The science cart: opportunities for teaching and knowledge interactions

Abstract

This work concerns the studies carried out by a group of undergraduate Chemistry students, involving practical classes performed using a mobile laboratory, mounted on a supermarket cart. This was undertaken at the Aurelino Leal state school in Itacare (Bahia), as an extension activity of the Tutorial Education Program for the Degree in Chemistry, at the Federal University of Sao Carlos (Araras campus). Practical activities were held in classrooms, using a methodology based on interactive scientific questions, where the students achieved results from the discussions and debates proposed. The undergraduates, as teachers, were mediators in the teaching-learning process, obtaining significant results, considering the involvement of the high school students in the process. The experience showed that the mobile laboratory was an important resource that facilitated the movement of materials, such as glassware and reagents, to the classrooms, in addition to stimulating class participation in the discussion of experiments. The university students had the opportunity to create a method for experimental classes, develop a plan, and put the proposals into practice, while interacting with the local cultural diversity, strengthening the inseparability among teaching, research, and university extension.