Analysis of experiments involving Chemistry in science teaching textbooks for 1st to 4th grades of elementary school evaluated by PNLD - 2007 / Análise de experimentos que envolvem química presentes nos livros didáticos de ciências de 1ª a 4ª séries do ensino fundamental avaliados no PNLD/2007

Rafael Cava Mori

This work analyses experiments dealing with chemical transformations proposed in science teaching textbooks for 1st to 4th grades of elementary school. The textbooks chosen were that evaluated in the Brazilian Program of Textbooks (Programa Nacional do Livro Didático) - PNLD/2007. The analysis emphasizes the characterization of the textbooks as didactic resources with several functions on the teaching and learning practices. The analysis considered also that the experimentation in the science teaching may occurs through different approaches. The 37 collections evaluated in the PNLD/2007 (12 of them had been approved, presently distributed for the students of the Brazilian public schools) were submitted to a Content Analysis, considered as appropriated instrument for this kind of study. We sought, on these collections, for the proposals of experimental activities (considered in the broad meaning, including also some practical activities over the experiments strictly speaking) that considered the occurrence of chemical transformations (meant as interconversion of compounds) integrated to the experimental procedures necessary to the development of the activities. The analysis of the textbooks revealed the presence of 403 proposals which were classified considering the extent of participation required from the students for their execution and their relationship with the teaching of chemistry science strictly speaking. The results pointed out the presence of small number of activities that require the students more than the setting up equipments, observation and collection of data and writing the conclusions. There are rare the activities in which the students are asked to schedule the experiments and rarer those who value the proposal of hypotheses. The most of the books still do not integrate these activities to an elementary teaching of Chemistry, using them principally for the teaching of general aspects of some phenomena of the nature. In spite of in general the textbooks not to have presented sufficient characteristics to guarantee an appropriate teaching of Chemistry through experimental activities, the collections approved in the PNLD/2007 had better performance. So, this work shows up that this official evaluation is positive because of guaranteeing that the best books, at least as for their contributions for an experimental teaching of sciences and of Chemistry, are reaching in fact the students. However, due to the intrinsic characteristics of the books, it was noticed that this positive contribution of the PNLD is limited, since it does not avoid the presence, in the classroom, of books that present certain topics of the curriculum of unsuitable way. These results reinforce the importance of the teachers for the overcoming of these problems, since they do a critical use of the textbooks in the situations in which they employ them.

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