L’effetto serra e l’insegnamento di concetti e fenomeni fisici legatiall’energia

Energy concept is a fundamental one in physics and it is a key concept for understanding physical, biological and technological world. A number of researches in science education have been devoted to the teaching and learning of energy concepts and phenomena. Different teaching approaches have been designed and experimented, while a considerable amount of studies were developed on students’ common ideas and difficulties. The topic is intrinsically complex, connected to different scientific areas and to social, environmental and philosophical issues. In this paper we discuss some aspects of the problem and present results and proposals stemming from science education research. Then we describe a teaching learning sequence designed and implemented with an approach based on the choice of driving issues capable to promote the progressive construction of physics concepts and models. The issues in this case are the greenhouse effect and global warming. Results obtained in implementing the sequence with high school students are discussed, together with implications and suggestions for farther research.