic garden for science popularization. TIP [online]. 2014, vol.17, n.2, pp.155-159. ISSN 1405-888X.

In this work, a xerophytic garden was designed and established for science popularization purposes. This was made on a green area of the Facultad de Estudios Superiores Zaragoza of the National University, at the East of Mexico City. The garden design was outlined by drawing on the soil surface, a logarithmic spiral, a Vitrubius star, a fractal pentagon and a golden rectangle. For this, white painted 10 cm high stakes were buried to delimit the curves, and succulent plants were planted to remark the geometric figures. Twenty nine plant species were transplanted, with 144 total individuals, and a catch-fog mesh device was installed with a view to exhibit an atmospheric water harvesting model for plant irrigation. The science popularization of geometric concepts was made by means of guided visits. It was concluded that it is feasible to establish an urban garden without irrigation in the East of Mexico City. Nevertheless, it is necessary to strengthen the structure of geometric curves. Also, it is required to install information panels about the soil drawings and technical fact sheets on plant species in order to facilitate popularization of the underlying scientific concepts of garden design and the explanation of catch-fog device function.

Palavras-chave : Cacti; science popularization; xerophytic garden; succulent plant; golden section.