Abstract:

The study is theoretically grounded in educational concepts and researches, namely: Formative Situation (Lopes et al., 2010a), Teacher Mediation (Lopes et al., 2008), Multimodal Narrative (Lopes et al., 2010b). The central topics dealt with here, Water, Energy and Sustainability, are developed, namely, in (Década Desenvolvimento Sustentável, 2002). Preliminary works of the authors led to orienting guidelines about relationships between Water, Energy and Sustainability (Barbot et al, 2010). The study aims to make explicit crucial relationships and to develop educational experimental resources to study them. The resources will focus on relationships between Water and Energy, and between these and Sustainability. They should be theoretical grounded and validated in classroom practices, both in classes of 6 – 12 year age range and in classes of initial training of teachers for those levels. The resources should be not expensive; all the other requirements and methods should be feasible in natural classroom environments. The global aim of the study is to contribute to improving teaching and learning in Physical and Environmental Sciences.
Here is a summary of the Research Questions of the study: What is the importance for teachers of the relationships between Energy and Water in educating to Sustainability? Which experimental resources can be developed to improve the relationships between Energy and Water in educating to Sustainability?
We will describe:
1-A survey to 115 teachers of age levels 6 – 12 using 3 questionnaires, each one about one of these themes: Water; Energy; Sustainability. It had a double objective: (i) to know if and how the respondents made relationships between the themes in their practices; (ii) to gather information about contents, resources and activities in their practices when teaching those themes. Each respondent answered only one type of questionnaire, and was not aware about the existence of the others. We will present the collected answers and the results of our content analysis.
2-Based on the results obtained in point 1, a work made with the collaboration of teachers who are attending a Master Course in Experimental Science Teaching. It led to the development of experimental resources related to the Urban Water Cycle and the Desalination of Sea Water. They were used in 6 – 12 age levels classes. We describe the resources, the activities and the educational outcomes.

References:
Barbot, A., Lopes, J. B., & Soares, A. (2010). Água, Energia, Sustentabilidade e Educação Sustentada. Apresentado na Encontro Ibérico para o Ensino da Física 2010, Universidade de Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro, Vila Real.
Década Desenvolvimento Sustentável, 2002. Proclamación de la Década de las Naciones Unidas de la Educación para el Desarrollo Sostenible. http://www.oei.es/decada/resonu.htm. Consultado em 20 Agosto 2009
Lopes, J. B., Cravino, J.P., Silva A.A (2010a). Effective Teaching for Intended Learning Outcomes in Science and Technology (Metilost). New York: Nova Science Publishers.
Lopes, J. B., Silva A.A, Cravino, J.P., Viegas, C., Cunha, A. E., Saraiva, E., Branco, M. J., Pinto, A., Silva, A., Santos, A. (2010b). Investigação sobre a Mediação de professores de Ciências Físicas em sala de aula. Vila Real: UTAD
Lopes, J. B., Cravino, J.P., Branco, M., Saraiva, E., Silva A.A (2008). Mediation of student learning: dimensions and evidences in science teaching. PEC 2008 - Problems of Education in the 21st Century; 9(9), 42-52.

Keywords:

Water, Energy, Sustainability, Education.