"Caminhos científicos: os experimentos de Michelson-MorleyMiller": o Padlet como recurso para abordar controvérsias científicas e Física Moderna no Ensino Médio

Abstract

There is a broad consensus in the academic community that Science Teaching must transcend the mere transmission of specific scientific knowledge and seek, primarily, the scientific literacy of students. Instead of limiting itself to a list of facts and concepts to be memorized in an instrumental way, Science Teaching should seek to enable students to understand the fundamental processes, methods and reasoning of Science, beucase of that the inclusion of the theme of the Nature of Science becomes indispensable. The approach to this theme aims to develop critical thinking skills, analytical capacity and investigative judgment, preparing students to face the complex and multifaceted challenges of the contemporary world. In this way, Science teaching that promotes more complex views about Science plays a crucial role in the formation of active citizens in a democracy, as it contributes to the development of a critical understanding of the world around us. The approach used in this work consists of the didactic use of the History of Science, based on a well-founded historiography, in order to address the topic “scientific controversies”, as part of the Nature of Science theme. In particular, we chose the historical episode related to the experiments carried out by Albert Abraham Michelson (1852-1931), Edward Williams Morley (1838-1923) and Dayton Clarence Miller (1866-1941) to detect the movement of the Earth in relation to the luminiferous ether. The choice of this episode of the History of Physics is justified, as it provides not only an excellent case to study issues related to controversies in Science, but also the inclusion of topics of Modern Physics in basic education, something that receives wide support in academic literature. Given these points, as well as recognizing the potential that technological tools can offer for education, this work proposes as an Educational Product a Padlet titled “Scientific Ways: The Michelson-Morley-Miller Experiments” containing texts about scientific controversies and the Physics behind the experimente as well as the following historicalpedagogical narratives about the selected historical episode: “The Potsdam Experiment”, “The Michelson and Morley Experiment, 1887”, “Morley and the Invisible Miller” and “Miller Against the World”. This Educational Product was applied in a didactic sequence in the context of Basic Education.