Urban Ecology and Socio-Environmental problematization: contributions to scientific literacy
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.48017/dj.v11i3.3985Keywords:
Ecology, biology teaching, inquiry-based teaching sequenceAbstract
This study investigates how an Inquiry-Based Teaching Sequence (IBTS) in the context of urban ecology, integrating field investigation and critical analysis of socio-environmental media, mobilizes epistemic practices and fosters scientific literacy in secondary education. The study adopted an interpretative, mixed-methods approach and involved 26 students from a public school in Garanhuns, Pernambuco, Brazil. The central research question addressed in what ways the IBTS — combining quantitative field ecological investigation with analysis of a documentary on eucalyptus monocultures — promoted epistemic practices related to evidence interpretation, argumentation, and the construction of scientific explanations. Data sources included field records, phytosociological tables, concept maps, and argumentative texts, analyzed through descriptive statistics and qualitative examination of student productions. Results indicate differences in species richness and floristic composition between the investigated areas, alongside a predominance of intermediate and advanced performance levels in tasks involving data interpretation, conceptual integration, and evidence-based argumentation. The findings suggest that scientific literacy develops as a gradual, non-linear process characterized by the integration of empirical data, multimodal representations, and socio-environmental discussion. Combining field inquiry with socio-environmental media analysis enabled the circulation and recontextualization of evidence across different representational and discursive domains, supporting students' engagement with socio-environmental problematization and scientific reasoning. The study concludes that the IBTS promotes epistemic practices in science education — particularly data interpretation and scientific argumentation — and highlights the relevance of sustained inquiry-based approaches that integrate multimodal evidence in urban ecology teaching.
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Copyright (c) 2026 Cláudio Roberto Azevedo de Souza, Patricia María Tenório de Souza, Eloisa Santos, Débora Gabrielle Rosa da Silva Pereira, José Crisólogo de Sales Silva, Cesar Auguste Badji
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