STUDY OF ASTRONOMIC CONCEPTS IN HIGH SCHOOL WITH THE TEACHING USE OF ALTERNATIVE MATERIALS

Abstract

Astronomy was used by many people to try answers to some natural phenomena, contributing to the chronological organization of society, planting periods, navigation development, among others. However, Astronomy is rarely addressed in schools in Brazil, because the lack of an adequate structure, the non-mandatory nature of the schoolar curriculum, besides that it is a science that demands the use of experimental methods in its application, and all that contributes to that concepts of this science are not developed. This work is the result of a research that aimed to show a didactic which counted on alternative and accessible materials for the astronomy topics study, which promote their interest, importance and employment in the classroom. To carry out the project, classes developed at the Tiradentes Military School “Cabo José Martins de Moura” were used, with students from the 1st year of high school. The classes were organized in the form of workshops and held in the evening, divided into three stages: theoretical or support classes, construction of the experiments and socialization of the experiments, addressing concepts of Astronomy. As a tool for data collection, a questionnaire was applied, containing six questions, to assess the importance of practical applications and experiments for understanding the concepts of Astronomy. The results showed that the students involved in the project had a good acceptance of the proposed activities, which facilitated the understanding of some topics of Astronomy, such as: Kepler Laws, Moon Phases and Eclipses, as well as their importance for the development of society.