A literatura infantil no ensino da Astronomia: modelos mentais sobre sistema solar e estrelas de estudantes do 7º ano do Ensino Fundamental

Abstract

The present research in Astronomy Education intended to understand how students' mental models of the Solar System and Stars can be modified by reading two children's books written by astronomy writers in order to minimize conceptual and alternative conceptions. Participated in the research 26 students of the 7th grade of Junior School by the Municipal Secretariat of Education of Goiânia. The study was based on a qualitative approach based on Johnson-Laird's Mental Models (1983) and Piaget's (2012) Genetic Epistemology. To do so, the following sources of data were taken: pictorial, through drawings made by students before and after reading literary books; oral expressions in conversation; and writing, with descriptions of the drawings after reading. To analyze the data, a framework was created for each theme, explaining the Conceptual Model presented by the authors. Starting from the reference of this model, the analysis of the models brought by the students before the reading was verified, that was verified if there was a change of these mental models in a moment post-reading. It was verified that the mental models after the reading of the children's literary books were modified, however, these changes were not significant to eliminate previous conceptions in students' minds.