CHEMISTRY IN THE GARDEN AS A PROPOSAL FOR AN INTERDISCIPLINARY APPROACH IN ELEMENTARY EDUCATION.
Soil chemistry; School garden; Environmental education
Sustainability as a tool for human development considers environmental, economic, social, ethical aspects, etc. In the educational field, this discourse is present in curricular guidelines around the world in defense of the formation of citizens who are better informed and engaged in responsibility towards the environment. The research here reports the implementation of a community garden in the elementary school context as a teaching strategy for the interdisciplinary approach in chemistry. The general objective of the study is to analyze the pedagogical experience of introducing the vegetable garden and mobilizing chemical knowledge in dialogue with other disciplines in order to encourage critical reflection on environmental preservation, sustainability and associated themes. The research follows a qualitative approach and is being conducted in a private school, in the city of Natal, with students in the 9th year of elementary school. Data collection considers the use of a questionnaire, activity sheets produced by students, recording the researcher's field notes and recording discursive interactions with participants in the context of the school environment. The partial results suggest an apparent recognition by students of the impacts that human actions have on the environment and that actions such as planting a vegetable garden can contribute to education for sustainability. Despite this, the need to deepen the technical-scientific aspects that underlie the actions became evident.