Aprendizado ativo no ensino médio a partir da abordagem CTS: um estudo de caso sobre agrotóxicos por meio do júri simulado

Abstract

This work addresses the process of using the Science, Technology, and Society (STS) approach to promote the learning of scientific concepts related to the theme of pesticides through the didactic strategy of Simulated Jury. The target audience, consisting of students from a 2nd-year class in high school at a public school in the municipality of Caçapava do Sul - RS, was encouraged to seek and exercise basic principles of citizenship. To support the discussions, a plot was created, based on true events, narrating the story of various cases of illnesses among people in an Agricultural Cooperative in the interior of Rio Grande do Sul. Armed with this material, the class conducted guided research led by the researcher and class teacher, seeking to understand the implications of pesticide use in agricultural crops through a scientific theoretical basis, both in favor and against, for discussions on the topic. By appropriating the story, students organized their arguments for the defense or accusation, realizing how science content applies to everyday life. The research's objective was to verify the understanding of scientific arguments by the students involved in the Simulated Jury when performing the activity and categorize them into emerging categories. To do so, reports and expressions produced by them were used, interpreting them through principles of qualitative analysis. The use of scientifically based arguments during debates and immediately after the jury, especially by the prosecution team, can be observed, highlighting categories such as: i) Effects on the human body and health; ii) Use of Personal Protective Equipment and pesticides. It is also noteworthy that the creation and interpretation of characters in a court, such as judge, prosecutor, lawyers, defendants, and witnesses, provided the development of various multidisciplinary skills and competencies, worked on in a coherent and at the same time playful way, supporting the students' protagonism in their actions and productions.