A interface entre ensino de ciências e sustentabilidade na educação básica: sequência didática embasada no elo entre teoria e prática

Abstract

Given the serious environmental crisis currently facing the planet, it is urgent that schools become spaces for discussing with students themes that directly influence their quality of life. This study aims to develop and implement a didactic sequence that integrates science education with sustainable recycling and composting practices among students in the final years of elementary school. The didactic sequence was divided into two parts: the first focused on solid waste, and the second focused on the production of a home composter. The research site was a school located in the urban area of Arraias, Tocantins. The research is bibliographic, applied, and descriptive, with its data analyzed from a qualitative descriptive perspective. Initially, a questionnaire consisting of open-ended questions was administered to the students who collaborated in the research. The questionnaires administered before the proposed activities revealed that the students were familiar with introductory aspects of composting and selective waste collection, but demonstrated a lack of knowledge regarding essential aspects of these subjects. During the practical activities, we worked with expository and dialogic classes, augmented reality through the AR in Schools digital platform, as well as a workshop on producing brooms from PET bottles and work on building a home composter with organic materials. After these stages, we administered another questionnaire after the selective waste collection and composting activities, in order to capture the students' learning after participating in the proposed activities. It was possible to perceive that the students understood not only the relevance of separating and recycling recyclable materials, but also the relevance of these actions in favor of a more sustainable planet. Furthermore, there was also a roundtable discussion with the students, in which topics such as the lack of waste separation in the city of Arraias were mentioned, as well as the need to disseminate good sustainable practices that both strengthen students' environmental awareness and reduce pressure on landfills. The study concluded that Environmental Education is an essential pillar in the dissemination of knowledge and the adoption of good practices in relation to the environment. The study also highlights the critical approach pertinent to Environmental Education, making it more connected to the need to train citizen students under a critical and emancipatory aegis, so that they become agents for multiplying more sustainable practices in contemporary society.