Situação de estudo: organização do ensino de química a partir da fabricação do polvilho

Abstract

School subjects change as society does, so it is necessary to elaborate a curriculum that can prepare students to deal with the challenges of today’s society. It is crucial then to reflect on chemistry teaching while considering elements from students’ own experiences, as well as to question the social relations they establish in society. Therefore, this paper aims to design an alternative teaching material for chemistry courses at Ensino Médio (Brazilian High School), by means of a study case on the manufacturing of cassava flour, its analysis and implementation. The research has been carried out in four steps: 1) a literature review; 2) technical visits at a location where cassava flour was handcrafted and at an industry; 3) preparing a workshop with the theme “A Journey From Cassava to Cassava Flour”, which led to the designing of a teaching material about that theme; 4) data tabling and analysis. After analysis, it was clear that designing workshops and alternative teaching materials was time-consuming, which can prevent basic education teachers to put them in effect, since most teachers have full-time working schedules. Thus, this project has designed a teaching material that may be implemented in schools and may also be adapted to various school environments.