Aulas práticas sobre educação ambiental ministradas em uma escola de ensino fundamental da região metropolitana de Fortaleza – CE

Abstract

According to the National Curriculum Parameters (PCN), the Environment theme is treated as a transversal topic. In Brazil, public environmental education is stipulated by the Federal Law Nº 6.938 of 1981 that institutes the National Environmental Policy. Important for the educational field was the inclusion of environmental issues in the Law of Guidelines and Bases Brazilian Education (Law Nº 9.394/96), which now consider the understanding of the natural environment as essential to basic education in Brazil. Thus, this study aims to develop and teach lessons on environmental education in formal and informal educational settings to help students become aware of their responsibilities in regard to the environment. This environmental education addresses human intervention in nature and emphasizes the value of selective collection and conscious consumption that contributes to an improved quality of life in the region in which we live. This study proposes an environmental education program that encourages interdisciplinary work on the environmental issue of solid waste in the classroom through lectures, questionnaires, videos, library research, field trips, and science fairs, building subsidies theoretical and practical, involving mainly the issue of selective collection and recycling. The collection and separation of solid waste was later sent to recycling program, in addition to making green bins, posters and producing various articles made of recycled materials by the students themselves. The evaluation has taken place during preparation activities as well as the actual exercises and exhibition of the works,highlighting individual and collective efforts by observing students’ interest, participation in group work on this subject, being, therefore, the evaluation given for the science fair project constitutes students' grades for the fourth bimestrial of 2010. Field classes in nonformal educational settings (teaching school garden and butterfly UFC) contributed to encourage environmentally friendly behavior in students, making them therefore multipliers in reducing impacts and environmental citizenship. Therefore, the presentations at Science Fairs, combined with interdisciplinary and non-formal methodologies offers an educational alternative to developing work-based learning by projects, making it a learning methodology capable of engaging research and creativity in finding solutions to environmental issues, and science can be taught in a more innovative way that actively involves students.