Educação ambiental no ensino de Física Térmica: uma análise dos livros do PNLD 2026 à luz da BNCC

Abstract

Environmental Education is a cross-cutting theme established by Brazilian educational legislation and by the National Common Curricular Base (BNCC), requiring different fields of knowledge to contribute to students’ scientific, civic, and socioenvironmental education. In this context, Thermal Physics has considerable potential for discussing phenomena related to energy transformations, climate change, the use of fossil fuels, and energy efficiency. Accordingly, this study aimed to analyze how Thermal Physics contents presented in Physics textbooks approved by the 2026 National Textbook and Teaching Materials Program (PNLD) incorporate the principles of Environmental Education and promote contextualized and critical learning about contemporary environmental issues. The research is qualitative in nature and based on documentary analysis, adopting Bardin’s Content Analysis as its methodological framework. The corpus consisted of the textbook collections Física por Toda Parte and 360° Física, analyzed in light of the conceptual foundations of Thermal Physics, the principles of Critical Environmental Education, and the guidelines established by the BNCC and the Pedagogical Framework of the PNLD 2026. The material exploration was organized into three analytical dimensions: conceptual, didactic-pedagogical, and formative. These dimensions enabled the identification, coding, and interpretation of recording units related to content organization, conceptual accuracy, teaching strategies, the integration of Environmental Education, and the alignment with the competencies and skills established by the BNCC. The results indicate that both textbook collections have the potential to promote the integration of Thermal Physics and Environmental Education, although through different pedagogical approaches. The Física por Toda Parte collection incorporates environmental discussions more consistently throughout the development of scientific concepts, whereas 360◦ Física concentrates these discussions mainly in text boxes, supplementary texts, and contextualization activities. The analysis also identified terminological inconsistencies, particularly concerning the concept of heat, in both collections, although these occurred more frequently in Física por Toda Parte, highlighting the need for greater conceptual rigor in the development and revision of these teaching materials. It is concluded that the educational potential of textbooks depends not only on the inclusion of environmental themes but also on how these themes are integrated into conceptual development and on the critical mediation provided by teachers. In addition to answering the research question, this study demonstrates the contributions of Bardin’s Content Analysis as a methodological approach for investigating educational materials, reinforcing its relevance for initial teacher education and for the critical evaluation of resources used in Physics teaching.