Teaching Children About Aspects of Comfort in the Built Environment

Abstract

This article presents specific teaching material for the primary school level that introduces basic concepts of environmental comfort. The authors developed 2 booklets to make children aware of the built environment. Following a postoccupancy evaluation of state schools in the city of Campinas, in the state of São Paulo, Brazil, the research team saw the need to improve users' awareness of their physical environment. The booklets were tested in classroom settings and were considered important and interesting by both teachers and students. A second teaching experiment, through distance education, is also presented.

Keywords:

• environmental comfort
• primary grade level
• school environment
• teaching material