Storytelling como estratégia didática no ensino de Química: uma abordagem criativa com o anime Naruto para a compreensão da Tabela Periódica

Abstract

This study investigated the use of storytelling as a didactic strategy in Chemistry education, focusing on first-year high school students' understanding of the Periodic Table. The proposal emerged from the identification of recurring challenges faced by students, such as difficulties in grasping chemical groups, periodic properties, and the logic behind the organization of the table. To make the content more accessible, a narrative inspired by the anime Naruto was created, in which chemical groups were represented as ninja clans, each with symbolic characteristics related to the properties of the elements. A qualitative methodology was adopted. The intervention included a lecture, narrative reading, illustrated cards, group activities, and the application of questionnaires before, during, and after the didactic sequence. The data revealed that storytelling increased interest and motivation, especially in the most engaged class, as perceived through the perception questionnaire. Significant progress was observed in the understanding of concepts such as groups, periods, reactivity, and atomic number. The analysis showed a notable increase in correct answers after the storytelling-based activity. Over 90% of the students reported that the use of the story and characters helped them better retain the content. Furthermore, the analogy with Naruto clans allowed students to construct symbolic and emotional meanings, potentially fostering greater interest in understanding scientific concepts. The proposal also developed skills such as orality, teamwork, argumentation, and critical thinking, aligned with Brazil’s National Common Curricular Base (BNCC). It is concluded that storytelling, combined with pop culture and a playful approach, can be an important pedagogical tool, capable of re-signifying complex content like the Periodic Table. By building bridges between youth culture and scientific knowledge, this methodology may promote more active learning in Science education.