De movimento dos astros à quarta dimensão do espaço: uma abordagem didática sobre o tempo ao longo dos tempos

Abstract

The present work brings as a theme the study of time, an important physical quantity, whose meaning, familiar to all, can turn very peculiar in the context of modern science. Historically, civilizations have found a bridge to development in the precise measure of time, and their early studies in astronomy were intended for this purpose. For this reason, in the first part of this text, the meaning of time is developed under the focus of the movement of the celestial bodies, associating it with the astronomical cycles in their short and long term counts. We have developed here a pedagogical product wich is organized in as a didactic sequence. That sequence attempts to assist teachers who wish to present astronomy and / or relativity issues to his students. The sequence can be worked, then, in two parts, and both areas of physics has practical and theoretical activities to be applied. The first part tries to construct a simplified model of universe using concepts of astronomy, but maintaining as central theme the measurement of the time. The second part of the work brings to light the problem of invariance in the speed of light, elucidating the relative concept that simultaneity acquires according to the theory of relativity. In the space-time, the rhythm of time no longer obeys a single beat, but will flow according to the curvature of that space. Based on the theme, the educational product we developed was applied in the classroom in order to test its significant potentiality. The results of this application are exposed in this work. The purpose of this teaching material is to assist the work of the teacher who wishes to bring such subjects into the classroom.