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Instituto Federal de Educação, Ciência e Tecnologia do Rio Grande do Norte, HOLOS, (4), p. 299-312, 2016

DOI: 10.15628/holos.2016.3902

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Fairs of Science as Encouragement to the Development of Environmental Perception of Elementary and High School Students

This paper is made freely available by the publisher.
This paper is made freely available by the publisher.

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Abstract

The definition of environment, which disregard the changes resulting from historical progressive rupture of man in relation to his surroundings, is one of the conceptual errors that hinder the understanding and solution of environmental problems of the present. Such difficulties are deepened by the extreme specialization of knowledge that undermined the understanding of environmental problems, making critical analysis urgent and able to integrate different areas of knowledge. Science and technology fairs can be seen as important initiatives to this integration. Thus, this study aimed to verify the perception of students participating in Febrace (Brazilian Science and Engineering Fair) in relation to the environment and the impacts of this fair in raising awareness about that issue. This is a quali-quantitative research based on bibliographic and documentary surveys and interviews with primary and secondary students who were responsible for the projects presented in that fair. The results showed that the majority of respondents (over 74%) have a more elaborate and globalizing vision of the concept of environment. It was also found that, in general, interviewed students could observe positive influences of the fair on their environmental perception and felt more interested and motivated to understand and discuss environmental problems.