Plantando decisões: agroecologia, biodiversidade e dilemas éticos no ensino de ciências

Abstract

This study examines how an instructional sequence on agroecology, heirloom seeds, and biodiversity mobilizes ethical reasoning among ninth-grade students in the context of science education. Grounded in the problematization of anthropocentric perspectives that often shape decisions related to food production, the research investigates how students justify their choices when confronted with dilemmas involving biodiversity, ecological interdependence, and agricultural practices. Adopting a qualitative approach, the study analyzed written responses, field diary records, and decision-making activities developed throughout the instructional sequence “Planting Decisions,” implemented in a public school in Uberlândia, MG, Brazil. Student justifications were examined through analytical categories of ethical reasoning, distinguishing anthropocentric and non-anthropocentric tendencies, as well as other dimensions such as individualism, communitarianism, and economicsm. Findings indicate that students mobilize diverse valuation criteria depending on the type of situation presented, alternating between justifications centered on human interests, productivity, and safety, and arguments that attribute intrinsic or relational value to biodiversity and living systems involved in cultivation. These reasoning patterns do not emerge as stable positions but as situated repertoires activated in response to specific dilemmas, revealing tensions and possible shifts in how students conceptualize human–environment relationships. The study contributes to a deeper understanding of how ethical reasoning is mobilized in classroom contexts that integrate scientific knowledge and socio-environmental issues, highlighting the complexity of decisionmaking processes related to food production. As a result of the research, the educational product entitled “Planting Decisions: Creole Seeds, Agroecology, and Biodiversity at School” is presented as a proposal that can be adapted by Science teachers interested in addressing food production through the articulation of scientific knowledge, socio-environmental issues, and ethical reasoning.