PROQUIM in action

The purpose of this study was to report on the process of construction of the concept of chemical transformation by high school students at a state public school in the city of São Paulo (SP). The focus of the analysis was on the students' propositions and justifications for situations in which materials are transformed and their possible recognition as chemical transformations. Initially the examples were evoked individually and in a second moment there was a collective discussion mediated by the teacher-researcher and centered on the concept of systems undergoing transformation recognizable by comparing the macroscopic characteristics of their initial and final states. Activities were also analyzed in which students were able to recognize evidence of the chemical transformation occurring in the materials under study. It was concluded that alternative teaching methodologies under the action of a teaching approach focused on collaborative situations favor the apprehension of meanings by the students.