Plásticos e microplásticos: proposta de atividades para o ensino médio baseada na abordagem CTS

Abstract

The need for man to organize himself in space has caused interference in the environment causing several environmental problems, among the main ones, the incorrect disposal of solid waste such as plastics and microplastics. Therefore, it is essential to spread scientific knowledge in spaces such as the school. Discussing science and technology with students is a means to understand social and environmental problems. While learning science, students analyze and discuss social, cultural, and value issues. The objective of this research was to survey the perceptions of students and the community about environmental problems caused by the use of plastic materials, especially microplastics, and the actions developed by the students to mitigate the incorrect disposal of these materials. For this, the sequence of activities was organized in five moments and performed in a classroom with 32 students of the 3rd year of high school of a public school. At first, the students received a questionnaire to be delivered and answered by the school community, including questions about plastics and microplastics and related environmental problems. In the second moment, the students performed, as a group in the classroom, the data collected from the questionnaires and presented the results in a conversation wheel. In the third moment, each group of students received an example of news related to plastics and microplastics and identified whether both were associated with environmental problems. The results were presented in seminar format. In the fourth and fifth moments, the students elaborate proposals for projects aimed at replacing plastics with another sustainable polymer or a technology for their degradation in the environment. The students developed materials at each moment of the sequence of activities, where it was possible to collect and analyze the data produced. All groups of students were able to perform the treatment of the data collected in the questionnaires, and also built graphs to demonstrate the results of some questions. All students were able to realize that plastics and microplastics cause various environmental problems according to the context presented in the news they received. The project proposals presented by the students highlighted the suggestion of technologies that can even replace these materials. Although no innovative ideas were presented in their projects, the students acquired new knowledge in their research and shared with the whole class. Thus, they were able to associate the importance of knowledge of the reality where they live with the development of actions that can contribute to the preservation of the environment. The students, therefore, developed critical autonomy and were protagonists in the teaching-learning process. In this way they were creative, bringing to the class new ideas and generating interesting and reflective discussions about the reality of the environment where they live.