Química Ambiental: poluição e recuperação de metais pesados

Abstract

This Teaching Learning Unit (UDM) was developed through a collaboration between the research groups Bioprocesses Applied to Mining and the Environment (BAMMA) and the Research and Innovation Network in Chemistry Education (RIPEQ), both led by professors from the Institute of Chemistry at São Paulo State University (UNESP) – Araraquara Campus. The research that gave rise to this material is the result of an undergraduate thesis authored by Guilherme Salvador Peres Neto (2022). The full document and detailed information on the UDM can be accessed at: https://repositorio.unesp.br/items/ecf2e69b-5b69-4494-a874-23e8b89af65c. The aim of the UDM was to address the topic of Environmental Chemistry—specifically the issue of toxic heavy metals—through the lens of the Science, Technology, Society, and Environment (STSE) methodological approach. The didactic-pedagogical planning is intended for higher education and was designed to compose a complete course comprising 14 lessons, organized into five teaching sequences (SDs). In order to inseparably integrate the elements of didactic-pedagogical planning with the methodological approach, each stage of the STSE framework was carefully aligned with a specific teaching sequence. Thus, SD1 presents a relevant social issue; SD2 discusses a technology related to this issue; SD3 introduces the scientific concepts necessary to understand and discuss the technology; SD4 revisits the technology, now through a scientific lens; and SD5 returns to the social issue, prompting students to take action. As a final step of the UDM, students are invited to design and implement a critical intervention within their social context. The development of the UDM followed the seven tasks of didactic-pedagogical planning and was guided by specialists in both the specific content area and Chemistry Education. The project team consisted of university professors and an undergraduate student engaged in the development of a thesis for a degree in Chemistry Education. To ensure the effectiveness of these actions, a range of didactic strategies was employed, including investigative case studies, expository and dialogic lectures, group work, hands-on experimentation, and digital information and communication technologies (DICT). The central premise is that, by the end of the entire process, students will be able to “develop a new perspective on the recovery and impact of heavy metals in nature, leading to the creation of a socially critical and theoretically grounded action.”