Ensino de ciências por investigação e educação ambiental crítica: contribuições de práticas investigativas contextualizadas para a alfabetização científica na educação básica

Abstract

The increasing complexity of contemporary socio-environmental challenges has highlighted the need for pedagogical practices that promote, in an integrated manner, scientific literacy and the development of critical environmental awareness within the school context. In this regard, the present study aimed to analyze the contributions of Inquiry-Based Science Education to the promotion of meaningful learning and the development of scientific and socio-environmental competencies in basic education. This is a qualitative, exploratory, and bibliographic study, developed through a narrative literature review with an interpretative analysis of recent scientific publications on Environmental Education, inquiry-based teaching, and scientific literacy. The findings indicate that contextualized investigative pedagogical practices, such as ecological terrariums, school composting, and pedagogical gardens, enhance scientific problematization, hypothesis formulation, evidence-based argumentation, and the systemic understanding of the relationships between society, science, and the environment. Furthermore, it was evidenced that such strategies encourage student protagonism, strengthen the active construction of knowledge, and expand the development of environmentally responsible attitudes. It is concluded that the articulation between school scientific investigation and Environmental Education constitutes an epistemologically and pedagogically consistent approach to improving Science Education, contributing to the formation of critical, scientifically literate, and socio-environmentally responsible individuals.