Abstract
The definition of environment, which disregard the changes resulting from historical progressive rupture of man in relation to his surroundings, is one of the conceptual errors that hinder the understanding and solution of environmental problems of the present. Such difficulties are deepened by the extreme specialization of knowledge that undermined the understanding of environmental problems, making critical analysis urgent and able to integrate different areas of knowledge. Science and technology fairs can be seen as important initiatives to this integration. Thus, this study aimed to verify the perception of students participating in Febrace (Brazilian Science and Engineering Fair) in relation to the environment and the impacts of this fair in raising awareness about that issue. This is a quali-quantitative research based on bibliographic and documentary surveys and interviews with primary and secondary students who were responsible for the projects presented in that fair. The results showed that the majority of respondents (over 74%) have a more elaborate and globalizing vision of the concept of environment. It was also found that, in general, interviewed students could observe positive influences of the fair on their environmental perception and felt more interested and motivated to understand and discuss environmental problems.
Highlights
The correct understanding of environmental problems depends on the proper definition of the concept of environment ("meio ambiente"), which is hampered by its widespread use and various meanings applied to both terms ("meio" and "ambiente"), in the academic field and in journalism
The five semi-structured questions addressed the following issues: (i) What is the environment? (ii) Is your project related to the environment? (iii) How was the approached problem in your research realized? (iv) How do you evaluate the quantity of projects related to the environment in FEBRACE? (v) After participating in FEBRACE and "experiencing" the diversity of environmental problems approached in the Fair, how will your attitudes and behaviors towards the environment going to be like on?
The concept of environment, which is limited to the natural environment and which disregards the artificial or built environment, shows to be out of date when compared to the reality, resulting in mislead analyzes and interpretations of current environmental problems
Summary
The correct understanding of environmental problems depends on the proper definition of the concept of environment ("meio ambiente"), which is hampered by its widespread use and various meanings applied to both terms ("meio" and "ambiente"), in the academic field and in journalism. According to Christofoletti (1999), taking into account that the term environment has been applied to issues ranging from the global magnitude of scale to the punctual micro scale, to the context of environmental issues, there is the need for greater precision in the definition of the used concepts In this sense, the environment definition that disregard the changes resulting from the historical progressive rupture of Man in relation to his surroundings, is one of the misconceptions that hinder the understanding and solution of environmental problems of the present (Santos, 1995). Confrontation and negotiation between participants allow the collective construction of knowledge or new technological knowledge (Nascimento, 2012) It is in this sense that the science and engineering fairs empower young people's engagement to the scientific culture, making them the protagonists of their learning
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