National Geographic and Others: Their Value in Science Learning

Having verified that the viewing of scientific documentaries about nature (such as BBC Wild Life, National Geographic, Discovery Channel, etc.) is the audience leader for Portuguese children and young people, Paulo Coelho Dias went to see if this informal learning process could have positive impacts on formal Science learning in the classroom with a teacher, given that, in the Curriculum Programs of the 5th and 7th years of the Basic Education in Portugal, many of the contents coincide with the information transmitted in the referred scientific documentaries. Thus, the author developed a two-year study of classroom observation where he sought to measure, both in writing and orally, the performance of students viewers compared to others who claimed not to see such programs (control group). The author verified that, in fact, there is an important impact resulting from the aforementioned television viewing in the formal learning of Sciences, constituting this type of television viewing an important didactic resource that enhances the students' study strategy, including the most socially disadvantaged, given the ubiquity of television in Portuguese homes.