Scientific inquiry to the first year of elementary school: an articulation between students' speeches and graphical representations

Abstract:

Student's graphic representations must be analyzed based on evidences and represent one of the ways of communication in the classroom. With qualitative approach and a case study perspective, an Inquiry-Based Teaching Sequence (IBTS) was structured for the students of 1st year of elementary school. At the end of classes, students had developed graphic representations, analyzed from a categorization process. These drawings, in association with the student's speech, had been able to communicate activities, concerning both the studied living being and the materials used in the inquiry-based process. The skills used by the students in their graphic representations are necessary tools for the engagement with scientific culture. Therefore, it is believed that the preparation of drawings, as a way to record, must be encouraged from the early years of the elementary school, leading to the building of new concepts and the growing engagement in scientific literacy.

Key words:
Science teaching; Scientific inquiry; Graphic representations; Elementary school