Our position in the Universe: a proposal of didactic sequence for high school

Abstract

In the didactic sequence "Our Position in the Universe", aimed at high school students, we sought to elaborate potentially significant activities and materials, involving practices of observation of the sky with the naked eye and with telescope, complemented with workshops for the construction of three-dimensional models of the Southern Cross constellation and the Solar System; classroom debates about the activities developed; use of motivating videos and Stellarium software. Analyzing the collected data, it was possible to verify signs of meaningful learning, as in the case of students who, before the didactic sequence, stated that in the night sky it would only be possible to observe stars and that imagined the sky with little or no depth. After the activities, they were able to glimpse that, in addition to the stars, in the sky there are visible planets, even with the naked eye, and that it has a depth, evidencing a greater elaboration, approximation and integrative reconciliation between the concepts of sky and Universe.