Ações de extensão e a educação não formal em um curso de contraturno na forma de clube de astronomia

Abstract

Although non-formal education and extension in astronomy are still developing areas within the field of Astronomy Education, they already have a solid base of publications in annals and journals. These works cover a variety of activities, including astronomy clubs, continuing education courses and workshops, as well as the use of planetariums, observatories and science parks that focus on the historical and observational aspects of the night sky. This work investigates the impact of these educational strategies in an after-school course structured as an astronomy club for elementary school pupils in a multi-grade class. The main aim of the research is to assess how non-formal education and outreach activities can enrich astronomy teaching, offering an alternative for integrating astronomy into the basic education curriculum. The study was organized into three main methodological stages: a bibliographical review of non-formal education and outreach in astronomy, using the Latin American Journal of Astronomy Education as a reference; an analysis of the curricular expectations for astronomy in the National Common Core Curriculum; and a detailed experience report of the after-school course set up as an astronomy club. The results suggest that these approaches facilitate access to astronomy education in a dynamic and contextualized way, generating situations that stimulate scientific literacy. Both the theoretical and documentary framework and the practical account of the astronomy club demonstrated that extension activities and non-formal education are effective ways of introducing astronomy into the classroom, enriching the learning process and serving as a significant motivator.