O uso do teatro para introdução da Astronomia no ensino médio

Abstract

The active participation of students in activities that make sense to them is a very promising alternative to make Physics teaching more interesting and accessible. For that, students must be engaged in creative processes, through which they can act as young scientists communicating science. Another important factor in this process is the contextualization of subjects to be learned in the classroom with their daily lives, even though they have a more theoretical character, through theories and mathematical models, or a more observational character, through experiments or analysis of natural phenomena. Learning science through theater has the potential to bring together science and art inquiry. Students can learn science in a creative way while implementing a theatrical performance related to scientific concepts. In this work we use theater as a teaching methodology to introduce astronomy concepts in high school. We developed the script for a play called “Crazy System”, which was presented at a science fair at a private school in Mogi Guaçu city at São Paulo state. In the theatrical performance we explore concepts such as the geocentric and heliocentric systems, the movements of the Sun, Earth and Moon, days, nights, seasons, solar and lunar eclipses, tides, among others. The play was conducted by the teacher and the students themselves and presented to a general audience, quite diverse, in a playful and fun way. With this proposal it was possible to make the students understand the scientific concepts and the phenomena addressed, as well as to develop a spirit of cooperation and teamwork, allowing them to actively participate in the negotiation of the scientific concepts covered in the play, developing creative and thinking skills. Furthermore, as a dissemination activity, the students' theatrical performance contributed significantly to bring the school closer to society and to develop their own social and entrepreneurial skills.