Environmental impacts in cities: a sequence of activities based on STS in Elementary School

Abstract

In this paper, we present a set of activities carried out with the last grade of Elementary School based on STS education and critical environmental education, whose main theme was the differentiation between the greenhouse effect and global warming and the understanding of their causes, focusing on the risks of human action to the environment. These activities consisted of short comics, experiments and construction of a panel representing a sustainable city. The obtained results were investigated through qualitative content analysis based on written answers and a comparison between the panels created by each group of students. This research showed the necessity of discussing the environmental crisis by approaching scientific concepts in connection with their social contexts, aiming to form citizens capable of making decisions, debating environmental issues and being politically active in the construction of sustainable cities. Furthermore, it highlighted the benefit of making a continuous and interconnected sequence of activities that allows teachers to evaluate the changes in their students’ thinking throughout the activities, as was observed in this research in regards to the gradual improvement in comprehension and distinction of the causes and consequences of the greenhouse effect and global warming.