Aplicação e Análise de uma Sequência Didática para Abordagem de Cinemática e Teoria da Relatividade Restrita no Ensino Médio

Abstract

This study presents the development and analysis of the use of an educational product – The Movement: from the Classical to the Relativistic. The product is a teaching unit for the study of Kinematics including the Special Theory of Relativity to complement that study from the Mechanics standpoint. The unit was used with high school students. The product comprises twenty-five lesson plans divided into eight phases, which seek to approach kinematics concepts creatively, critically and concretely. The material developed seeks to lead students to the understanding of basic Physics concepts and therefore provide them with opportunities to discuss and understand the Special Theory of Relativity as something real and present in our everyday lives. The activities were developed aiming to foster students’ autonomy based on Freire’s perspective, through dynamic lessons, in which the students worked in pairs to discuss and learn through student-student and student-teacher mediation, based on the Vygotsky’s Theory. At the same time, it aimed to develop Ausubel’s meaningful learning, by making the study more interesting, attractive and, mainly, enjoyable. The product sought to innovate the way Kinematics is approached in high school to support the students in their gradual evolution towards knowledge and to help them understand the motion relativity in its complete sense. Another objective was to promote the understanding of the Special Theory of Relativity as a concept that allowed society to develop technologically in areas such as communication and information. Several practical tasks were carried out using images, videos and experiments devised with low cost materials making the students reflect upon the study of motion and their own ideas. At the end of the work, an optimization of the teacher’s class hours was noticed as well as the improvement of the students’ autonomy when seeking knowledge. There was a general perception that the work contributed to the teaching and learning process, showing evidence of meaningful learning.