Ensino de astronomia para os anos iniciais : uma proposta a partir da observação da lua

Abstract

This research presents results of an investigation of educational pedagogy done with a group of second grade students from an Elementary School. The investigation involved observations of the Moon and educational activities used to teach about Moon phases. An overview of the academic literature on the teaching of the theme of the Moon and its phases was conducted, with a bibliographical review of theses and dissertations, journal articles, papers presented at selected conferences, and some international papers on this topic. From the literature review, it was found that there are few studies that actually address of how observation of the Moon in the sky can be used to effectively teach Moon phases to elementary school students. In this study, students observed and recorded the appearance of the Moon and its place in the sky through drawings. The drawings included the position of the Moon relative to the horizon and used observations made at the school and at their homes during part of a lunar month. Using these initial Moon observations and the student drawings, there were discussions in the classroom designed to consolidate student knowledge. In this research, the data were obtained through interviews, class records, and student observations notebooks. A control group was not used. The researcher was also the teacher of the class where the research was developed. The student observations made it possible for the students to perceive the Moon's apparent motion, as well as its change of appearance over several nights. Through classroom discussions centered on the observations, it was clear that the observations helped develop student concept knowledge of Moon phases that would be difficult to develop from classroom experiences that did not include observations. This experiential connection from the observation of the Moon fostered a relationship with the knowledge implied to the reality of nature. For the initial years, in the Astronomy teaching, this is an important link that can promote the learning of such contents, from the senses of the child and the teacher intervention in a flexible and open way.