Questões sociocientíficas (QSC) sobre agrotóxicos no ensino de ciências: contribuições para alfabetização científica

Abstract

Brazil has watched a growing release of pesticides in its territory. Some of these substances are unpublished to the country's portfolio, which makes it even more difficult to understand possible effects in short, medium and long-term. Such reality brings to light countless reflections and important considerations, mainly focused on Science teaching in schools. Training a student scientifically who is able to act and transform the various dimensions of his society is by far not a simple task, but it can be facilitated with the use of Sociology-Scientific Questions (SSQ). That said, this research aims to: 1) Plan, apply and validate an Investigative Didactic Sequence (IDS) involving SSQ’s on pesticides; 2) Analyze and evaluate how the use of SSQ’s on pesticides can contribute to the scientific literacy of students, helping in critical reflection and decision making. Following the methodological approach of the Three Pedagogical Moments (3 MP's), the didactic sequence was applied in a class of 33 students of elementary school II (6th grade year) of a state school in João Pessoa/PB. The results, initially analyzed by a questionnaire of prior knowledge, reveal the little (or any) knowledge of the students with the main harms of the reinless use of pesticides in short and long-term, as well as the lack of argumentation and critical thinking on the subject. After the didactic sequence, there is a clear improvement in the student’s performance, especially in argumentation, orality and the use of a more scientific language. It is understood that the use of SSQ on pesticides, in this case, allowed a significant improvement in the promotion of scientific literacy of these students, contributing to their growth as a critical and active citizen in current’s society.