Science teaching with music in the first years of schooling from an STS perspective

Abstract

The activities presented here took place with seven and eight-year-old second-grade students and their teachers from an elementary school in Teresópolis, RJ in Brazil. The principal objective of this study was to find a way to promote scientific fluency in students starting in their early years, seeking interdisciplinary learning in consideration of the perspective of Science, Technology and Society (STS). Activities undertaken involved acoustics such as sound production, intensity, duration, frequency and timbre, in music by means of constructing musical instruments made of upcycled materials. By making and using instruments the students could understand the origin and production of sounds, as well as perceive the differences between their parameters, and encountering concepts of physics. The students were evaluated through graphic registers and recorded conversations. Due to student success, the idea emerged of organizing a workshop to allow teachers development by working with the same themes and strategies. In the workshop, beyond those subjects studied with the students, we included those referring to STS and Science and Art, as a form to bring to the teachers an understanding to these new approaches, beyond their own scientific learning, and to promote the students’ citizenship. The teachers were very enthusiastic about the workshop, admitting that their initial teaching was insufficient, regarding scientific learning, which could be minimized by actions of this nature.