Modelos matemáticos e educação ambiental: um olhar sobre a Lagoa de Maricá

Abstract

The accelerated population growth of the city of Maricá in recent decades has resulted in the pollution of the Maricá Lagoon.This lagoon, which concentrates the urban center of the city in its surroundings, has been suffering from clandestine landfills on its shore and from the discharge of sewage into its waters. The present work aims to present two mathematical models related to the representation of the depollution of lagoons in order to apply them in the Maricá Lagoon; and, also, collaborate with the reflection process on the Teaching of Mathematics in modern society, focusing on interdisciplinarity with the Environment, addressing mathematical modeling with topics such as: recursion, geometric progression, exponential function, logarithmic function, graphical representations , among others. To achieve these objectives, the main characteristics of the municipality of Maricá and its lagoon system were presented, where the lagoon that is object of study is inserted. Thereafter, is made a brief summary on the importance of using mathematical models involving first order linear ordinary differential equations in the representation of pond depollution. Thus, it was possible to simulate the behavior of pollution in the lagoon as a function of time and also its capacity for autodepuration through the simplified Streeter-Phelps model.. Thus, it was possible to simulate the behavior of pollution in the lagoon as a function of time and also its capacity for autodepuration. Finally, a reflection on mathematical modeling as an instrument of pedagogical action in Basic Education could be established through an experience report involving a high school class and a small-scale experiment that represented the depollution of a fictitious lagoon. This evidenced a greater interest of students in applied mathematics, as well as collabored with the process of forming ecologically more conscious citizens.