INVESTIGATIVE ACTIVITIES IN THE INITIAL TRAINING OFTEACHERS IN ASTRONOMY: THE APPARENT MOVEMENT OF THE SUN IN THE SKY AND THE DURATION OF DAYS AND NIGHTS

Abstract

In the present work, we report the application of two investigative activities on the apparent movement of the Sun in the sky, during one day and throughout the year, which was carried out with undergraduate students in Biological Sciences - future teachers of Elementary School Sciences - who participated in a short course of initial training in Astronomy. The first activity, on the daily movement of the Sun, was implemented through an investigative demonstration, conducted by the teacher, using the Stellarium software. The second, on the variation of the length of the day throughout the year, was conducted in the form of an open laboratory, in which the students themselves collected the data, manipulating the Stellarium. The activities presented a good participation and interaction of the students among themselves, with the teacher and with the Stellarium tool, and seem to have promoted not only the learning of concepts, but also the experience of procedures and attitudes characteristic of a scientific investigation.