Desafios no Ensino de física moderna e contemporânea nas séries finais do ensino fundamental.

Abstract

This study seeks to understand the challenges of teaching modern and contemporary physics in the final grades of elementary school, highlighting the complexity and importance of these topics in students' education. Modern and contemporary physics, which covers topics such as the theory of relativity, quantum mechanics and recent advances in particle physics, is fundamental for understanding natural phenomena and the technologies that shape today's world. However, the inclusion of this content in the elementary school curriculum faces a number of obstacles, making its implementation a significant challenge. The results obtained reveal that difficulties in teaching modern and contemporary physics in elementary school are frequent, especially in public schools. The main challenges include the high number of students per class and the lack of adequate material resources. In addition, the resistance of some teachers, especially the more experienced ones, to adopting new methodologies and the superficiality of textbooks limit students' understanding of modern physics. Although some textbooks, such as “Fundamentals of Modern Physics for Elementary School” (Editora Moderna), “Modern and Contemporary Physics: Applications in Elementary School” (Editora Ática) and “Exploring Modern Physics with Simple Experiments” (Editora Saraiva), are beginning to address these topics, they still treat the subject in a superficial way, making it difficult to explore scientific concepts in greater depth.