Sustainability and Science Learning: Perceptions from 8th Grade Students Involved with a Role Playing Activity

Raising awareness about sustainability is an urgent need and as such education for sustainability has gained relevancy for the last decades. It is acknowledged that science education can work as an important context for educating for sustainability. The goal of the present paper is to describe a role-playing activity about the construction of a nuclear power plant and to know how it affected students’ perceptions concerning sustainability, their degree of involvement and the type of competencies manifested while involved in the activity. This is qualitative study, adopting an interpretative orientation. Participants were 39 students from 8th grade of elementary education (average age 13 years old). We collected and analyzed students’ written documents and focus group interview after the activity was over. Data analysis was inductive. This study shows the importance of bridging science and sustainable education. The role-playing activity made the theme relevant for the students, and they were engaged with searching relevant information, thinking about it, and ways to present and to support their position. By proceeding this way, students became implicated with the theme under discussion and learnt about the curricular topic energy.