Abstract

JOSEPHINO, Marcos Ferreira; SANTOS, Maria Cristina Ferreira dos  and  BASTOS, Wagner Gonçalves. Teachers Authors and Textbooks: Definition of Life in Natural History and Biology Compendiums (1930 - 1959) for Secondary Education. Cad. Hist. Educ. [online]. 2023, vol.22, e212.  Epub Aug 07, 2023. ISSN 1982-7806.  https://doi.org/10.14393/che-v22-2023-212.

In this study, an analysis of the life definition and the study of living beings in Natural History and Biology textbooks was performed, understood as the materialization of school subjects. The objective was to understand how the concept of life was approached in nine textbooks of Natural History and Biology (1930 - 1959) authored by Candido Firmino de Mello-Leitão, Lafayette Rodrigues Pereira, and Waldemiro Alves Potsch, teachers of these subjects in secondary education. The analysis pointed out that defining life was considered complex in Natural History and Biology education and that the main question was not the life definition but how the life process could be differentiated from physical processes or raw bodies through its characteristic properties. No changes were identified in the definition of life and the study of living beings in the analyzed textbooks of the two school subjects in this period.

Keywords : Textbook; School subject; Natural History and Biology; Secondary education.

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