O ensino de Física através da Astronomia: minha experiência como professor e coordenador na OBA 2016

Abstract

The teaching of Physics through Astronomy has a great motivational content for students at middle and high school. Approaches related to the formation of the Universe, planetary systems, space missions and extraterrestrial life represent the main themes that exert enormous fascination and curiosity, especially among children and young people. The present work has as general objective to report the experience of being a teacher and coordinator at the Olimpíada Brasileira de Astronomia e Astronáutica (OBA) at two schools in Fortaleza in Ceará. In order to achieve it, first we perform a questionnaire on students to scan their knowledge and interest about participating in a astronomy mini-course and, consequently, at OBA. Specific classes were held about Astronomy, Astronautics and History of Science. Second, another questionnaire was only applied to the students who took the test at OBA in 2016. The results obtained are presented in this work, arranged in graphs and tables. The specific classes were not only used to obtain grades at the olympiad, but also to introduce Physics at middle school grades, to stimulate logical thinking and to initiate them in the scientific world.