Potential of Experimentation in Elementary Education

Many researches have been carried out in the country and in the world regarding the teaching-learning process of Physics, supported by different constructivist currents. In this sense, the aim of this work is to present the results of a research that consisted in articulating simple experiments in a problematizing and investigative way to stimulate the development of some cognitive skills, as well as the construction of knowledge related to the subject. The research was conducted with students of the 9th grade of elementary school, in Brazil. The results obtained indicate that the activities carried out allowed to incite the students and possibly raise the level of the cognitive process, as it required from them the ability to establish relationships between what they knew in the field of Physics and what was presented to them. Thus, experimentation provides a more active attitude from the students, allowing them to be challenged and to experience some important conditions for the teaching-learning process: concomitant manipulation of objects and ideas; invention; discovery through the senses and logical reasoning, among others.