Abstract:

The virtual learning environment entitled "The Domestic Footprint and Rational Use of Water" is the result of a project funded by the "Support Program for the production of teaching materials for Basic Education" of the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (Capes), a foundation of the Brazilian Ministry of Education (MEC) in partnership with the Agência Nacional das Águas (ANA) of the Brazilian Ministry of the Environment (MMA). 

It was developed with the participation of professors and students linked to the Teacher Training Program in Agrarian and Biological Sciences of the University of São Paulo, professionals in the area of ​​information technology and designers.

The material was conceived with the objective of contributing to the construction of knowledge and skills for the rationalization of water consumption and fostering critical reflections about the environment and society relations, with the target audience, ie students of Basic Education, in the age group of 10 to 16 years.

The contents include topics already established by the policy and national guidelines for basic education, such as water cycle, ways of preventing diseases by water and water basin, as well as complementary themes. Among these are concepts and skills to measure water consumption; techniques for water reuse and captation, storage and treatment of rainwater; the issue of environmental conservation and the importance of plant cover; the concept of virtual water and reflections on consumption, citizenship and the environment.

The contents were treated from an interdisciplinary perspective and its elaboration was guided by a pedagogical approach based on Piagetian and constructionist, prioritizing mental exercises of deduction instead of explanation, without however abdicating this.

The material is structured in twelve modules and comprises a total of 383 pages, 94 exercises and 12 videos. The modules are arranged through an interactive menu and each module functions as an autonomous unit, with the possibility of executing only the modules that are of interest to the teacher and / or students.

The platform has a mascot, in the form of a miniature of the planet, and employs a gamification strategy by means of a point assignment system, in the form of liters of water, to the correct exercises. The student has three chances to hit each exercise and gains liters in proportion to the number of attempts. The goal is to accumulate 5.000 liters of water and to reach the goal, it is necessary to make all the modules.

The material was applied, in a test phase, in a class of 20 students from the basic education of a state public school, and evaluated by the project team to verify aspects related to the contents comprehension, system usability, interdisciplinarity, feasibility of Exercises, interactivity, among other aspects.

It was possible to observe, in this first experiment, a great enthusiasm with the strategies of problem formulation and attribution of points, as well as with the virtual and visual environment conceived, given its proximity to the universe of digital technology. In the paper to be presented is intended to describe the experience and analyze elements that involve motivation and punctuation, acquisition of knowledge and values capable of influencing the adoption of new behaviors.