Relating natural and cultural objects: an ecocultural narrative for Education at the Science Museum of the University of Coimbra

Museum objects serve as powerful catalysts for research, learning, and advancement of human knowledge. This study selected six specimens and artefacts from the Zoology, Anthropology, Botany, Physics, Academic, and Mineralogy and Geology collections of the Science Museum of the University of Coimbra. By focusing on their identities and characteristics, a multidisciplinary narrative was developed, exploring their significance in the context of human interaction with nature, as well as the cultural, social, and historical realities they embody. Through an innovative educational communication approach, these six specimens were linked by common features: the hippopotamus skeleton alongside bone replicas carved from orange wood; natural fibres from a funerary mask used in Zombo (formerly Portuguese Congo); and the insignia of Arthur Exell, who joined the 1937 Angolan expedition led by Luís Carrisso, collecting Welwitschia mirabilis Hook.f. from the Namibe/Moçâmedes desert, a living fossil whose adaptive morphology was eventually examined with a field microscope, and a mineral with malleable properties used as a tool by a past civilization. Six specimens become protagonists in a narrative that bridges natural and cultural histories, underscoring the essential role of museums in education by offering dynamic real-world case studies to learning.