ASTRONOMY AND ITS RELATION TO THE GEOGRAPHY: HISTORICAL CONTEXTUALIZATION AND TEACHING APPROACHES

Abstract

This article proposes a historical and epistemological discussion about the relation of Geography and Astronomy and about the temporal introduction of Astronomy topics in the Geography teaching in Brazil. We build on the studies of Sobreira (2005), Langhi and Nardi (2009a; 2009b; 2012), Leite et al. (2014) and Neves (2011). Our aim consists on providing elements and evidences of the existence of association between the geographical and astronomical knowledge since the ancient times and analyze the heritage of those associations on the teaching of Geography in Brazilian Elementary/Middle Education. For that purpose, it was necessary to elaborate an interactive bibliographical revision and address the main current changes of scientific thought along the centuries, exploring present trends which still lack enough discussion. We consulted the existing documentations and reproduced reflections of researches about AstronomyTeaching topics in the last centuries. Finally, we discuss the current context in which the topics of astronomical imprint are included in the Elementary/Middle School.