New Perspectives in Science Education

This work is inspired on the introduction of Modern and Contemporary Physics in Brazilian High School, as defined by the National Curriculum Guidelines for Brazilian Secondary Education. This teaching learning sequence was proposed because physics teaching in this educational level has not adequately improved discussions about technological advancements in the last two decades. It was applied within 23 third year students of regular High School located in Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil.This report describes how we can apply elements of the theory of Vygotsky, since our work suggests that the teacher is the element that foster the process of teaching and learning. While students must be interactive and active protagonists in their own knowledge-building process. The nine activities proposed inform we conduct the Standard Model as a theory that identifies the elementary particles and their interactions, since a macroscopic vision until a CERN (Conseil Européen pour la Recherche Nucléaire) virtual visit. The discussion of contents was supported in analysis of images, videos and animations, running simulations, ludic materials and handling activities.

Our approach allowed the students to realise how science is a collective enterprise.