In this paper we discuss the potential of narratives in science teaching through an analysis of four versions of the story of Archimedes and King Heron's crown, as published in four Brazilian Physics textbooks. Our analyses consider narratives as structuring elements of thinking and instrumental for the dissemination of scientific culture. Based upon an analytical model from Sociolinguistics, we discuss the structure and function of elements, which are constitutive of the narrative genre and establish how they allow the necessary contextualisation for interpreting the story for didactic purposes. We argue that narratives can play an important role in constructing images of science and of scientific activity. We also show how specific narrative structures clarify and organise ideas, and how such organisation makes of narratives a viable alternative for science teaching.
Narratives; Physics education; Textbooks; Nature of science
