Imagens de satélites no auxílio da educação ambiental: o estudo da sub-bacia do Rio Vacacaí-Mirim com alunos da Escola Estadual Professora Margarida Lopes

Abstract

The use of natural resources by man has caused intense degradation of the environment and therefore society’s concern about environmental problems, so changing habits is something necessary. In this context, environmental education helps to make these changes possible. More than ever, new technologies are getting space in our homes, offices, and schools. In this sense, seeking to use these technologies as a teaching resource, this paper had the main goal of getting students into contact with Google Earth satellite’s images in order to help them to understand environmental problems related to Vacacaí-mirim hydrographic sub-basin. Environmental education as education in a general sense needs to dynamic, because of that, thinking about innovative teaching methodologies as well as innovative educational materials are essential. This research was based on the inductive method with an applied nature. The project was developed in the state school Professora Margarida Lopes (in Santa Maria city, Brazil), where a questionnaire was applied to a group of teenagers and adults students in order to have a preliminary assessment what would be covered by the research. Later on, an informal conversation about environmental issues with emphasis on Vacacaí-mirim sub-basin was conducted by the researcher. After that, the students were taken to the laboratory where a work on how to use satellite images was carried out. The results of this laboratory work were evaluated by a final questionnaire. Some of these results are presented and discussed in this paper.