THE CONSTRUCTION OF MEANINGS ABOUT WATER CONDENSATION WITH PRIMARY SCHOOL STUDENTS

Abstract

This article describes and interprets the process of constructing scientific meanings about water condensation, promoted with a class of the 4th year of basic education, with an average age of 9.4 years. It results from a broader pedagogical intervention, which incorporated an inquiry-based approach to science teaching. Through the analysis of the class diary, it presents the students' initial conceptions on the subject under study, the scientific processes used by them in the condensation contexts created by a glass tumbler with water and ice and by breathing into a mirror and identifies the learning moments with particular importance for developing an understanding of water condensation that were promoted in those contexts. Lastly, it also presents the results of the assessment of the students’ learning and a few considerations on the implications for teachers' practices and training processes.