Banca de QUALIFICAÇÃO: KAROLYNE GOMES QUEIROZ

Teaching the Nervous System Through the Theme of Sleep: An Investigative Didactic Sequence in the Final Years of Elementary School

sleep; academic performance; nervous system; inquiry-based teaching; educational prototype.

Sleep deprivation caused by excessive technology use has had a concerning impact on young people, affecting their health, concentration, and performance in daily activities. The escalation of this negative impact highlights the need to critically discuss this topic within the school environment. In this context, this study aims to analyze the contributions of an inquiry-based teaching sequence to the teaching of the nervous system, using sleep as a learning context. The study adopts a qualitative approach and will be conducted with 7th-grade students at a private school in Alto do Rodrigues, RN. The educational product consists of a teaching sequence mediated by a low-cost educational prototype that simulates neural communication and response time under conditions of adequate sleep and sleep deprivation. Data collection will involve questionnaires administered during the teaching sequence, as well as the observation of discursive interactions during the activities. The intervention is expected to foster scientific literacy, stimulate critical thinking, and contribute to the understanding of nervous system concepts by contextualizing them with the theme of sleep.