Educação ambiental na formação de professores de química e ciências: a temática resíduos sólidos em foco

Abstract

Environmental issues involving social themes are rarely discussed, both in basic education and in higher education, with one of the influencing factors being the lack of basic training in Environmental Education. When actions that address these issues are structured into the teaching of Chemistry/Science, they contribute significantly to the formation of conscious and participatory citizens. In view of this, this dissertation considers the results and discussions of a research developed with the objective of identifying the understanding of undergraduate students in Chemistry and Biology, participants in the research, about chemical, social and environmental aspects involving the generation and disposal of solid waste, specifically plastic materials, through the development of a didactic sequence, using the field of Environmental Education as a theoretical reference and the dynamics of the three pedagogical moments as a methodological reference. This is a qualitative research, carried out in the Chemistry course – Bachelor's Degree at the Federal University of Alfenas, within the scope of an environmentally oriented elective discipline with the participation of two undergraduate students in Chemistry and six in Biological Sciences. Data collection was carried out in several stages throughout the teaching sequence, involving, in addition to the research activities, questionnaires, a case study, an experimental activity and a pedagogical proposal developed by the undergraduate students. When analyzing the chemical aspects and characteristics of the materials, the answers to the initial questionnaire suggest that the undergraduate students have a deeper understanding of the subject, and the data from the experimental activity suggest an understanding of the damage caused by the burning of plastic materials. Regarding the socio-environmental aspects, after comparing the answers provided in the initial questionnaire with those from the case study, it was observed that the undergraduate students understand the impacts that the irregular disposal of plastic materials can cause, both in the marine and terrestrial environments. In general, the data obtained suggest that the undergraduate students have developed a general understanding of the aspects addressed, showing a predominance of the social and environmental aspects that involve the socioenvironmental theme addressed. The results highlighted the importance of developing activities with socio-environmental themes in initial teacher training.