“FROM FEET TO HEAD”: LEARNING ABOUT FORCE AND PRESSURE
THROUGH HUMAN BODY CARE AND THE FLIGHT OF AIRCRAFT
Physics Education; Force; Pressure; Bernoulli’s Principle; Three Pedagogical Moments; Didactic Sequence.
With the aim of engaging students in a teaching and learning process in which Physics
content is progressively developed through discussions, dialogue, prior knowledge,
theoretical foundations, systematization, experimentation, and problem-solving
situations, a didactic sequence is proposed for teaching the concepts of force, pressure,
and Bernoulli’s Principle in secondary education. The proposal is based on the Three
Pedagogical Moments, inspired by Paulo Freire’s problem-posing pedagogy andsystematized by Delizoicov, Angotti, and Pernambuco, comprising Initial
Problematization, Knowledge Organization, and Knowledge Application.
The didactic sequence seeks to reduce difficulties related to understanding the concepts
of force and pressure by bringing scientific knowledge closer to students’ everyday
experiences.
To this end, it begins with situations related to the human body, addressing issues such
as the force and pressure exerted by the feet while walking, the effects of using different
types of footwear, and their possible relationships with the feet, knees, and spine. Based
on these situations, physical concepts and mathematical relationships are developed to
enable a progressive understanding of pressure, force, and their applications.
The proposal also includes reading activities, text production, mathematical language,
experimentation, and the use of measuring instruments, integrating knowledge from
different areas. In the final stage, students apply the knowledge they have constructed
to the design and construction of model gliders, using them as an experimental resource
to understand Bernoulli’s Principle and its relationship to aircraft lift. The sequence is
structured into ten 50-minute sessions, involving problematization, conceptual
systematization, experimentation, project development, and model glider construction.
Assessment is conceived as a continuous, diagnostic, and formative process,
considering not only the results as well as the students’ learning process, with the use
of rubrics to monitor aspects such as conceptual understanding, application of
knowledge, scientific argumentation, and scientific communication. At the end of the
implementation of the sequence, it is expected to foster a culture of collaboration and
cooperation in which students take an active role in constructing their own learning,
relating their prior knowledge to scientific knowledge in Physics and other fields, from
a contextualized, interdisciplinar and investigative.