Teaching of Geoscience in the context of basic education in Brazil

Carolina Baldin (a) & Roberto Greco (a)
(a) Geoscience Institute, University of Campinas, Rua Carlos Gomes, 250, CEP 13083-855, Campinas, SP, Brasil. Corresponding author e-mail: carolinabaldin9@gmail.com

Brazil has a very large territory with a peculiar geological, pedologic, and climatic situation, with many natural resources, but also with situations of geological risk. The Geoscience knowledge needed to face these challenges can be learned at school. Official documents of Brazil and of the state of São Paulo were surveyed to determine the contents of Geoscience in the curriculum of basic education. It was observed that the topics of Geoscience in these documents are limited and separated into various disciplines: natural sciences and geography, in elementary education, and biology, geography, chemistry, and physics in high school. The documents propose an interdisciplinary approach. With references to international documents of the International Geoscience Education Organization, Earth System Education is proposed as a unifying theme for an interdisciplinary approach, and specific training on interdisciplinary work is suggested for teachers.

Geoscience education, Brazilian education system, school curriculum.