Astronomia no ensino de ciências : uma proposta potencialmente significativa

Abstract

This study evaluates the implementation of Potentially Meaningful Teaching Unit (PMTU) of Astronomy in the discipline of science in four classes of sixth-ninth year of elementary school in a field school of the state of Caxias do Sul. The primary motivator this work is to provide education to students engaging in a observational and experimental strategy as an opportunity to qualify the teaching and learning of science. The theoretical basis of the work is the Theory of Meaningful Learning. In this theory, prior knowledge is the single most important variable for the significant learning of new knowledge. Therefore, identification of prior knowledge of the students is an essential requirement to develop teaching sequences with the potential to promote the occurrence of meaningful learning. The research developed in this work is of applied nature with a qualitative approach and analysis of qualitative data used the technique of discursive textual analysis. As to the objectives, research is descriptive and interpretive and technical procedures are of the research participant. The four PTMU applied aspects relating to the phases of the moon, stars and constellations, seasons of the year and planets. Different evaluation tools were used as the diagnostic evaluation applied before and after the development of activities, records collected by the teacher during activities about attitudes and conceptions of students and materials produced by the students over the activities such as teaching models and written materials. The results show that students, in general, demonstrated significant improvements in the predisposition to learn and to understand the concepts studied, because they could identify them, differentiate them progressively and reconcile them in order to apply the knowledge related to astronomy in new contexts. The data collected are thus evidence of the occurrence of meaningful learning.