Environmental education on water resources through educational games to students with Intellectual disabilities

Abstract

Water pollution is a significant issue on the global stage, as the use of water is essential for sustaining life. Therefore, practices involving environmental education for the conservation of water resources are necessary. One way to promote this is through teachers at schools using educational games. These games are useful tools in the educational process because they facilitate the teaching-learning process for all students, including those with intellectual disabilities (ID). In this context, this study aims to analyze environmental awareness practices on water resources promoted with students with intellectual disabilities from the 6th to the 8th grade at E. E. Prof. Irineu da Gama Paes. For this purpose, the following methodology was applied: 1) observation of students with ID to understand their specific needs; 2) conducting interviews to verify the students' prior knowledge and the knowledge acquired during the intervention; and 3) application of educational games on the theme of water resources. As a result of this research, it was found that students with ID demonstrated both potentialities and limitations, based on which the educational games were developed. Regarding the interviews, the students already had prior knowledge about the water theme and showed better performance in the final interview, after the activities were applied. In this sense, it is concluded that this playful methodology, through the use of educational games, is effective in the teaching-learning process with students with ID.