Physics teaching and history of teaching: discoveries from the study of ancient didactic experiments

Abstract

The present research had as its main objective an analysis of curricular transformations that have occurred in the physics teaching, specifically in the topics of “Fluid Mechanics”, through an examination of old instruments no longer in use in a physics laboratory of a Brazilian school. The study begins with the intention of giving a name and meaning to an old dusty instrument found in the laboratory, the Nicholson’s Areometer. From this work of identifying the materials, we realized that experiments on “Fluid Mechanics” found in the laboratory had disappeared from current textbooks and official documents, showing changes in the Brazilian physics curricula. We consider these changes as one of the factors that contributed to the disuse of laboratory equipment today. For the survey and analysis of laboratory materials, a qualitative, exploratory and documentary research was carried out. From this research, the feasibility of resuming disused laboratories and materials as tools for physics teaching was evidenced, and this re-analysis movement may represent a first step to assist teachers in the effective use of such materials in their schools. Finally, we found that some of the reasons mentioned by teachers for not using experimental activities, such as lack of space and equipment, were not identified in the school studied.