Students' perception of the geography of Santana do Mundaú - Alagoas

This research was carried out with the aim of verifying the knowledge of high school students at the Manuel de Matos School in the municipality of Santana do Mundaú AL about the characteristics of the local relief concentrated in a valley region in the Quilombos Mountain Microregion. In addition to the bibliographical survey questionnaires were administered to 135 students from the afternoon and evening shifts. A significant number of students especially those on the evening shift were unable to identify the geographical features of their municipality and region while those on the afternoon shift did better. Thus there needs to be a change in the teaching practices used by teachers especially in primary school where the predominant use of textbooks is the primary means of transmitting knowledge without taking into account the real priorities for the student's intellectual growth. This reality characterises geography teaching in the state of Alagoas where there are still very rudimentary ways of presenting the subject especially in state schools.