Por uma “ciência com consciência”: interfaces da educação ambiental e do ensino de ciências nos contextos docente, discente e do material didático

Abstract

Environmental Education (EA) is considered a unifying line for sustainable development, and like this area, Science Education should be built from an environmental perspective in its various contents. Thus, the characteristics of the environmental approach demand the understanding of three axes for this research: (i) the teaching context, related to the formative processes and the role of the teacher for the formation of individuals sensitive to the ecological dimension; (ii) didactic material, especially the textbook that represents a tool of direct contact between teacher and student; (iii) the student context, in the construction of a sustainable profile, that is, a subject capable of self-understanding of the world and acting in a reflexive way. In this way, the main objective of this work is to investigate how EA is inserted in the Teaching of Sciences of the elementary school in relation to the contexts of teachers, students and didactic material. It is a quantitative qualitative research that seeks subsidy in descriptive, numerical data and statistical results to meet the proposed objectives. It is divided into a questionnaire (physical and / or digital) for teachers from the central region of Rio Grande do Sul; analysis of science textbooks (6th to 9th year of Elementary School (EF)), didactic strategies with classes of the final years of the EF of a public school in the municipality of Ibirubá / RS. The selected target audience is represented by 30 teachers who answered the questionnaire in 2014, 125 EF students (5th to 9th grade) who in 2015 declared their environmental attitudes through the "Environmental Pentacle" tool; and 104 students (6th to 8th year EF) of the same school, who in 2016 presented their conceptions of environment through the design of Mandalas Ecological. The results are distributed in the form of articles and manuscripts. Regarding the recognition of teachers' conceptions about EA concepts and practices in Science Teaching, through the resolution of the questionnaire; showed their agreement to create and use activities on EE, but the shortcomings of continuing education and the diversification of didactic planning of the theme stand out. The analysis and description of the books, selected through their availability to consult the use of teachers and students of a public school in the city of Ibirubá / RS, reveals that they adopt aspects about the environment, even if they are linked to specific contents or series / year from a collection. In view of these premises (teaching context and didactic material), suggestions for activities to stimulate criticism and reflection on human relations with the natural sphere (seed paper, bioplastic and pinhole camera) were elaborated. In addition, through a tool called Environmental Pentacle, the profile of a group of students regarding their eco-sustainable behaviors was considered, considering them, according to the data found, favorable to the environment. Likewise, the environmental conceptions of a student group were explored, and with the use of mandalled designs. The constituent elements of this were revealed (predominantly composed of natural items) and can be combined with the individual students' conceptions. Finally, this thesis, in its different facets, shows the importance of thinking about a science more sensitive to environmental parameters, that is, motivated to develop a critical conscience for the environment.