Evolution is considered an essential topic that brings to school a broader perspective of natural phenomena and of the nature of science. Most if not all research has shown that the result of the teaching of evolutionary theories is not positive in different parts of the world. Some have attributed the poor understanding shown by students to teaching style or to students' cognitive abilities. This article reports results of interviews and tests carried out with students after they had been taught the topic of evolution. By adopting a sociocultural perspective, before terming students' views “misconceptions,” attention was given to several different ways Charles Darwin's theories have been re‐interpreted by well‐known scholars and offered to the public. I have analyzed the approaches taken by Emanuel Radl (1873‐1942), John C. Greene, Robert Maxwell Young, and Ernst Mayr to assess the diverse ways Darwinism has been conceived. Attention was also given to the presentation of this controversial knowledge to the public in two major popular books written by respected scientists, Huxley and Kettlewell's Darwin and His World (1975) and Richard Dawkins' more recent The Blind Watchmaker (1989). These analyses revealed remarkable differences between what was written in Downe (Kent) a hundred years ago and what was heard at Sao Paulo (Brazil) nowadays. Students show very poor understanding of evolutionary theories. Their conceptions reveal evolution has been primarily related to the human species. Its meaning is understood as similar to progress, growth, multiplication, and improvement. Biological and cultural evolution are not clearly distinguished. Competition is misunderstood as pure violence, sometimes inevitable, and adaptation is considered an individual process that occurs during the organism's life span. Educational change may not depend just on teaching style and students' cognitive abilities. Modification of factual knowledge and epistemological gaps may be the result of a process of social reconceptualization of knowledge offered to students.

O tema da saúde é tradicional nos currículos escolares no Brasil, podendo ser visto em materiais didáticos desde o final do século XIX. Definindo como ponto de partida o estabelecimento da obrigatoriedade do desenvolvimento dos programas de saúde em 1971, este artigo analisa alguns documentos oficiais que buscaram traçar diretrizes para a educação em saúde no âmbito escolar quanto à concepção de saúde expressa, aos objetivos a alcançar e ao papel da educação em saúde na formação geral dos alunos. A análise aponta para uma importante carência de referências que orientem o ensino da saúde na escola, assim como para ideias que permanecem inalteradas, a despeito das mudanças sociais e dos avanços teóricos ocorridos no período.

Resumo:Geelan (1997), em seu modelo bidimensional das formas de construtivismo, situa o construtivismo contextual, proposto por William Cobern, numa posição diametralmente oposta à pedagogia da mudança conceitual, por ele associada ao construtivismo pessoal. Neste artigo, discutimos as relações entre essas duas formas de construtivismo e algumas implicações para o ensino de Ciências. Palavras-chave: construtivismo, mudança conceitual, construtivismo contextual, ensino de ciências Abstract:In Geelan's (1997) two-dimensional model of forms of constructivism, William Cobern's contextual constructivism is opposed to conceptual change pedagogy, which Geelan associates with personal constructivism. In this paper, we discuss the relationships between these two forms of constructivism, highlighting some consequences to science teaching.

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This study focuses on everyday or lay understandings of inheritance. In the northeastern Brazil, 100 individuals were interviewed in order to describe how they explain the origin of genetic disorders affecting their relatives for several generations. There were involved 60 individuals from a large consanguineous family with many members affected with a neurodegenerative disorder, SPOAN syndrome (spastic paraplegia, optic atrophy and neuropathy), and 40 individuals of another family living with neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1). The results indicate that families here studied have built narratives to explain the origin of genetic diseases, saying that an ancestor infected with syphilis gave rise to disorders and birthmarks transmitted to descendents.

Brazilian high school students took part in an international research program in the period 2007–2014, and a data bank with national significance was created. SPSS TwoStep clustering analysis indicated two homogeneous groups regarding the level of interest for the surrounding biodiversity. Amazonian students were among the high-interest group and would like to study more deeply local living beings, contrary to the tendency to favor large exotic animals in Brazilian biology curricula. Students from the southeast were grouped in the low-interest group. However, students from both regions agree upon the urgent need for actions to protect the environment and strongly disagree that this is a role expected from rich countries only. Given the importance of the local communities in conservation and the current prominence of young people in environmental issues, a boost in science education is needed in Brazil, enhancing the study of rainforest biota in the Brazilian curricula.

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